The Fink's Payload 07.30.07: Ric Flair's Final Matches
Posted by Halden, Adamson and Wilcox on 07.30.2007
In the latest edition of the hottest fantasy booking extravaganza on the web, Rob, Matt & Dan rate your suggestions for how to book Nature Boy's final run in the wrestling world, and then the Payload's Threesome give up their own suggestions for the 16 time World Champ.
Rob: Welcome, welcome one and all to The Fink's Payload, the ultimate cross between fantasy booking and American Idol. I'm finally back on the board of judges, and you may have all had an easy ride without me, but it's business in usual now. As ever I'm joined by….
Dan: Hey, yo.
Matt: I'm Matt Adamson of "Destiny" and soon to be "Going Old School" writing video reviews, make sure to check those out when they get up on the site.
Rob: Last week's homework was a great assignment, as Ric Flair's career comes to an end in the next year, book his last 5 matches. We start Angelo Velotta, who's got a lot to say.
In your responses you'll probably get more then one Horsemen reunion and final Flair world title run, so I'm going to spice things up and book Flair's final months much differently then everyone else.
Over the course of the next few weeks Flair picks up several wins and climbs the proverbial ladder, with victories over Finlay, Dykstra, Chavo, Dave Taylor, and even a DQ win over Mark Henry. This has Flair in pretty good standings, and is thrown in a four way number 1 contenders match at Summerslam with Kane, Batista and Mark Henry. At one point Batista spinebusters Mark Henry off the apron leaving just Kane and Flair in the ring. Flair lowblows Kane and takes out his leg before locking on the figure four. Kane makes it to the ropes but accidentally takes out the ref when he gets up. With Batista and Henry brawling up the ramp Flair grabs a chair and drills Kane before reapplying the figure four. The ref gets up and raises Kane's hand once, twice-but not three times when a crowd jumping punk jumps over the guardrail and pulls out the ref. The hooded individual then hits Flair with a Side Effect before unmasking himself as Matt Hardy! Batista makes his way back into the ring and nails Kane with the Demon Bomb before picking up the win.
The week after Summerslam Flair calls out Hardy and asks him "Who the *bleeped out on tv* fuck do you think you are?" Matt Hardy then gives an amazing promo about how everyone is always so anxious for one more Flair run, one more for the books. A man who has gotten more title shots and runs then the ECW roster combined. Whereas on the other hand, count my title shots, oh wait a second am I not big enough to break through the glass ceiling? Am I not a good enough talker to break through the glass ceiling? Am I too unorthodox, too flashy to break through? Do I bust my ass every week on Smackdown to just linger around the midcard and collect a paycheck? I damn well want a world title shot, and before you get your sympathy shot before you retire, I am getting one." With that Matt Hardy leaves through the crowd.
The next week on Smackdown a match is booked for Unforgiven between Matt Hardy and Flair. At Unforgiven Flair wins by DQ when Matt Hardy sets Flair up on a table and hit the Mattitude through the table. The next few weeks Hardy and Flair cut promos on each other, and the week before No Mercy they have a pull apart brawl on Smackdown. At No Mercy in a No Holds Barred Match, Hardy wins after a bloody brawl. But after the match, a bloodied Flair beckons Hardy to come back for more. The two again have a pull apart brawl.
Leading up to Survivor Series the tension between Hardy and Flair continues to escalate. Hardy cuts a viscious promo with a mock grave in the ring for Flair and spitting on it, while Flair returns back by interfering in one of Hardys matches and crotching him. The match for Survivor Series is a Hell in the Cell. The match ends when Matt Hardy sets a ladder up on top of the cell and delivers a splash off the top onto Flair who is laying across three tables. After the match EMTs come to Flair's rescue. Next week on Smackdown Flair cuts a promo from the hospital saying he is going to be off for the next about two months, and he's got one match left in him before he retires and that is the Royal Rumble. Flair breaks down in tears saying this is his last shot, and he doesn't give a damn if he has a walker with him in the rumble, he'll use that to knock everyone out.
So the Rumble comes and Flair draws the draw of all draws, number 30! He enters the ring with Randy Orton , Batista, and HHH left. Flair and Batista work together and eliminate HHH. Then Flair turns his back on Batista and throws him over the top! This leaves Randy Orton and Flair. They staredown and you feel the adrenaline, Flair goes for a lockup but of nowhere Orton RKO's him!! Orton then tosses Flair over the top for the win!
So what does this booking of Flair do? It puts Flair in the spotlight for the end by giving him a winning streak, and oldschool long feud, a last glimpse of the limelight in the Rumble. It also takes a deserving Matt Hardy and pushes him out of the midcard and into the world picture, as well as sets up next year's Mania event, Cena vs. Orton for the world title.
