High Road/Low Road 05.25.07: The Carlito/Ric Flair Feud
Posted by Chad Nevett on 05.25.2007
At Judgment Day, Ric Flair and Carlito met for the first time since Carlito's heel turn. Has this been a good feud or a bad feud? Was the match at Judgment Day any good? You decide in this week's High Road/Low Road.
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road! A brief explanation of the column: Uncle Trunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for Jay Lethal:
High Road: 66%
Low Road: 22%
Both Roads: 12%
E-Mails:
These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.
John Bryant Writes:
Let's say WWE wanted to do a Sting or Jeff Jarrett DVD about their careers, Sting of course being in WCW. Could they legally do it since they own the footage that they would put on the DVD?
Sat: The WWE was able to produce a DVD on the Warrior Warrior without his permission, so they could do the same thing for Jarrett and Sting if they wanted to.
Uncle Trunx: They could certainly use the archive footage of either man, but you have to ask why on earth they'd make a DVD about someone who wrestles for the competition.
This week's High Road/Low Road featuring...
The Carlito/Ric Flair Feud
High Road:
This feud between Ric Flair and Carlito has made a ton of sense. Ric Flair, the veteran, gets mad at the rookie for taking things for granted. The rookie respects the veteran and listens. Eventually, the rookie gets pissed and feels that he is better than the veteran. This is a simple formula that always works and it has worked for this feud.
Low Road:
It is a simple formula and it would work well except that, sadly, Ric Flair's age is catching up with him. My first ever low road was about Ric Flair as a full time wrestler and sadly, he's deteriorated further since I wrote that column. The man is a legit legend and while I'd never be in a position to tell him what to do, he's no longer the wrestler he was even a few years ago.
High Road:
The WWE is notorious for blowing great feuds in a matter of weeks and I was expecting the same thing for this feud. However, this has not been the case for this feud. I believe this feud started in the beginning of February when Ric Flair gave that amazing promo. Since, that time this feud has gotten better and I believe that the reason for this is that it has taken about three months to get to this point. The slow build has really helped to build the interest level for this feud.
Low Road:
Unfortunately, that promo was the high point of the feud. I hope it pays off really well down the line somewhere, as having the opening promo as the high point of a feud doesn't suggest that it's one for the ages.
High Road:
Carlito needed to become a heel and this feud has allowed for that to happen. As a baby face, Carlito had become stale and irrelevant. Carlito has shown the ability to be a great heel. Ric Flair is the master at getting people to hate somebody and he is also loved by the fans. These two things are going to really help Carlito.
Low Road:
As recently as three years ago, this feud would have cemented Carlito as a legit heel who was going places. However, in the past months we've seen Ric Flair used as the punchbag for Orton and Edge, and seen him beaten by Kenny from the Spirit Squad. Now he's beating Carlito cleanly – hardly a sign that Carlito is someone to be taken seriously as a threat.
High Road:
My initial fear for this feud was that it was going to be a feud that only happened on RAW. I had some serious doubts whether this feud would even make it to a pay per view. I am happy to say that the first match of this feud will happen at Judgment Day. Kudos to the WWE for putting this match on the Judgment Day card.
Low Road:
I was glad to see the match on the Judgement Day card, until the match actually happened. In the end, it disappointed me. The match just wasn't very good, and that didn't help the feud one bit.
High Road:
Carlito and Ric Flair had an intercontinental title match in 2005. The match was decent, but there was really no back story to the match. I expect this match to be better because there is a back story to this match and the fact that both guys have shown the ability to put on some decent matches.
Low Road:
The back story helps, but the back story was not enough to make up for a sloppy match which, I think, the wrong guy won in terms of long term development.
High Road:
When I heard that this match was going to happen, I felt that Carlito had to win this match. Has we all know, Ric Flair won the match with the figure four leg lock. And when I gave it some thought, I came to the same conclusion as the WWE. It makes sense for Ric Flair to win because he has about twenty more year experience than Carlito. If Carlito had won this match, then most likely this feud was most likely going to be over. This feud needs to continue and the best way for that to happen is for Ric Flair to win.
Low Road:
He also has a body which has absorbed twenty years more punishment than Carlito, and it really shows. Carlito's credibility is seriously harmed by this loss, I feel. Had he not made the comments he did around the time of Wrestlemania, I get the feeling he might've won this one, but I guess we'll never know. Either way, I don't see this feud leading to big things for Carlito if he's submitting cleanly to Flair.
High Road:
The psychology of the match was good, but the match turned out to be nothing spectacular. This match was maybe two stars. I liked how Carlito worked on the arm because it showed that he knew that he had to wear Ric Flair out, but the process of working on the arm really slowed the match down. I understand why Ric Flair was getting chop happy, but there were way too many chops in this match. The WWE had the right idea with this match, but the match did not deliver.
Low Road:
I agree. The match didn't deliver. There was little point to the arm work, Carlito submitted cleanly in the middle of the ring and the match itself looked sloppy. Sadly, it was a below par match in a feud which is exposing Ric Flair as past his best and pushing Carlito into obscurity.
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
High Road/Low Road Plugs
We are taking the high road on these articles so you should read them...
There are other articles that we didn't list, so check them out as well.
E-mail us your reasons for taking the High Road or the Low Road and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road at satuncletrunx@gmail.com. Your reply will be included in next week's column.
