The Legacy Of Ric Flair

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Flair could make a helluva manager if he wanted to.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Flair could make a helluva manager if he wanted to.

 

He could, but the issue will always be whether or not he outshines the guy he is managing. Flair's so good at talking and getting heat that he runs the risk or marginalizing the guy he's there to help out.

[Diamonddust 0]

Flair could make a helluva manager if he wanted to.

 

He could... if the WWE wanted to use managers properly.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

It worked with Harley Race.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I enjoyed Flair managing HHH back in 2002, although it did run a little longer than it should've plus it should've been Flair turning on HHH, not the other way.

[Vampiro69 0]

I was drawn to Ric Flair when I first started watching wrestling in 1993 when I started using him on the old SNES Royal Rumble game. He could always entertain me no matter what was going on. Ric Flair, thanks for everything you did for the business.

 

-What's your favorite Flair match?

Geez, this is a tough one. I suppose it would be the Clash of the Champions 2/3 falls match with Steamboat. I have never seen a match tell a story like that one was able to. When people don't believe me when I say that Pro Wrestling is a form of theatre, I show them this match. A close second would be Funk/Flair "I Quit"

 

-Is he overrated/underrated relative to his 80s and 90s peers?

I would say no on the 80's and yes on the 90's. Even in the 90s he could still work a very decent match.

 

-Do the 21 (16?) world title wins mean anything to you?

What it proves to me is that the promoters still had faith in him to deliver. It shows that even though he was up there in age he could still be seen as reliable.

 

-Did he hang on too long?

As much as it pains me to say so I say yes.

[Promoter 0]

Has WWE handled his impending retirement properly?

 

I will say this. From the HOF ceremony to WM 24's match against the man many proclaimed as the new Flair after WM X to the farewell on RAW, the wwe gave Flair the best send off I have seen ever. I mean I thought only Hogan would recieve this type of sendoff. I wonder if Austin is gonna retire in Texas next year? He would eclipse it MAYBE. I mean seeing all those old school guys tonight on RAW won't be possible with Austin in terms of emotions.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I was going to start a new thread in General, but I think I'll post it here to keep this thread going.

 

List your top 10 favorite Ric Flair matches:

 

Vs. Terry Funk, I Quit Match at Clash of the Champions IX

Vs. Ricky Steamboat, Chi-Town Rumble

Vs. Randy Savage, Wrestlemania 8

Vs. Bret Hart, the WWF Championship match in Saskatoon 1992

Vs. Vader, Starrcade 1993

Vs. Sting, final Monday Nitro

Vs. The Undertaker, Wrestlemania 18

Vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Steel Cage match, Taboo Tuesday 2005

Vs. Mick Foley, I Quit Match at SummerSlam 2006

Vs. Shawn Michaels, Wrestlemania 24

[Dandy 0]

I'm not sure I could narrow it down to 10 at the moment. I'll have to think about that.

[Perfection 0]

Has WWE handled his impending retirement properly?

 

I will say this. From the HOF ceremony to WM 24's match against the man many proclaimed as the new Flair after WM X to the farewell on RAW, the wwe gave Flair the best send off I have seen ever. I mean I thought only Hogan would recieve this type of sendoff. I wonder if Austin is gonna retire in Texas next year? He would eclipse it MAYBE. I mean seeing all those old school guys tonight on RAW won't be possible with Austin in terms of emotions.

 

Austin won't ever get that type of send off and I don't think Hogan will either. Flair was respected and loved by the locker room...a lot more than Hogan has ever been, and I just can't see the wrestlers respecting hogan as much as flair. As far as Austin goes, not sure. Fans would love it but again the issue is whether the locker room appreciates him as much as flair and lets be real, no. So I don't think we will ever see anything like that again...or at least not for a very long time.

 

I can't wait to see what the ratings are. One thing that many have tried to tell vince is the people love flair and have used that for a reason to push him more. Will be interesting to see what this show did, especially that last segment.

[Promoter 0]

I can't disagree with what you're saying. However, the thing with Hogan is this. A LOT of the younger guys like Big Show and Cena became fans because of Hogan. I see guys like that respecting Hogan and what he did. The guys like Bret Hart and so on are no longer apart of the dressing room, but you are right. I can't see Triple H working with Vince on a send off to top Flair's. Then again, I could be wrong as I didn't think HHH would drop the title to Hogan a month after winning it at Mania to Hogan at Backlash.