Rob: Love the Matt Hardy push and the Rumble being Flair's last hurrah, although really he should have drawn Number 3 for some awesome parallels with the '92 Rumble, especially if he's not gonna win it. But that godawful e-fed-booked bump you had Hardy do off a ladder on a cell and through three tables…that was terrible.
Dan: Pushing Matt Hardy is always a good thing so you get points there, however putting him in a war of words with Flair isn't the smartest of moves because Flair will tear Matt to shreds. The idea of Flair and Hardy in a Hell in the Cell is quite unrealistic as well, not to mention that bump off the cage. The Royal Rumble stuff is decent but as Rob said, he should really enter number 3 or even 1 if he isn't going to win it. And oh yeah, from now on I'm giving each idea a star rating, because I'm cool like that. This idea gets. *1/2
Matt: That's a pretty darn good little setup you've got there and Rob didn't call you an idiot so it MUST have been good. I think the Rumble is a spectacular way for Flair to go, because if he's the last guy eliminated, the crowd will be able to show their appreciation to him after the match. It would also allow for a nice sending off by "the boys".
Rob: Nex up it's Elia, who's decided that we didn't have quite enough to read through this week, so wrote a freakin' novel for us. Cheers.
Smackdown July 27th: Kenny Dystryka vs Jimmy Wang Yang – Kenny wins with figure four in what should be a short match, he takes apart Yang's knee in the process to keep him grounded after being hit with a couple high-flying moves. After the match he continues to take apart the knee. Afterwards, backstage somebody tries to ask Kenny about his actions. He talks about his new mentor, his new trainer, and how his new trainer told him to take advantage of opportunities and that he's been overlooked and now he's going to start making an impact.
Smackdown Aug 3rd: Kenny vs Jimmy Wang Yang part 2. Jimmy comes out with his leg wrapped. Jimmy tries to use his usual high-flying maneuvers but tweaks his leg one of the moves. Kenny goes after the leg like blood, hitting dragonscrews and the like. He also does a couple of other Flairities- like wooing and getting back body dropped, he wins with a figure four again. When Kenny is being announced the winner, he takes the mic and again thanks his new trainer but still doesn't name any names. After finishing with the mic he again attacks Yang's leg and puts on the figure four again. Yang has to be carried out. The announcers automatically assume that Ric Flair is the man who is mentoring Kenny.
Smackdown Aug 10th: Flair's music plays and his titantron shows on the screen while the arena is pitch black. Kenny comes out with Flair's robe and struts to the ring. Kenny talks about how much he owes his new trainer and that even his new trainer bought him this amazing robe and that next week he'll be announcing who his trainer is. Announcers again play up the fact that Flair might actually be Kenny's trainer. Kenny says that nobody can stop his newfound streak. Matt Hardy comes out. Kenny faces off against Matt Hardy in a hardfought match-up, Kenny uses a chair on Hardy's leg while the ref is distracted by Hornswoggle running away from some cruiserweights. Hardy mounts a comeback and the finish comes when Kenny capitalizes on a missed yodeling legdrop.
Smackdown Aug 17th: Kenny comes out again in the robe and to Flair's music. He talks about how great his trainer is, how he's an all time great, he's never backed down from a fight, and how he's a legend all very vague stuff and that Flair is not that man. Flair used to be great but now he's the exact opposite a washed up nobody. He shows clips of how Flair lost to MVP in a U.S. title match and talks about how he hasn't been seen since. All of a sudden Flair's music plays. Flair actually comes out styling and profiling. Flair confronts Kenny. Kenny talks about how it's his goal to be better than Flair has ever been and how it's honor to introduce a true legend. All of a sudden Finlay comes out and knocks out Flair's knee with a shaleighlee (or whatever it's spelled). Finlay gives directions as Kenny attacks.
Smackdown Aug 24th: Flair meets up with Batista in the back, Batista says it's good to see his buddy back and Flair wishes him luck for the world title match at Summerslam. Flair vs. Finlay, Finlay tries to go after the leg again, Kenny on the outside helping Finlay by distracting the ref, Finlay using the sheleighlee. The end comes when Finlay attempts the figure four and Flair quickly rolls up Finlay with a surprise pin out of nowhere. Flair beatdown in the ring, when Flair gets back up he talks about how he's flattered but also that Kenny doesn't understand what being a great wrestler really is and that it's more than just setting up for a submission it's about being great all around, being a great wrestler, being a great submission artist, and being the dirtiest player in the game and he's going to show him how to do that this Sunday at Summerslam.
Summerslam Aug 26th: Kenny accompanied to the ring by Finlay. Finlay helps him out. Figure four by Kenny, roll up by Flair gets a real close near-fall. Figure four by Kenny, reversed. Kenny reverses it again and grabs onto Finlay to apply more pressure. Kenny and Finlay get caught by the ref. Kenny is arguing with the ref, Flair gets a pair of brass knuckles. Another close near fall when Finlay places Kenny's foot on the ropes. Flair taps out to the Figure Four.
