Ric Flair (sigh)

[Loss]

He's supposedly a park ranger now and got out of wrestling voluntarily, which is probably a good move. He didn't have his father's talent and supposedly had a completely different personality (read: he was actually normal), so it's good he moved on.

[anarchistxx]

Good for him. He would always have been compared unfavourably to Ric, and the wrestling industry isn't really made for overly normal people.

[EricR]

I cannot think of one wrestler who he *would* be compared to favorably. He's the most unnatural wrestler I've ever seen.

[Bix]

On Legends of WrestleMania on the network, he broke down crying talking about Reid when Cole asked about his family being there for the Michaels match. Super uncomfortable to watch and really, really bad ad-libbing on Cole's part.

[Exposer]

I agree. I blame Cole for that. It was awful watching that.

[flyonthewall2983]

[Timbo Slice]

How the fuck does Cole lack the tact to ask that question? You've been with the company for how long now?

[El-P]

Oh man… What the fuck was Cole thinking ?

[sek69]

I'm watching it now, I think he was trying to link his family at WM to his daughter in NXT. As soon as Flair mentioned Reid you could kind of see the other three get a "oh fuck..." look on their faces.

[efrim]

Beyond the obvious, an all around rough Flair event to watch. He seemed sober, which actually just made him seem deeply, deeply sad. Also (Unintentionally, I Hope?) took a pretty nasty swipe at Foley with "You overstayed your welcome." You can see Foley is pretty flummoxed after he says it.

[(BP)]

I think Flair mispoke, although he clearly doesn't mind taking shots at people. It was also a little odd that he's still pointing out how weird garbage wrestler's are when he essentially became one the last six years of his career. They should only use him as a talking head for network shows where they can edit out stuff like this.

[goc]

You would think they'd have learned their lesson after that video game press conference that led to J.R. leaving. I mean you let go of J.R. for essentially not being able to control Flair but keep Flair around and put him in the same situations.

[C.S.]

I think Flair was intentionally being a dick to Foley - we've seen that before in past Legends of Wrestling roundtables - and I was really rooting for Mick to snap and put Ric in his place. But my heart did go out to the Nature Boy after he broke down and started crying.

 

It also dawned on me while watching that Mick Foley never got a proper retirement - I realize injuries and circumstances played a part in that - but he deserved a much better send-off. Instead, he's been marginalized for the past several years. The best example I can think of is him being added to some Cena PPV match - one of many in that match - and treated as almost an afterthought.

[efrim]

You would think they'd have learned their lesson after that video game press conference that led to J.R. leaving. I mean you let go of J.R. for essentially not being able to control Flair but keep Flair around and put him in the same situations.

 

I think JR's inappropriateness during that conference is under-remembered due to how bad Flair was. I don't think Flair was the only one who had a few too many, and I really don't have any sympathy for JR.

[C.S.]

I think JR's inappropriateness during that conference is under-remembered due to how bad Flair was. I don't think Flair was the only one who had a few too many, and I really don't have any sympathy for JR.

 

 

J.R. claimed he wasn't drinking - he said any word-slurring and the like was because of his Bell's Palsy - and I'm inclined to believe him. After all, he doesn't have a history of inappropriate behavior and public intoxication - Flair does.

[SteveJRogers]

You would think they'd have learned their lesson after that video game press conference that led to J.R. leaving. I mean you let go of J.R. for essentially not being able to control Flair but keep Flair around and put him in the same situations.

Its weird that despite all the dicking around that they've done, both legit and storylines, that JR never got the "untouchable" label that clearly Flair and Lawler have.

[Blazer]

JR mentioned the libations going down in the first two minutes that he was at the podium. He seemed a bit "slow" during the debacle, rather than "buzzed" or "slurring". I dont doubt he was drinking.

[Matt Farmer]

I don't doubt he was drinking either, but if you listen to his podcast his speaking voice has changed and at times appears to lose his train of thought. And he does slur his words to some degree.

[efrim]

Yeah, I've been pretty disappointed with his hosting abilities on the podcast. He just feels so much less sharp than he did in years past. Always seems to have a few talking points and sticks with them no matter where the conversation goes.

[goc]

I just don't think a podcast is a good format for him. I don't think he really has a vibrant personality to make it work.

[JerryvonKramer]

His best role is "slightly grumpy member of Legends of Wrestling panel".

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Yeah, I'm close to deleting Ross's podcast from my feed. The first couple episodes were good because he would ask follow-up questions here and there, but now he talks more than the guest and it's always the same grouchy, get off my lawn stuff that doesn't provide any insight whatsoever.

[Matt D]

I think Flair was intentionally being a dick to Foley - we've seen that before in past Legends of Wrestling roundtables - and I was really rooting for Mick to snap and put Ric in his place. But my heart did go out to the Nature Boy after he broke down and started crying.

 

It also dawned on me while watching that Mick Foley never got a proper retirement - I realize injuries and circumstances played a part in that - but he deserved a much better send-off. Instead, he's been marginalized for the past several years. The best example I can think of is him being added to some Cena PPV match - one of many in that match - and treated as almost an afterthought.

I didn't even get to Flair crying. He was just too much of a dick to Foley and I stopped watching. It's funny. I kind of think that if they let Flair out into the ring as a heel manager and paired him with someone, he'd be fine. I think he'd just channel what comes natural to him and he'd be vibrant and dynamic and probably have the time of his life. As a talking head, he's terrible though.

[(BP)]

As a manager he'd at least get to perform and sort of be Ric Flair. The talking head gig seems to be actually making Richard Fliehr more miserable.

[shoe]

You know I feel bad for Flair, Though he seems to be morphing into a modern day Fritz Von Erich. Fritz and Ric both have/had kids in the business. They both have lost a child/children to drugs. Fritz would say Mike was the best amateur of the brothers. Ric says Charolette is the best athlete in the Flair family. These statements are quite similar. It's just something to look at.