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Dan Wahler Talks About The End Of Ric Flair's Career

Posted: Feb 28th 2008 By: CMBurnham

Dave Meltzer is paying me $20 million to do this column. Unlike Floyd Mayweather, I can't make it rain one hundred dollar bills on all of you, my loyal readers. But I will be sleeping in the money tonight inside my bulletproof metal vault like Scrooge McDuck if that makes you feel any better. WWE and Floyd Mayweather say he's being paid $20 million for his participation at Wrestlemania. But it's not like WWE has lied about anything before.

The match was made this past Monday on Raw. Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels, and you know the drill by now. If Flair loses he must retire, ending his 36 year career. His first pro match was in 1972 against a man named George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski. Many people believe his last match will be against Shawn Michaels in front of 65,000 or so people at Wrestlemania 24. And logic
would tell you that's what is going to happen. Flair is being inducted into the Hall of Fame the night before. He's getting a chance for one last moment in the spotlight before he waves goodbye to the sport that he has perfected better than anyone. He's wrestling Shawn Michaels, a man that has delivered on the Wrestlemania stage arguably better than anyone over his career.

The two are friends on screen, and off screen, and it's not a work when Michaels says he grew up wanting to be like Ric Flair. So it would seem like the ideal storybook ending, for Flair to walk off into the sunset after losing a classic match to a man he greatly respects. That would appear to be the story on the table for this year's Wrestlemania. And normally, I wouldn't expect anything different to happen. But there is another idea to explore, and I have to give credit to Bruce Mitchell of The Pro Wrestling Torch for initially putting this idea in my head with something he wrote not too long ago. Who says Ric Flair has to lose at Wrestlemania? Why does it have to be set in stone that Sunday March 30, 2008 will be the end of the road for the greatest wrestler of all-time?

I agree with Bruce, one of the foremost Ric Flair historians around today, and I don't think Wrestlemania has to be the end. I think there is another way to tell the story that would be more unpredictable and compelling of a story, and a more fitting way for Ric Flair to go out, and allow him to leave on his own terms. Ric's entire career has been predicated on following somebody else's terms, whether that somebody was Vince McMahon, Jim Crockett, Jim Herd, or anybody else you could name. It would be a really novel idea for his career to end on his terms. It would allow the man to regain some of the dignity that he has lost a long the way, most recently with the haphazard way his retirement storyline has been handled. There has been so many missed opportunities on things they could have done to make this farewell tour mean so much more, instead of having it minimized to the point that it's really become an afterthought in most people's minds. And that is a genuine shame.

Most of Ric Flair's greatest opponents and associated are currently involved in the WWE in some form or another. How about a one night Four Horsemen reunion? Arn Anderson works for the company, and yet he hasn't been seen on TV once during this whole scenario. Tully Blanchard is around, he participated in the Four Horsemen DVD that was out last year. You'd have to lock JBL in the back room when he showed up, but Tully could easily show up for a special, one time appearance. Ditto JJ Dillon, who I know left on very bad terms with Vince McMahon when he was head of talent relations. But I have a feeling he'd show up for Ric Flair. It wouldn't be quite The Four Horsemen without Ole Anderson, and I know his health is not well currently, so I don't know whether him showing up would even be a possibility. But Barry Windham is with the company now as a road agent, and he's a former Horsemen, so is Dean Malenko.

As for all-time great Flair opponents, Ricky Steamboat and Dusty Rhodes are both currently with the company. Harley Race has a great relationship with the McMahons, so I'm sure they could get him to show up for a special appearance. What about Terry Funk? Bring him in too. What about former Flair partners and opponents like Roddy Piper, Greg Valentine, and even Vader? The opportunities that are available to really pay proper tribute to Ric Flair's career are mind blowing, and they wouldn't involve much effort on the company's part, or them having to work with people they don't like. Most of the guys I just mentioned are already currently WWE employees, so it's really embarrassing that they haven't used any of them in Flair's retirement storyline. Now maybe they have something planned before Wrestlemania, I don't know.

I know it doesn't seem likely with the way this storyline has been slapped together, and hurried along, however. Like I've said before, you can only do one Ric Flair retirement storyline, and if you're going to put the time in to do it, then there is only one way it should have been done, and that's the right way. This thing hasn't been done the right way so far, that's for damn sure. But putting that aside, in looking at Flair's match with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania that
everyone expect him to lose, I don't think he necessarily has to lose. What if Flair were to beat Michaels on that night? Wouldn't that just surprise everyone? Wouldn't that just be the curve ball of all curve balls? Everyone's expecting him to do the predictable thing, and go in there, and get pinned right on the center stage of Wrestlemania.

