Ric Flair’s unmatched final chapter only adds to his wrestling legacy
We likely will never again see what Ric Flair was able to accomplish with his final match.
While the “Nature Boy” cheated death not once, but twice in his life – the most recent a medically induced coma after kidney and heart issues in 2017 – it adds a whole other level to what he was able to do at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium on Sunday night .
But let’s put that aside for a minute.
Flair, at 73 and with a pacemaker, was still physically healthy and motivated enough to put in the work to walk that aisle and step in the ring one last time to prove to himself and others why he is, and always will be, the Greatest of All Time.
Then comes the pressure of actually delivering in the ring with I’m sure a portion of people waiting for him to fall flat on his face, waiting to tell Flair “I told you so,” and “You should have stayed retired after your first two retirement matches.” Add to that having peers such as the Undertaker, Bret Hart and Mick Foley — who all embraced him afterward — sitting ringside watching.
Now that’s pressure.
Flair made good on all of it, tagging with his son-in-law Andrade El Idolo against Jey Lethal and Jeff Jarrett in a match that lasted around 30 minutes. (Vince McMahon, 75, vs. Pat McAfee at WrestleMania 38 lasted 3 minutes and 45 seconds). The 16-time world champion did play the hits. There was of course a strut, as well as chops, Figure Fours, a low blow and plenty of blood.
He certainly was helped by some superb selling from Lethal and Jarrett — who also has a lot left in the tank at 55. But Flair wasn’t the occasional sideshow getting his stuff in as the others did the work. He was the legal man for a good portion of the match, showed he could still go a little bit, he told a story and put on a thoroughly entertaining match like he said he would. At one point the crowd even chanted his name.
The finish got a little odd, but played into the family storyline running through the match – and that even as babyfaces the Flairs are still the dirtiest players in the game. After Andrade saved Flair from a Jarrett guitar shot that ended up hitting Lethal, Ric’s other son-in-law and the show’s promotor Conrad Thompson flipped Andrade a pair of brass knuckles to hit Jarrett with. Instead of a regular pin after doing so, Flair went for a Figure Four. Jarrett and Flair’s shoulders both went to mat, but the referee only saw Jarrett’s before counting the 1-2-3 for the pin.
Entire article:
https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/ric-flairs-last-match-only-adds-to-his-unmatched-legacy/
"a medically induced coma
after kidney and heart issues in 2017" and "Flair, at 73 and
with a pacemaker".....WTF
This was promoted as Ric Flair's "final match"; but this is professional wrestling, so who knows?, he could still probably make a another comeback.....