Road to Unfogiven (Sept):
Smackdown Aug 31st: Kenny (with Finlay) comes out and says that Flair couldn't even keep up with a young stud like himself. And that Flair isn't even in the building tonight because of how badly he's been beaten. Batista comes out and says that he wants them in the ring for what they did to his friend. Finlay vs Batista (world title)- big schmozz as Kenny interferes, double-team on Batista…Kenny taunts the crowd into cheering for Flair. Flair never shows.
Show 2: Kenny/Finlay vs Jimmy Yang/Matt Hardy (Batista comes out afterwards for revenge but Kenny/Finlay duck out) – Kenny/Finlay say they'll get in the ring with Batista on only one condition, if it's a handicap match. Batista accepts. Batista takes on both men for a while. The numbers overwhelm him…until Flair runs out and attacks Kenny, Finlay/Batista brawl. Match is thrown out.
Show 3: Match becomes official.
Show 4: Pick your poison tag matches: Finlay/Kenny vs Hardyz, Batista/Flair vs Khali/Henry
Unfogiven Sept 16th: Finlay/Kenny vs Batista/Flair (Flair gets rolled up)
Road to No Mercy
Show 1: Flair is feeling really down, losing a lot of confidence, before his match, mentions how another upstart gave him a lot of trouble (Sting, anyone). Flair loses a lot of his confidence. Batista tries to snap Flair out of it and tries to hype him up for their tag title match. Flair/Batista vs Deuce/Domino, Flair gets pinned again after Kenny interferes.
Show 2: Kenny wins the U.S. title after Flair misfires his interference.
Show 3: Batista/Finlay (World Title Match) is set up for No Mercy. Flair is still down on his face. Batista says that Flair really should retire because he's not the same old Flair, he doesn't have it anymore, Batista walks out on him. Flair snaps. Moments later Flair challenges Kenny to a Title vs Career I Quit match.
No Mercy (October PPV) Flair/Kenny – I Quit match: Flair brings the fire back, the styling, profiling, son of a gun. A spot with Flair almost passing out is a must. Flair is able to hit a chair shot. A move off the tope rope and a figure four locked on to cause Kenny pass out to the pain. Flair celebrates.
Road to Survivor Series (November)
Smackdown Sept 21st: Kenny says that he never lost that match and that he's beaten Flair time and time again and he still can because Flair never changed. Kenny challenges him to a match, Flair says as long as it's a cage match. Kenny tries to back out, but Finlay pushes him into the match…saying that's not how he trained him.
Show 2: Flair vs Kenny (Cage match) – Flair pins Kenny clean in the ring.
Show 3: Batista reunites with Flair says that he knew he had it in him.
Raw/Smackdown Show 4: Interpromotional build. Finlay vs Triple H, Randy Orton vs Batista, Ken Kennedy vs Flair, Kenny vs Shawn Michaels.
Survivor Series: Nov 18th: Finlay/Kenny/Randy Orton/Ken Kennedy vs Flair/Batista/Triple H/Shawn Michaels (Interpromotional Survivor Series Match): Tease Batista/Flair dissension and Finlay/Kenny dissension.
Road to Armageddon:
Smackdown Nov 23rd: Flair vs Batista (non-title match), Very friendly match, Batista takes it to Flair too lightly and Flair takes advantage and gets the upset. Batista gives him his hand to shake. But Flair doesn't take it and walks out on Batista.
Show 2: Batista wants an answer and demands that Flair come out there that instant. Flair tells Batista how he needs a title shot, how he needs to know, can he do it one more time. He won't shake Batista's hand until the end of their match together and that he doesn't want Batista to hold anything back. Brings up how Batista never came out to help him against Kenny on his return. Batista says the same thing about Flair after Summerslam.
Show 3: Flair can have whatever match he wants at this point. Maybe one final match with Hunter.
Armageddon: Flair gets one last title shot against Batista and definitely keeps up with the champ but ultimately loses, actually the match could go either way to be honest. But you said up to 2007, so he's going to have to lose for that too happen.
Afterwards they can start building towards the Smackdown Mania World Title match whatever that may be and Kenny has an inbuilt feud feud with his mentor, Fit Finlay culminating at Mania. This gives both a young up and comer something benefit from Ric Flair and it helps Batista's character, Finlay's character, Kenny's character, and most definitely gives Flair some more depth.
Rob: That….was great. That was one of, if not the, best booked suggestions I've read here at The Fink's Payload. Kudos. Not only was it all great action and angles that I'd want and pay to see, but you didn't go the annoying, IWC-dream-fest-fanboy route and book something ridiculous that would never be possible in the WWE. Great work. No insulting comments from me.