[BruiserKC 0]

My favorite matches of Flair...

 

His Clash of Champions match with Steamboat, followed by Flair vs. Anderson at Fall Brawl '94.

 

 

I think he might have held on too long...but at least Flair was willing to put over the younger talent and not clamoring for World title shots he might not have truly deserved (like Hogan).

 

I'll miss Flair...thanks for the memories Ric. Diamonds are forever, and so is Ric Flair. WOOOOOOO!

[Guest Hasbeen2]

A lot of guys made money because Hogan was in the promotion and later Austin, at the very least they should show some respect because of that.

[Promoter 0]

I agree. Hogan started freaking WrestleMania for crying out loud.

[Dandy 0]

There will be some big stars on my show brother, I'm talking Shaquille O'Neal, Dennis Rodman, Brutus Beefcake, the Nasty Boys... the list goes on, dude.

 

Edit---That was a quote from Hogan that was previously a part of Promoter's post.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

What about headliners as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "The Mouth of The South" Jimmy Hart, and Horace "Boulder" Hogan?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Well, Greg Valentine actually DID main event shows in his prime.

[majormayhem1 0]

I think he might have held on too long...but at least Flair was willing to put over the younger talent and not clamoring for World title shots he might not have truly deserved (like Hogan).

 

 

Ric Flair's retirement...another chance to expose Hulk Hogan for the selfish egomaniac that he is. Way to go, Bruiser.

[CanadianChris 0]

Top 10 Flair matches:

 

vs. Kerry Von Erich at Texas Stadium

vs. Sting at Clash 1

vs. Ricky Steamboat at Chi-Town Rumble

vs. Ricky Steamboat at Clash 6

vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleWar 89

vs. Terry Funk at Clash 9

1992 Royal Rumble

vs. Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII

vs. Vader at Starrcade 93

vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XVIII

[Promoter 0]

I think he might have held on too long...but at least Flair was willing to put over the younger talent and not clamoring for World title shots he might not have truly deserved (like Hogan).

 

 

Ric Flair's retirement...another chance to expose Hulk Hogan for the selfish egomaniac that he is. Way to go, Bruiser.

 

I guess this depends on who you talk to. Bischoff would say Flair hogged the title in the early 90's before Hogan jumped ship. Scott Steiner and Foley the same thing. When it comes to Hogan and Flair and championships I think they deserved it more than not. Their last title wins are suspect though, but was probably done out of respect for what they made the championships to mean.

[cabbageboy 0]

I wonder what Flair's legacy would have been like had the following 2 things not happened: 1. David Von Erich's death in Japan in 1984. 2. Magnum T.A.'s career ending car wreck in 1986. I have no idea if DVE was going to be any sort of long term NWA champ, or maybe just a short term deal like Kerry ended up. But Magnum was very well going to be the uber popular face champion for the NWA, leading them into the late 80s and into the 90s.

 

My favorite Flair match is the 1992 Rumble, if that can be considered. There are several Flair/Steamboat matches so I don't know which to pick exactly. But that Rumble is one of the single greatest performances I've ever seen. There have been guys who have gone the distance in the Rumble, but none have ever taken command of an entire Rumble, fought an entire roster of the greatest stars of an era, and been that Rumble's primary focus.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

I've alaways wonder that as well. Magnum T.A. was the man in NWA when I first started watching wrestling at around 3, then he had his car crash within months.

 

My ex-stepdad always put him over big, telling me how he would have been NWA's biggest star if he hadn't gotten injured.

[Promoter 0]

My favorite Flair match is the 1992 Rumble, if that can be considered. There are several Flair/Steamboat matches so I don't know which to pick exactly. But that Rumble is one of the single greatest performances I've ever seen. There have been guys who have gone the distance in the Rumble, but none have ever taken command of an entire Rumble, fought an entire roster of the greatest stars of an era, and been that Rumble's primary focus.

 

Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage, Jake The Snake, British Bulldog, Roddy Piper, Million Dollar Man, Undertaker, Kerry Von Erich, Valentine!

