The last year of Ric Flair

[Loss]

So, it's been reported for a few months now that Flair is finishing up and will most likely have his last match at Wrestlemania 24 in Orlando. Orlando isn't the best place to retire Flair with Charlotte, Greensboro and Atlanta all right there, but it's better than trying to finish him up somewhere in the Northeast.

 

Considering this and how much time they have to plan it, what type of sendoff do you think he should get?

 

This is the first time I can ever recall Flair wanting to retire. I figured he'd be wrestling until he died. He's obviously a shell of his former self, but wrestling without him around at all will seem pretty strange, if he indeed can stay away.

 

He was a key part of the changes cable TV created in wrestling and has probably had more nationally televised matches than any wrestler in history. Aside from Vince McMahon, he's really the only guy who's been regularly featured on television in a prominent role as long as cable has been around. Even if he stays employed by WWE, which I figure he will, if things go according to plan, we're not going to be seeing him regularly anymore.

 

It will be interesting to see how they handle this. And I do agree that it's pretty long overdue.

[Dylan Waco]

FWIW, Mike Mooneyham, who is very close with Flair personally (Flair thanks him and refers to him as his closest confident at the end of his bio) told me flat out that this is it for Flair no questions asked. He's started some sort of mortage/finanace business and is still sort of considering entering politics, though the scandals of the last few years may have hurt him irreparably in that regard.

 

Personally I think there are alot more oppurtunities for Flair to have one last great run on SD than there were on RAW. He seems to be being treated as a major part of the mix already, and though I know there are alot of people who won't like the idea I really, really think they ought to give Flair one more run with the belt, even if it is a month long thing. Just seems wrong for Hogan to get a last go around and not Flair.

 

At Mania I don't know..I have a feeling he's going to lobby to work opposite Trip, but I really, really don't want to see Flair go out flat on his back underneath HHH. I like the Steamboat idea, but don't see it happening. Honestly I would prefer to see Flair team with Arn (that one match for Arn has been tossed around some allegedly) opposite some disrespectful punk team in a co-main event slot.

[Loss]

As someone from Flair country, Dylan, it would be interesting to hear how much a part of the local culture the NWA was at its peak, and also if Flair is a household name now among people in that area. That's always what's referred to as his strongest market. I'm curious if he transcends wrestling in that area like Lawler in Memphis.

[Dylan Waco]

I am not sure if Flair in Charleston where I live would be on the level of Lawler in Memphis..that said...a few years back I was at a public park for the fourth of July. There were literally thousands of people there..for some reason some drunk redneck screamed right inbetween displays "RIC FUCKIN FLAIR!" and I shit you not, probably 80-90 percent of the people there let out a gigantic WHOOOOOO! Mike Mooneyham has had a column in our newspaper for twenty years covering wrestling exclusively in large part because he is associated with Flair. My buddy and local radio figure The Southern Avenger uses Flair intros for his explicitly political commentaries because he's a massive wrestling fan, but also because Flair is a tested marketing success in the area. At work a few weeks ago a girl asked me who "Ric Flair" was in reference to a conversation I was having with her boyfriend earlier in the day and two different customers, one of whom was a fifty something house wife responded "You don't know who Ric Flair is? You must not be from here." She isn't..she's from California.

 

When I was growing up as a kid I went to pretty much any NWA house show or tv taping in Charleston or Columbia. It would not be an exagerration to say that the NWA was a huge, huge part of youth culture and "redneck" culture a term I personally find endearing. Also the NWA was hugely, hugely popular with the local black community. As a kid I went to schools that were roughly fifty-fifty black/white from elemantary to high school and while people had differing allegencies with sports, all throughout elementary school the heros were Ric Flair and to a lesser degree the Steiner Brothers and in high school, even at the height of the attitude stuff, most guys publicly admitted that they grew up on NWA/WCW and preferred it.

 

Since there were no major sporting events in Charleston, college or pro, fan loyality was mostly centered around pro wrestlling. I knew alot of fanatical Atlanta Brave fans growing up, but aside from love for South Carolina or Clemson college teams, nothing rivaled love for wrestling, espcially the NWA and espcially Ric Flair and the Horseman. This changed a bit when minor league hockey rolled in, which was hugely popular for a few years, drawing consistent ten thousand plus sellouts to the North Charleston Coliseum, but that was after the heydey of the NWA in the area, which had previously run high school gyms and the Citadels McAllister Fieldhous usually to sellout crowds (capacity was 6400 for wrestling).

[kjh]

It's a bit of a conundrum for WWE, as on the one hand Flair needs to win his retirement match because the fans won't accept any other result, yet on the other hand WWE seems resistant in putting him over any of their top stars convincingly. Actually it would be a really shrewd move if Trips did the job for him, as people wouldn't expect it to happen and he could dine off that job for years and years. I quite like the idea though of Flair feuding with JBL at Mania, because he is probably the only top star Flair has never worked against, the promos could be off the charts great and JBL wouldn't need to be protected in the booking as he's pretty much retired anyway. A turned Chris Benoit dropping the ECW World title to him is another plausible idea.

[anarchistxx]

I think Flair needs to win the title close to Wrestlemania, then go down to either Orton or Cena.

 

Orton because it will get him over even more than he already is, as the guy who retired Flair, and it would be a fitting end.

 

Cena, because he's obviously the guy they're pushing, and it would probably make a decent moment to have the new guard beat the old guard.

 

Either way, they should probably do it No DQ if they want a bloody match to remember, it's all very well wanting another classic Flair wrestling match, but it isn't going to happen.

[Loss]

I definitely think the Flair/JBL idea is a great one. JBL should probably start slowly changing his tune on Flair and insulting him now, leading to Flair finally confronting him as the year goes on and eventually a brawl breaking out between them at some point and then promos from January to Mania. It's a case where JBL wouldn't have to be protected at all, as you mentioned, and Flair going over would be logical.

 

I could see some fun stuff involving JBL next time they do a Smackdown in the Carolinas. Because of them both having the North Carolina ties, there's probably also a way to include Matt Hardy in this so that they get something out of the build post-Mania as well.