Dan: I want to like it. But in all honesty I see many faults. A Kenny vs. Flair would be crap, just like it was at the start of this year. I don't need to see them feuding again. Another thing, I don't want Flair's swansong to be against Batista. You can play up their friendship all you want but Batista is a drop in the ocean when it comes to Flair's career. Overall I feel it could just be an angle done for anybody on SmackDown, and not the final few months of the career of the greatest ever. *
Matt: Quite good though I don't like Flair losing his last one on one match. The thing I like most about this is Kenny's involvement and Flair giving him the rub. Very nice touch.
Rob: Next in the queue is Jason Pisano, who felt that something like "Flair's Last Five Matches" could only be told in FOUR FREAKIN PAGES! You people do know we don't get paid to read this, right?
Smackdown, the week after the Great American Bash:
After recently retaining his Title at the Great American Bash against heavy competition from the likes of Batista and Kane, Khali comes out in front of the Smackdown audience to gloat( through his translator of course). What he actually says doesn't really matter but it boils down to this, Khali is the largest world champion in history and no one can beat him. That in the WWE he is the man. He challenges anyone who thinks that they can, to come on down right now and stand toe to toe with the Giant Khali to prove they are man enough to try. The audience waits, welcoming anyone to challenge this behemoth of a man. Then over the PA comes the "WOOOOO" and enter Ric Flair with microphone in hand. "The Great Khali, Champion. Largest champion of all time. World Heavyweight Champion. Bet you think you are on top of the world right now? Big man? Well, you may be tall but you are not as big as Space Mountain, WOOOO!! You want someone to challenge, you got one big man, cuz you ain't the man until you beat, the man, WOOOO!!!" At this Flair tosses down the microphone and begins to run down to the ring. He is intercepted by a small group of the troops as several of the WWE road agents come down to stop Flair from getting into the ring. Amongst these men, the camera catches Barry Windham, Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat.
From the back we hear Teddy Long before we actually see him walk out before the crowd, "Now hold up playah. Now I can't let you get into the ring with that monster. Me and you both know you are not medically cleared to be in that ring. I can't let you get in there." Crowd boos, Ric Flair is struggling with the road agents holding him back. "There is no way I can let you into that ring tonight. But you know what I can do playah? At Summerslam, it will be The Great Khali, vs. ……Ric Flair for the World Heavyweight Title and you can believe that." Crowd eats it up, and Flair, while still seeming like he wants to get in the ring right now, seems to agree with that. From off screen, Khali, who had been standing in the ring prior to this comes over and kills Flair with a big boot. Several of the agents(Windham, Malenko, Anderson) get in between Flair and Khali and check on him to make sure he is alright. Steamboat is seen barely off screen looking
concerned as well.
The road to Summerslam: Smackdowns and house shows keep teasing the match. The build to the Flair Khali match continues, with Flair running around continually attempting to get physically involved with Khali, but people always their to stop it. Whether it be the road agents or his friends, like Batista. Meanwhile, Khali keeps killing jobbers on his march there. Funaki, both Majors Brothers, and maybe one match against Batista(which will be interrupted by Kane as he begins a feud with Batista).
Smackdown after Summerslam: We begin with Flair in the ring and a playback of the final few moments of the Flair Khali match from Summerslam. "They call me the dirtiest player in the game, but last night, I got beat at my own game. It happens. But, I'm not done. I took you to the limit big man. I would have had you beat, that belt should be around my waist, WOOOO. I
deserve a rematch and you will give it to me. WOOOO." Khali comes out and mumbles something or other, which his translator translates as "no rematch for Flair. I beat you. You are done." Khali returns to the back to a loud chorus of boos. The camera focuses on a very angry Flair, with Michael Cole stating the obvious that he doesn't think we have heard the last
of this. Later on Khali has a match with someone, maybe Kenny Dykstra and as Khali is going for the finish, Flair comes out and attacks Khali with the brass knuckles drawing the DQ. Flair continues to beat on Khali until Khali finally overpowers him and lays him out. WE get another promo from Flair, abit soaked in his own blood from the attack from Khali and he promises that he will keep on attacking the champ until he agrees to a rematch. When he leaves we get another glimpse of Steamboat in the background, just kind of shaking his head.
Road to Unforgiven: Flair continually disrupts everything Khali does(this is worthwhile for two
reasons, 1) it keeps the feud going and 2) it helps to hide the weakness of obvious in ring weaknesses of the champ), until he finally agrees to a rematch at Unforgiven. A No DQ match, where Khali actually manages to clearly yell out he will Break Flair.
