High Road/Low Road 09.15.06: Ric Flair
Posted by Sat on 09.15.2006
Ric Flair is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Should he continue to wrestle or should he retire? You decide in this week's High Road/Low Road. Also, somebody else takes over the Low Road portion.
Welcome to the High Road/Low Road. This week We go back to the old format. Sat will do the High Road and somebody else will do the Low Road. Who is this somebody else you ask? He is the one, the only, the person that was formerly known as the E-Mail God, he is Uncle Trunx.
The Results for the Theodore Long:
High Road: 85%
Low Road: 15%
E-Mails:
Below are some of the e-mails that we received this week. We read every e-mail that we get, but we are unable to respond to all of them. That being said, keep the e-mails coming. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
freddy Neuwendyke Writes:
To be honest I think WWE should abandon the concept of general managers altogether. The brand split should be abolished too. Nobody past the age of 5 is buying the concept that RAW, Smackdown, and ECW are three separate companies and even the most casual mark knows perfectly well that Vince owns it all.
The concept of General Managers, CEOS, Chiefs, Sheriffs, Grand Poobahs or whatever has run it's course and has gotten stale. It's time to think of something new instead of still rehashing the same ol' crap. It's time to put the Attitude era to rest and do something new.
Sat: Sheriff Austin was bad. Very bad. I actually like the concept of general managers, but they should only be general managers. They should not wrestle at all; they should just make the matches. Everybody knows that Vince owns RAW, SmackDown and ECW, but it is the fresh matchups and more wrestlers getting a chance that makes it interesting.
Jenni Ulrich Writes:
I think that having Theodore Long for GM of Smackdown is a good thing
because he treats all the superstars of Smackdown the same. He doesn't give
some of the wrestlers special favors. He is just what the WWE needs in a GM.
Theodore Long is the best GM of any WWE show ever.
My idea of the next high road/low road is ECW: Should it be a wrestling org
on its own or not?
Sat: The thing that really separates Theodore Long from all the other general managers are that he doesn't listen to anybody and he doesn't give any wrestlers special favors. And I agree with your assessment that he is the best GM that the WWE has had. Your suggestion for a future High Road/Low Road has been noted. Look for it in the future.
Matt Short Writes:
Wow, you guys keep post my emails so I'll just keep right on sending them. Makes me feel loved.
I thought both of your takes on Theodore Long as the Smackdown GM were great. Just as I think Teddy Long is a great person to have as a GM, so this column was a definite high road. Did I ever think that it would work out with him as GM? Not after his time managing Rodney Mack, which I think in retrospect could have been a lot worse. And that he has been the longest GM to serve on Smackdown in.. forever proves that he was the right choice I think. It's very refreshing to have the face authority figure not constantly making life hell for a heel. Long stays relatively neutral. This keeps him off TV a lot which I think adds to why he's still around. If he came out every week, made a match, then filled every commercial break with him going "Holla, holla, holla" at the brand's top heel, then he'd be much more repetitive. But instead we see Long being more of a GM. Doing business stuff, like someone who was in charge of a sports entertainment brand would do. Like for example all his recent contract negotiations with MVP or even with last year's start of the new talent initiative. He does the contract signings, he announces important matches without being involved in the storylines himself. And it fits his character, since when he was a manager he was all about the business aspect of it. It's rare to have an impartial authority figure, be they a face or a heel. I mean, even Mick Foley's tenure as WWE commissioner was just him having fun at Triple H's expense.
I will admit that having a GM for this long has worn out Teddy Long's character a bit. And it wouldn't surprise me much if at some point they decided on moving him somewhere else. With the MacMahon's running Raw right now, I don't think it would be wise to turn him heel because then every WWE show would end up being the same with the rebellious babyface against the evil GM. However, with the Hell in the Cell match coming up there's always a small possibility that the MacMahon's will take some time off and give the reigns to a new GM. The only problem then is getting Long out of the GM position since he's not involved in storylines so he can't be involved with some angle on that brand. The only way I could think of doing it might be this: at the Survivor Series PPV for the Raw vs. Smackdown match have whoever is GM of Raw make a wager with Long that whichever brand loses, then the GM has to quit. The only problem there is getting someone to replace Long, unless the MacMahon's want to head over there to feud with a returning Great Khali who is rumored to turn face. And if that happened I think it'd be safe to say that it's time to cancel Smackdown.
Sat: If you take the effort to write in an e-mail, I will take the time to respond to it.
I don't think anybody believed that Theodore Long was going to work as General Manager. Right before he became the general manager, he was managing Mark Jindrack. Just goes to show that thinking out of the box can work. Theodore Long right now is doing everything that a general manager should do.
Theodore Long has been general manager for awhile and that is hurting him. He has been general manager for two years. But, it does seem less than that because he is rarely on TV. Vince McMahon's run as general manager seems longer than Theodore Long. Your suggestion for the Survivor Series is great. The only problem that I see with that is Long's team can't have any heels in it because in reality they would have to purposely lose to get rid of him because he has made their lives hell.
This week's High Road/Low Road featuring...
