• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

JR's Blog: Q&A Section is Updated...New must read J.R.'s Blog on WWE.com...Thoughts on "The Naitch."

Posted: May 15th 2009 By: mikeiles

I have spent several hours between trips to J.R.'s Family BBQ in Norman, Oklahoma, USA updating the Q&A Section of this very website. The questions are provocative, the answers are stimulating, and the dialog is overall compelling. O.K., so I embellish, I am a wrestling announcer by trade. But wait there's more.....BILLY MAYS HERE...J.R.'s thoughts on Naitch.

Some folks who follow yours truly on WWE TV flew in from Portland, Oregon to OKC Thursday to visit family as I understood it and they said that they made their first stop be at J.R.'s Family BBQ which I thought was mighty nice of them. I just wanted to mention that because it meant a lot to me for those folks to visit us today and to see the smiles on their faces while enjoy our food.

The conversation that Ric Flair had with Alex Marvez recently has many within the 'rasslin biz talking. I can't talk about it here but if you call my 900 #....wait, I just had a flash back. Those damned 70's are coming back to haunt me again.

Ric called me last Sunday morning and we had a nice talk and I could tell that "Naitch" was getting "the itch" to get back in the ring. He might be feeling somewhat burned out regarding all the autograph shows and meet 'n greets that he's done over the past several months. One can only imagine how much flesh Ric has pressed since retiring. Ric's driver's license may say that he is 60 years old but he still has the spirit and constitution of a 30- something year old, for better or for worse, depending on one's perspective.

Can Ric still perform in the ring at a competitive level. Hell, yeah. Should he? Well, that's another question that's a little tougher to answer.

I think every one should chase their dreams and do what it is in life that makes them happy and that is legal and ethical because there are no guarantees how long our time here on Earth will be. I chase my dreams every week as I still love "calling" wrestling matches. My wife says broadcasting wrestling is my "calling" and she may well be correct, as usual.

Without question, wrestling is Ric Flair's calling. When God thought of creating the image of a pro wrestler, an argument could be made that He had "Naitch" in mind. God must particularly love "The Champ" because Ric got a "pass" when he survived what could have been for him a fatal airplane crash many years ago that saw Ric suffer a broken back.

Much like many of my wrestling friends who are still performing these days and who have trouble getting out of bed in the mornings or playing catch with their kids, I often times cringe when I either hear of or see them wrestle. I had the same initial reaction when I heard of Ric's interview with Marvez.

But this isn't my call. I do have an opinion. It almost changes from day to day as a matter of fact. In a perfect world, for me, I would love for Ric to not risk life and limb at 60 and not wrestle again. I don't want to read of Ric Flair wrestling in a high school gym some place.

However, if Ric can return to a major stage and perform occasionally then I have less a problem with the matter. But here is the bottom line....my thanks to Stone Cold....it's Ric's life and he should do whatever he wants to do at this stage of the game that makes him happy.

This is not like Chuck Liddell having another UFC fight. UFC is sport and the magnificent Liddell has done enough to his body and for his sport to proudly and graciously say "Adi?s" to MMA. Pro wrestling is show biz and Ric is a magnificent showman who can entertain audiences in a variety of ways but Ric also has the curse of a performer in that once a performer always a performer and Ric likely would like just as soon "die on his sword" as not.

If Ric's act is going to live again, it needs to play "Broadway"..... for a limited time only. WHOOO!

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Ric Flair