Smackdown after Unforgiven: Flair is in the ring, bandaged, battered and with the Horsemen. He looks like he was up all night partying. Basically what follows is Flair and the Horsemen giving the newer fans a bit of a history lesson and we get JBL putting over the Horsemen HUGE. Flair says this is going to be the greatest reign ever. He makes sure to throw in some Jet flying, limousine riding, etc, etc, etc. Just Flair being Flair. Khali will demand his rematch that very night and we will actually get that match up on that very same Smackdown. It will not be
as good as their Unforgiven match but will be decent enough with much the same outcome, 4 on 1 and Khali just can't win, but once again Flair gets nearly killed by the Punjabi warrior.
Smackdown after the Smackdown after Unforgiven: At some point during the night we will finally have a confrontation between Ricky the Dragon Steamboat and Ric Flair. Ricky will basically let Flair know how concerned he is over him and the fact that Flair keeps getting physically dissected by Khali and others is just too much for his body to take. That he is just a
serious injury away from having his career and perhaps his life ended. And despite the fact that the two of them have had horrible wars in the past, Steamboat would hate to see Flair end that way and tarnish his much deserved legacy. Steamboat should come off as totally sincere here. He always was the great babyface and he should show it here. Have JBL on announcing discuss a bit of the history behind these two men and maybe time it with a Ric Flair month on WWE inDemand and have some of their matches prominently featured. Flair and the Horsemen will of
course ignore this warning as Flair is on top of the world and in his old true form. They will walk off and Steamboat will walk away still seeming concerned for his old rival.
Over the next few weeks leading to No Mercy we have a few title defenses for Flair not against Khali. Give some of the younger kids a chance to get in their with the Nature Boy and learn a little something about what it takes to build a great match. Flair will somehow or another get involved with the Batista Kane feud and it will be a tag team match between Flair and Batista
v Kane and a partner of his choosing. This partner will turn out to be Khali.
The Following Smackdown: We begin with the Cutting Edge. Edge talks about his rehab and the fact that he never lost the title. Basically he puts himself over huge as a heel. He then introduces his guest tonight, his personal trainer, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Mixed reaction of boos and cheers. Ricky basically explains the history behind him and Flair and that he knows that Flair will never retire as long as he is the champion, that is the kind of man Ric Flair is, so
Steamboat had to go out and help some one take that belt off of Flair so that he might be able to retire while he can still walk and enjoy the life he fought so hard for. To that end he went to Edge and helped him out. Taught him everything the Dragon knows about the Nature Boy. Every strength, and every weakness. Once again Steamboat should come off as genuinely trying to help out his friend and former rival. Flair will try to come out and ambush them but Edge will
catch him showing that he has already started to learn from Steamboats tutelage. We then begin the road to Cyber Sunday where it is learned that Edge and Flair will meet for the belt. During this time, Flair continues title defenses against some of the younger performers, showing them the ropes and in non-kayfabe terms, give them each a chance to be in the ring with the legend before he stops performing. During this time, Flair will lose Malenko from his corner as he,
like Windham, can not take seeing his friends get brutalized the way he is.
Smackdown after Cyber Sunday and the lead up to the Survivor Series: Sometime during the night, Flair will be interviewed. He will be in full on crazy Ric mode and he will want a rematch, anyway he can get it. He doesn't care what it takes or what the stipulation is. The remaining horseman, Arn Anderson, looks on a little surprised at what he said but says nothing. Next week Edge will agree to the match, and his stipulation of choice will be a Last man standing match. Steamboat will be in the background of this interview looking upset but resolved, hopefully portraying a man who doesn't want this to happen but knows it is the only way. The match will happen and to continue the story Arn says he can not stand in Ric's corner. He doesn't want to see his good friend get hurt and can't be there.
2 Smackdowns after Survivor Series: After being absent from the last Smackdown, Flair eventually comes out to the ring to cut a promo. In it he basically reviews his entire career and discusses where he is now. He discusses the past few months and how he got to be champion one more time. He then addresses Steamboat and calls him out to the ring. He lets him know he knows why Ricky had been doing this over the past months and he understands that maybe he should retire and that he will, on one condition. That Ricky faces him, one last time at the December PPV. So that he can prove to him and to everyone else, that he is in fact still the man. Hesitantly Ricky will agree to the match, as it seems to be the only way to guarantee that Ric will retire.