Ric Flair
High Road:
Ric Flair has a bunch of things going for him, but one of the things that hasn't wavered for him is the fans' support. The fans' support is very important because it is needed for any wrestlers to be successful. The fan support for Ric Flair is amazing and sometimes I am even shocked with the reaction that he gets. There are many wrestlers that are unable to get a reaction and Ric Flair can be used to teach them the art of how to get a reaction. Finally, we see a bunch of legends returning that don't get a reaction, i.e. Hacksaw has to start the U.S.A chant to get a reaction. When Ric Flair comes out, you instantly hear a reaction because of who he is.
Low Road:
Sadly, the problem is that the fans aren't reacting for who he is; they're reacting for who he was. Even then, it's not a universal reaction in my experience; I have been to a WWE show where the young children were asking why an old man was wrestling when Ric Flair came out to the ring. By carrying on now, as a shadow of his former self, he is only tarnishing that legacy and the end result will be a generation of fans who remember him as a washed up has been. Ric Flair deserves a better legacy than that.
High Road:
Ric Flair's wrestling skills are nowhere near what they used to be, but his wrestling skills are still better than half the wrestlers on RAW. Ric Flair has also shown that he can wrestle the hardcore style, which I thought would be impossible for him. Ric Flair should retire when he is unable to wrestle or when he no longer wants to wrestle. Right now, Ric Flair can still wrestle and he should continue to do so. Also, Ric Flair was 411's first ever Wrestler of the Year. This shows that he still able to wrestle at his age and he is still able to impress the most demanding fans.
Low Road:
That's less of a high road for Ric Flair and more of a low road for the rest of the Raw Roster! That he was 411's first ever wrestler of the year is not all that relevant in terms of his in ring work now; I'm sure Bruno Sammartino won many similar awards through his career but that doesn't mean I want to see him murdering his legacy now.
High Road:
In wrestling, promos are very important because you have to explain to the fans why you are feuding with somebody. For example, if you attack somebody, you have to explain why you did what you did. You would think that most wrestlers would be able to give promos, but this is not the case in the WWE. There is one man in the WWE that has not struggled with promos and this man is Ric Flair. Ric Flair is capable of giving a great promo from time to time, but he will always give a solid promo. This will help the other wrestlers because they can see for themselves on how a good promo is given and also see how he gets a reaction from the fans.
Low Road:
Ric Flair could still give promos as a manager, and could help other wrestlers to learn the art of giving promos without being an active competitor.
High Road:
Ric Flair is no longer a main eventer, but he can still be used to help some of the younger wrestlers. The reason that I say this is that when a wrestler beats Ric Flair, it still means something. This makes him a valuable commodity to have because there aren't that many wrestlers that can be used in this position. We have seen the WWE use Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Brooklyn Brawler, and Kamala in this position, but nobody expects these "legends" to win. The opposite is true for Ric Flair because people still think that he can win, so it makes the wrestler that he beat look that much better.
Low Road:
Does it still mean that much to beat Ric Flair? He's now being jobbed out to Umaga in one minute. It's a sad end to a great career, a career which should have seen one of the all time greats go out on top. Now he is little more than enhancement talent and if he keeps wrestling, I don't think it'll be long before he's jobbing on Heat.
High Road:
Besides his promos and his wrestling skills, Ric Flair could be used to mentor somebody. Ric Flair has already had a major impact when he was mentoring Randy Orton and Batista in Evolution and he could be used in this role with other wrestlers. An example of this could be that Ric Flair could start to mentor Shelton Benjamin and Benjamin would benefit greatly. Right now, Shelton Benjamin isn't doing much, but you put him with Ric Flair and suddenly Shelton Benjamin begins to look good. We all know that Shelton Benjamin has problems with his promos, so by putting him with Ric Flair, you give him a mouthpiece and somebody that can help him became a better performer. Ric Flair could do this with many more wrestlers as well.
Low Road:
He could play the mentor role equally well as a manager. That way, he would still have an on screen role, would still be a valuable part of the talent pool and would still be able to give the benefit of his presence to whoever he was mentoring without having to kill his legacy dead. Surely having the experience and wisdom of the most decorated champion in history to draw on would be a massive boost to a young wrestler? This way, Flair could still take bumps fairly frequently and could still appear on Raw without having to wrestle a full schedule.
High Road:
One of the arguments against Ric Flair is that he is not in the best of shape, but I give him a pass on the look because he is 57 years old. Also, looks are not the most important thing in wrestling. The most important thing for a wrestler is can he wrestle and can he talk? If you believe that looks are important, than I have one name for you. Chris Masters. Chris Masters had a great look, but his wrestling skills and promos suck. We have seen a bunch of legends return that are not in that great of shape. Kamala and Roddy Piper have wrestled and they have worse physiques than Ric Flair. Also, the wellness program will begin to take effect and all of those great physiques will be gone.
Low Road:
Looks aren't the most important thing in wrestling but they are important and it's sad to see Ric Flair looking as old and tired as he does now. Granted, he never based himself on look as much as on charisma and ability which is partly why I think he can still appear, but comparing him to other legends is beside the point; none of them should be wrestling these days either. The comparison with Chris Masters is also not that relevant as the two are completely different styles of wrestler. The bottom line is that Ric Flair is a 16 time world champion who has had great matches and great feuds across many years, who unfortunately has remained as an active wrestler long past his prime, and is thus soiling his proud legacy.
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
Plugs
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