Pro wrestlers tend to be perfectionists, but for Ric Flair, he left his in-ring career on a satisfactory note.
On July 31, the WWE Hall of Famer wrestled his retirement match in an event named “Ric Flair’s Last Match.” Flair, 73, teamed up with his son-in-law and All Elite Wrestling talent Andrade El Idolo, who is married to WWE star Charlotte Flair, against WWE Senior Vice President of Live Events Jeff Jarrett and AEW’s Jay Lethal
Ric Flair joined Andrade for WWC’s (World Wrestling Council) 49th Anniversary show on Saturday in Puerto Rico, but before his appearance, Flair reviewed his performance at his match in Nashville, Tenn.
“I’m very happy with it,” Flair said on Lucha Libre Online, as transcribed by F4WOnline’s Josh Nason. “I needed to give it one more shot. I feel like I didn’t go out the right way and to have the relationship now that I do with Andrade, with Charlotte, to have a son-in-law like him to be a tag team partner, for him to tag with me at this time and have the whole family there and his family, who I have gotten to know well, watched it from Mexico. It was big for all of them.”
Flair added, “It was especially big for me because my entire family was there and the only person to get an opportunity to do that twice — once in 2008 with Shawn Michaels (at WrestleMania) and now with my son-in-law in Nashville. It was big.”
The match received criticism regarding Flair’s physical health and his struggle over basic spots like putting on brass knuckles. Also during the match, Flair faked a heart attack — with his family watching in the audience — in a spot to trick Lethal.
A bloody Flair won the match after the ref counted Jarrett’s shoulders down while Flair had him in a figure four — through Flair also had his shoulders down.
Despite criticism of the match, the event performed strong financially for Flair and promoter Conrad Thompson. The event generated between 24,000-29,000 pay-per-view buys and a $448,000 gate — all with no national television exposure, per F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer.
At Saturday’s WWC show, Flair got physical with old rival Carlos Colón during Andrade’s match with Colon’s son, former WWE star Carlito.
Many other wrestling legends like Bret Hart, Mick Foley and The Undertaker appeared at “Ric Flair’s Last Match” to celebrate Flair’s career, and current stars like Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler were at the show as well. Even though the match was not classic in the ring, the spectacle around it attracted many viewers for Flair’s retirement match.