December to Dismember (Or whatever it will be this year) Final bout Ricky Steamboat v Ric Flair: This match is billed as the final match of Ric Flair. Throughout the match we get shots of several Wrestling legends at ringside, there to see the final match of the legend Ric Flair. Also, many of the wrestlers currently on staff will come out during the match and take up spots where they can be witness to this event. The match itself obviously can not retain the quality as their legendary matchups from the past, but with the knowledge that this is Flair's last match and both
veterans doing everything that they possibly can to make this entertaining, the emotions alone should make it an instant classic. At the end of the night, after a painful match where we see some of the great spots from both men(Flair flop, the attempt at a top rope maneuver from Flair and more awesome Steamboat armdrags) the match ends with Ricky having to tap out to the figure four. The audience erupts as the winner of the match is announced and the locker room empties. This match will be the final match of the night(hey it is fantasy booking after all) and Flair will stand in the ring, surrounded by the WWE superstars. In a very ROH moment, Flair will get to say good by to the fans and thank them for everything they have done. It will be a tear filled goodbye that will be replayed at nausea whenever Flair is brought up and all the superstars will get to say their good byes to the Nature Boy. All of the Horsemen who are still alive and even vaguely under WWE contract will end in the ring and give the Horsemen sign one last time. They all leave, leaving only Flair to soak in the cheers and applause from the fans one last time, and the screen fades to black.
Rob: Is…is it still July? Okay, okay, I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm in the game. That has some truly awesome psychology, especially the Ricky Steamboat stuff. And I do like the slow-build and the climactic final match with arch-rival Ricky. I'm not so hot on The Great Khali getting his ass handed to him by the Early Bird Special crowd. I don't care how many old people are attacking him, Khali should be able to take it and win. Also, after all the matches Edge has already had with Flair, and all the times Edge has beaten Flair to a bloody-pulp, I'm not entirely sure I buy the idea that Edge needs help understanding Flair and learning his weaknesses. But the psychology was great.
Dan: Well that was an interesting read. I thought the way you were going, you were just going to kill Flair off by putting him in the ring with Khali. Aside from the Khali stuff this was pretty much perfect if a little cliché. ****1/4
Matt: I really have nothing to add here. Slow builds are my thing, what can I say?
Rob: Now it's Bronbron's turn to gave Naitch a big send-off.
Ric Flair comes out on the smackdown after GAB and talks about how his career has been everything he hoped it would be except for one thing. After a solid minute or two of him talking about his past career, from NWA 1980's to WCW 90's till his days in the WWE. As he is saying this out comes Finlay and Hornswaggle(complete with his new cruiserweight title, how pathetic). Finlay says Flair is just an old washed up wrestler giving older wrestlers a bad name. He says Flair used to be able to go but couldnt last 5 minutes with a tough Irish bastard like Finlay. He says your on when Vickie (ugh) comes out and says they will be able to fight all they want, at summerslam!
Summerslam- Finlay and Flair are 2 on the card and get things going quickly as Flair tries to disect the leg of Finlay and Finlay just hits him with all he's got. About ten minutes into the match Flair has got Finlay in the figure four. Finlay struggles and struggles and seems as though hes about to tap when hornswaggle hits him in the head with the shillelegh while the ref isnt looking. Finlay reverses it and makes Flair tap to his own move!
On Smackdown Flair says Finlay doesnt deserve the win or his spot on the roster. He challenges him to a rematch, but this time its a loser leaves smackdown match! Vickie makes it official for Unforgiven.
Unforgiven- The match is noted as a no DQ by Cole. Flair starts out on the offensive chopping and wooing like crazy. He even gives hornswaggle a chop for good measure. He takes a chair and kills finlay's leg with it a few times. Some brawling leads to the announce table coming apart as Finlay delivers a celtic cross through the table! Flair is bloody and hurt and can't protect himself as Finlay and Hornswaggle destroy his leg with a chair and shillelegh. All this is happening when Double A runs out! Spinebuster to Finlay on a chair! Spinebuster to Hornswaggle! Flair gets the pin on Finlay and celebrates with Finlay in the ring.
The next smackdown Flair is in the back with Double A talking about how his career was almost over and thanking Anderson for helping him. Flair says Arn evened the odds and made it 2 on 2, besides they dont call me the dirtiest player in the game for nothing. MVP notices them and says Flair should be dissapointed in himself because the better man left smackdown( By the way Finlay went to ECW to help the youngsters and provide some veteran prescence) and Flair should hang the old boots up anyway. Double A steps up and says who do you think your talking to. He says without guys like me and Ric there wouldnt be any MVP BS. If you got the balls then get ready for a match with Ric at No Mercy!
No Mercy- Flair and MVP go at it in a decent match with MVP keeping the upper hand. MVP hits the playmaker at 14 minutes and pins Flair. He says give me the mike! " Ric, you can't keep up with me, im the new dirtiest player in the game, I truly am the man, and this is my ring so grab your walker and go home! Ballin!"( O, and by the way Matt Hardy is the United States Champion, btw)
Flair says he was humiliated and wants revenge. The Next Pay-Per-View is Cyber Sunday, and will let the fans choose a tag partner for him to fave MVP and a partner of his choosing. MVP talks to Kenny backstage and says his career has taken a bit of a tailspin and he is in a slump, teaming with the greatest wreslter on the smackdown roster is just what he needs. Kenny eagerly agrees and has a few squash matches throughout the weeks following. The fans have three choices for Flairs partner, Double A, Dusty Rhodes,or Ricky " The Dragon" Steamboat! the fans choose Ricky and were all set to go!