 

Some of the biggest names of all-time intertwined with some of his bigger feuds of all-time. My fave match too.

[Wrestlefreak 0]

Here's an article written by Paul Heyman about Flair's retirement:

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport...icle1005842.ece

 

I agree with Heyman's point here, Flair's "send-off" was overdone by WWE.

[Diamonddust 0]

I've alaways wonder that as well. Magnum T.A. was the man in NWA when I first started watching wrestling at around 3, then he had his car crash within months.

 

My ex-stepdad always put him over big, telling me how he would have been NWA's biggest star if he hadn't gotten injured.

 

If Magnum's crash didn't happen, the careers of a lot of people would have been influenced - namely Sting and Lex Luger. As it has been said, Magnum was destined to be the #1 face of the company, and a feud with Flair over the belt was imminent at the time of his crash.

[cabbageboy 0]

I think Sting would have been more affected than Luger. Luger was more adept at playing heel, so he could have still joined the Horsemen and with a healthy Magnum maybe there isn't the constant desire to turn him face. If anything I think Luger vs. Magnum would have been a major feud.

 

Sting could have still made it big in the NWA/WCW though. He and Magnum could have taken turns as the top face. You can never have too many big stars.

[dubq 0]

Here's an article written by Paul Heyman about Flair's retirement:

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport...icle1005842.ece

 

I agree with Heyman's point here, Flair's "send-off" was overdone by WWE.

 

When it comes to Ric Flair and 36 years in the business, nothing is too overdone, IMO. From the sounds of Heyman's article, it's like he wanted him to be in kayfabe the whole time. This retirement and farewell wasn't really about that, IMO, and I'm glad that it wasn't.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

I think Sting would have been more affected than Luger. Luger was more adept at playing heel, so he could have still joined the Horsemen and with a healthy Magnum maybe there isn't the constant desire to turn him face. If anything I think Luger vs. Magnum would have been a major feud.

 

Sting could have still made it big in the NWA/WCW though. He and Magnum could have taken turns as the top face. You can never have too many big stars.

 

Right. Sting, Magnum, Steamboat, Dusty and, I dunno, Muta vs Flair, Luger and the Horsemen would have been cool.

 

 

And, Flair's sendoff couldn't be over done if they ended it with writing his name on the moon with a giant laser.

[Promoter 0]

I see Heyman's point, but having guys like Cena and the like saluting Flair gives fans who have just started watching in the last 3-5 years a better perspective how respected Flair is to the wrestling world. I agree the crying was a bit much. At times I couldn't tell if he was working or not. Malenko? LOL

 

It wasn't overdone.

[Diamonddust 0]

I think Sting would have been more affected than Luger. Luger was more adept at playing heel, so he could have still joined the Horsemen and with a healthy Magnum maybe there isn't the constant desire to turn him face. If anything I think Luger vs. Magnum would have been a major feud.

 

Sting could have still made it big in the NWA/WCW though. He and Magnum could have taken turns as the top face. You can never have too many big stars.

 

Right. Sting, Magnum, Steamboat, Dusty and, I dunno, Muta vs Flair, Luger and the Horsemen would have been cool.

 

 

And, Flair's sendoff couldn't be over done if they ended it with writing his name on the moon with a giant laser.

 

I've said it on this board before, and I'll say it again:

 

Even though Muta had given notice that he was going back to Japan, NWA/WCW should have found a way to at least keep him stateside so he could have headlined WrestleWar '90 against Flair. The angle was set-up at the Clash of Champions where the crowd was going nuts for him and J-Tex after the Horsemen had punked out Sting. Sting, after the injury, could have been taunted by Flair and the Horsemen, and then he could have been like, "Well... I've found a replacement." Out comes Muta, who mists everyone, Flair included, and you have a killer face turn - Sting's greatest enemy is now his biggest ally. It would have also allowed a slow turn for Luger so he could have still headlined Capitol Combat that Spring instead of him facing Flair twice with everyone knowing he didn't have a chance of winning.

 

Regardless of the fact they jobbed him out at Starrcade '89, Muta vs. Flair would have been a minimum 4 star match with the proper time alloted.