Knowing Flair, and how much he has done for putting guys over during his career, I bet that would probably be the way he'd choose go out too. It's never been about wins and losses for him, It's always been about how you got to the win or loss, and about making your opponent look his best. It's been about Flair carrying the proverbial broomstick to a good match, whether that broomstick was named Lex Luger, El Gigante, Sting in his early career, Kerry Von Erich,
or so many others. The roles are reversed this time, and at 59 years of age, it's going to be Flair relying on Shawn Michaels to make him look good. And on the grand stage of Wrestlemania when the lights are on brightest, and all eyes are on you, the pressure to have a memorable match must be immense. Wrestlemania is one of those shows where if you have a classic match, you will be remembered forever. Equally, if you stink up the joint, you will also be remembered forever, but for an entirely different reason.

So you know what, when Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels meet at Wrestlemania in about one month's time, I think Flair should win the match. I really do. Vince McMahon is all for swerving the fans every chance he gets, so here's his opportunity for the perfect swerve. Here's how I would do it:

Everyone thinks Flair is losing, him and HBK have a truly classic match, which I believe they will. Flair has Michaels in the Figure Four, but Michaels narrowly makes the ropes just in time. Michaels makes his comeback, and *boom* Sweet Chin Music...match over, career over, right? Wrong! Flair kicks out of the Superkick at about 2 and 9/10. The place erupts, the figurative roof blows off the Citrus Bowl (hope you people going to the show bring your umbrellas that
night). Michaels, showing frustration, tries a variety of quick pinning combinations: an inside cradle, a backslide, a jackknife rolling cradle, and Flair keeps kicking out. Michaels goes for the Superkick again, this time Flair grabs his leg in mid kick, puts him down on the mat, and slaps on the Figure Four one more time, right in the middle of the ring. Michaels taps. Match over, Flair wins. Crowd gives both men a standing ovation. They hug, kiss, whatever. Flair lives to fight another day. And he has his Wrestlemania moment, which is the one thing he has never really had during his career. He has never had that standout Wrestlemania moment. This would be it. Tell me that doesn't sound better than the predictable HBK beats Flair scenario.

After this, and after having beaten one of the top stars on Raw, maybe Flair asks for a title shot against presumably the new WWE Champion, his buddy for life, Triple H. Why couldn't they do HHH/Flair for the title at Backlash? If they did it the right way, with the great promos we know Flair is capable of, and all the video packages, and the pomp and circumstance that a match like that would deserve, the match would almost certainly do a way above average (for a "B" show) PPV buyrate. You know, basically do what they didn't do when Flair and Hunter met on Raw in Greensboro at the end of last year.

And maybe Triple H beats Flair to put the final stamp on an unparalleled career. Maybe Flair shocks the world one more time, and wins his 17th (according to WWE math, anyway) World Championship. Maybe they have that golden moment with Flair celebrating in the ring with his family and friends, with the pyro and confetti going off. They certainly didn't have pyro when Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes for his first World Heavyweight Championship on September 17, 1981 in Kansas City. Then what, you ask? They could go in any number of directions after that, and that's the beauty of all of this hypothetical stuff I'm suggesting today. It doesn't have to necessarily be one way, in wrestling there are always a million ways to do something.

Maybe Flair comes out the night after Backlash on Raw, at a Raw I will be attending at the Meadowlands here in NJ incidentally, and he forfeits the title. He says he wanted to see if he still had one more in him. He did it. He shocked the world one last time, and now he's walking away on his own terms. Imagine the emotion in the building that night, and the emotion all around the world as people watch on television. You want to create a moment. There's your moment. The other, more conventional way is they do a Flair/HHH rematch on Raw the next night, or even stretch it out to the following PPV, which is Judgment Day. There HHH finally beats Flair to win back his title, they have their hugging and crying moment in the ring, and Flair walks off into the sunset.

Like I said, there are so many possibilities out there. The canvas is blank right now. Everyone assumes Vince McMahon is going to paint a Ric Flair loss to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, and be done with the whole thing. But as I have tried to point in out in as much detail as possible, it doesn't necessarily have to be that way, nor is that necessarily the right way to end things. There is only one Ric Flair. There will never be another. There is only one chance to do this right, and do it with the respect and love that Ric Flair has earned from his peers, and his fans all over the world over the past 36 years. There is only one chance to say goodbye to the greatest wrestler of all-time.

Thanks for reading. See you next time. Until then, take care and be well.