Cyber Sunday- Flair and MVP start it out wtih a hot crowd. After about 8 minutes of Flair playing face in peril, he gets the hot tag to Ricky and its chops for everyone! Crossbody from the top rope to Kenny while Flair has the figure four on MVP and Flair gets the submission.
On Smackdown Flair and MVP get in a litle bit of a promo battle and MVP goes " You aint half the man you used to be" while Flair says " I may not be half the man i used to be, but I'm still twice the man you are, and at Survivor series, were going to have a ladder match, winner gets to fire his opponent!"
Survivor Series- As a brief interlude from tag action, Flair and MVP go at it. Flair blades and is bleeding all over the place as is MVP. Flair has the figure four locked on the top of the ladder and drops MVP. MVP fights gallantly and delivers a playmaker of the ladder to flair through a table! MVP wins.
On Smackdown Flair says if MVP has any guts he will come out to talk to Flair. MVP says get ready to be fired, you were a minor roadblock on my path to greatness, and I have a United States Title to win back. Flair says to face him at Armegedden in an Iron man match for 30 minutes. He says he needs to prove to himself if he can really still go.
Armegedden- MVP gets a fall from the playmaker at 12 minutes and then another with a small package at 22. All hope looks lost as a tired flair is being decimated. Flair gets the figure four out of seeminly nowhere! MVP taps at 27! A rejuvenated Flair is chopping and wooing as the crowd is going nuts. He is putting everything he has got into this. Low blow! Figure Four! MVP won't tap! the crowd is on their feet as Flair is bouncing up and down trying to make him tap. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The match is over and Flair has lost. MVP celebrates as Flair hits another low blow and puts him right back in the figure four and makes him tap. Crowd is cheering and Flair bows. Crowd chants Thank you. Ric grabs a mike and says tonight has showed him that he had a great career, but now its time to let the younger guys go. He says if MVP doesnt waste his talent he can be great, maybe even as good as Flair, but for now, he better prepare himself as Flair personally set up a title match for the winner of their match against Matt hardy for the United States championship afterwords. MVP fights hard but loses to a twist of fate.While he might lose that match, he would set up a long feud wiht pletny of great matches.
Rob: First and foremost, Hornswoggle as Cruiserweight Champion is awesome and you should be ashamed for thinking otherwise. I don't get why MVP didn't fire Flair. He won a big-ass match for the power to fire his enemy…and then decides not to? The heel would never agree to one more match just to give Flair some more glory. Also, sticking Matt Hardy with Edge's heat-generating-heel-gimmick at the end make even less sense. That kind of sneaky, back-door cowardly tactics are reserved for…you guessed it…heels.
Dan: I can't say I'm a big fan of all the interaction with MVP and Flair, and some of the younger guys like Dykstra. And like Rob said the whole "firing" stuff is a waste of time to say the least. Some fun points but mostly disappointing. **
Matt: What? This just doesn't make sense in WWE's way of thinking. What it sounds like to me is an idea that would come out of an indy fed (not one of the good one's either). It lacks the illogical mumbo jumbo that has become so essential to WWE these days. Seriously though, beside having seen this a dozen times before, it's never worked where it counts.
Rob: Reichou Shinsake takes the next swing at Flair's final run.
Around the beginning of the year, Flair starts dropping hints in his promos
about the end being near, talking about how the new year has brought new
things to light. After his matches, he often spends extra time to look out
at the crowd and shake hands, etc... The announcers discuss various
achievements in Flair's career during his matches and even openly speculate
how much longer he'll be around. Guys are seen in the backstage area
watching old Flair matches (and promoting WWE 24/7) and breaking them down.
Flair is often seen backstage mentoring young wrestlers (which could
translate into a managerial role for him if still needs money). Anyway, his
pre-match advice helps some lower-card wrestlers score some upsets; and he
even gives relationship advice to guys like Teddy Long (who by this point in
time probably will be dumped by Kristal) and Mark Henry (to help him get
back to his "Sexual Chocolate" ways). Matt Hardy is seen in the background
disagreeing with Flair's advice to someone on how to get a woman who's
involved in a relationship, but no one makes a big deal out of it at the
time.
