One More Match For Ric Flair

BostonBob

4 Ever The Greatest
Jan 26, 2004
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Flair announced that he will have his final match ( and that really remains to be seen as a lot of wrestlers have several " final matches " ) on July 31st in Nashville. Unofficially I have heard that he will team with FTR against The Rock n Roll Express and a partner - names like Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes and Jay Lethal have been mentioned.

from cbssports.com:

ric-flair-getty.jpg



The legendary Ric Flair is set to make another ring walk as it was announced Monday that Fiair will wrestle his final match on July 31. Flair, who many consider to be the greatest professional wrestler in history, is 73 years old.

The match will take place at an event associated with the Starrcast wrestling fan convention in Nashville the day after WWE hosts SummerSlam in the same city. According to the Starrcast website, the event is "under the banner of Jim Crockett Promotions." It is being produced by Triller-affiliated Thuzio and will stream live on Fite TV.




Flair began his wrestling career in 1972 but became a massive star in the wrestling world under Jim Crocket Promotions, where he was the centerpiece of the National Wrestling Alliance as world champion. He would wrestle around the world, including stints in Japan and WWE, but his time as an NWA and WCW staple define his claim to being one of the best to ever lace up a pair of wrestling boots.

Flair has retired from wrestling multiple times before. At WrestleMania 24, after several other retirement matches throughout the years, he lost an emotional match to Shawn Michaels with his career on the line. 20 months later, Flair was wrestling Hulk Hogan in a tour of matches in Australia. He would go on to wrestle 12 times in TNA throughout 2010 and 2011 before tearing his triceps in a match with Sting, which Flair would eventually state was the last time he'd ever step into the ring as a wrestler.

A host of health problems have also plagued Flair in recent years. He suffers from a heart condition and suffered kidney failure after having a piece of his bowel removed in 2017.

Flair is most commonly acknowledged, including by WWE, as a 16-time world champion, though the politics of wrestling and tours where the champion would sometimes drop the title for a match before regaining it and returning to their home promotion mean the actual number is higher. Flair claims to be a 21-time champion.


The specifics of the match are not yet known though many matches involving aging former stars are held as tag team or six-man matches where others can do the majority of the heavy lifting.
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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That at least sounds a lot better than the short version I read earlier today, which was basically "Flair to wrestle again on Nashville Fairgrounds."
 

CHGoalie27

Don't blame the goalie!
Oct 5, 2009
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If he can still take a few bumps, great.

I'm praying he doesn't permanently injure himself here.
 

BiolaRunner

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Jan 19, 2018
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Doesn't he have a pacemaker? 73 years old. Is he that broke? anybody actually expect this to be a good match at all?
 

CaptainCrunch67

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Aug 23, 2005
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Any promoter that puts him into the ring for a few dollars has serious mental issues. Flair has a pace maker, has been in poor health for years, the whole plane ride from hell issues.

I half expect that maybe Flair wants to die in the ring.
 
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BostonBob

4 Ever The Greatest
Jan 26, 2004
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Looks like Ricky Steamboat will be the partner of the R & R Express. :thumbu:

from wrestlinginc.com:

As noted earlier, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair announced that he will be coming out of retirement for his first match in over a decade.

F4Wonline’s Dave Meltzer added to that announcement, claiming that Flair gave him some insight on who his opponents will be in the bout. “The Nature Boy” will apparently be teaming with FTR’s Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, while their opponents will be the legendary Rock N’ Roll Express and “someone else”.

Until today, the final opponent for Flair and FTR in the six-man tag match had yet to be revealed. But a new report from Fightful Select indicates that one of Ric Flair’s legendary rivals, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, will be the third man.

If it ends up happening as planned, this will be Ricky Steamboat’s first match since the FCW tag team match with his son against Caylen Croft & Trent Baretta in 2010. He recently made an appearance with Major League Wrestling as a matchmaker at the February 2022 MLW SuperFight. For Flair, it is his first match back since his victory over Sting in TNA Wrestling, back in 2011.

The match will be taking place at Jim Crockett Promotion’s Starrcast event in Nashville, TN on July 31. The show is set to air just via FITE TV just one day after WWE’s SummerSlam, which will also be in Nashville.

Here's some footage of Flair training with Jay Lethal about a month ago. Gotta admit - Flair looks pretty good for a 73 year old. :nod:

 

CaptainCrunch67

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Aug 23, 2005
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Considering that there has been a lot of reporting including an interview with Jake the Snake that Steamboat was suffering a lot of health issues right now, the last thing they need to do is role him into the ring. And does anyone really want to see the Rock n Roll express fumbling around the ring?
 

Behn Wilson

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Mar 14, 2002
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Isn't there some kind of medical exam required, I am guessing he picked the match in a state or city with low regulatory requirements, I highly doubt he could pass a physical to be able to wrestle. I almost wonder if he wants to go out like Mickey Rourke's character in The Wrestler. Someone should stop this from happening.
 

HandsomeHollywood

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Mar 20, 2017
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If this is a 6-man tag, I have no issues with it. Let him have another last hurrah all he wants. As long as he doesn't have some Saudi-Arabia old timers match with Undertaker or Goldberg scheduled to go 15 minutes or more, I'm for it.

If Flair can be on the sidelines, get tagged in to do a few chops and slap on a figure-4, it's all good if it's what he wants to do. I can't imagine I'll be tuning in either way.
 

CaptainCrunch67

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Aug 23, 2005
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I wouldn't be all that interested in watching Flair work one more time. Especially after his personal history. This is not a person that should be admired and should just go away.
 

BostonBob

4 Ever The Greatest
Jan 26, 2004
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Vancouver, BC
Steamboat says that he will not be part of the match. 😞

from today's pwinsider.com:

Former NWA World Champion Ricky Steamboat announced last night during his HighspotsAuctions.com live, virtual signing that while he had been offered the chance to get back in the ring with Ric Flair as part of Flair's "final match" on 7/31 in Nashville, TN for the Jim Crockett Promotionals revival event in Nashville, TN, he has turned down the opportunity.

Steamboat noted that he was approached and gave it serious thought for about a week, but at the end of the day, at his age, he didn't want to return to the ring and not give fans what they expected out of Ricky Steamboat. He noted that when he returned to the ring to wrestle Chris Jericho, he was younger and had been involved daily with training and coaching WWE talents and got a "You still got it" chant when he performed. He commented, "I don’t want to scar that phrase."

Steamboat and Flair had a legendary feud for the NWA World title in 1989, culminating with Wrestlewar '89 in Nashville, TN. The pair had equally incredible bouts for Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s before Steamboat left for the WWF. The two last wrestled in 1994 on a WCW Saturday Night broadcast.

The Flair return bout is expected to be a multi-man tag team bout. Steamboat referred to it last night as a six man tag team match.
 

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