At the Royal Rumble, midway through the Rumble, #1 entrant Ric Flair (who
the announcers are talking about possibly repeating his Rumble win from many
years ago and being the oldest person to main event WrestleMania) and Matt
Hardy are clearing house when Flair dumps Hardy out, before being thrown out
by someone else. Again, no one makes a huge deal out of it at the time, but
it's there.
At No Way Out a few weeks later in February, Flair approaches fellow North
Carolina resident Matt Hardy to give him some advice before a big match, but
the advice backfires. Matt hunts down Flair afterward and lays an
absolutely savage beating on him. Flair is taken to the dreaded nearby
medical facility.
The next week, Hardy explains his actions, saying that he should never have
listened to Flair, wrestling has passed Flair by, and he'll finally create
his legacy by ending Flair's. Flair sends a message via satellite
discussing Matt Hardy's inferiority in regard to both wrestling and with
women; and although he'll get Hardy back. Matt Hardy fumes and then storms
up the ramp to the backstage area, and then is seen going into a dressing
room to meet with someone.
Next week, Hardy is in the center of the ring, saying that this is "Hardy
Country" now and basically calling out Flair. Flair comes to the ring,
momentarily kicking Hardy's ass, but then gets beat down by Gregory Helms
and Shannon Moore. The 3 challenge Flair to find 2 partners for a 6-man
match later in the night. Batista is gone (either a night off or a fake
injury - or a real injury by then, if he stays this injury-prone), so that
scratches Flair's first choice. Flair returns at the end of the program
with the Major Bothers (or some other face team in desperate need of a rub),
but Hardy and his former OMEGA buddies score the pin after The Great Khali
interferes. Hardy has the nerve to say he has built the New Horsemen
(hardly a good replica, but I think the best way for WWE to capitalize on
the Horseman name is by having a very half-ass version the fans will shit on
since they cannot duplicate the real Horsemen).
Flair cuts a promo describing how he was jumped by these bastards; but he
understands strength in numbers and is still the dirtiest player in the game
and will make sure that never happens again by auditioning his own back-up.
The next week, backstage vignettes are shown for tryouts - with judges Dean
Malenko, Arn Anderson, and Ric Flair (since they're all under contract).
People like Eugene, Funaki, Deuce & Domino, Hornswoggle, and Cryme Tyme
audition for a spot; but are all denied. Flair says he'll find another way.
Flair challenges Hardy to a match at WrestleMania, but if Hardy really wants
to create a legacy, he'll do it in the most dangerous match of them all -
Hell In A Cell. Hardy agrees.
The next week, announcers ask Flair if he's out of his mind to be risking it
all like this, and Flair says that he realizes that a match like this may be
his last ever. Hardy is interviewed, and he says that not even Hell In The
Cell can keep his New Horsemen out of the match, and they'll end Flair's
career on the biggest stage of all.
At 'Mania, Flair and Hardy put on a great match until the end; the two are
on the outside of the ring between the cage and the apron when Shannon
Moore (posing as a ringside photographer) pepper sprays the referee!
Gregory Helms runs down the ramp and grabs the controller to raise the cage,
and then grabs a microphone calling for Khali who is nowhere to be seen.
The TitanTron shows Khali laid out in the dressing room, as Arn Anderson,
Dean Malenko (and any other Horsemen alumni who can come to the show) storm
the ring. The real Horsemen lower the cage back down, handcuff Helms and
Moore to the cage, and beat the shit out of Matt Hardy while Helms and Moore
watch helplessly. Arn grabs the referee's hand and makes the 3-count, and
the dirtiest player in the game goes out on top - I know that it's customary
to go out on your back, but hasn't Flair jobbed enough in the last year?
This is Ric f'n Flair, man!
Rob: Wow, people really love to turn Matt Hardy heel on Flair this week, huh? Also, they all love to see Khali take a beating from a bunch of Senior Citizens. A new version of the Horseman has been done and it's name was Evolution, but I don't hate what you're doing, especially since Gregory Helms is awesome. And I know that folks love Flair and the Horseman now and that there were heels then but I can't stand this face/heel confusion that everyone seems to be making this week. You shouldn't be having the good guys handcuff the bad guys to the ring and beat them merciless. You take all heat from the heels, bury them completely and run the risk of the crowd turning on the whole damn thing.
Dan: Totally agree with Rob on this. Too much grey areas can be a bad thing. Turning Matt heel probably wouldn't do his career any favors either. And Khali isn't going to get beaten down by a load of old guys. I think there is too much trying to mix the old guys with the new guys this week.
Matt: Do you people conspire with each other before you email us? First Chavo/Mystero now Flair/Hardy. What the honest hell? It's not customary to go out on your back when you are at Flair's level. Just ask Verne Gagne about that one.
Rob: P-Kon is back up in this hizz-ouse bitches! Holla!
Well, i don't know if i misunderstood the assignment, but i'm going to put flair out at Mania...
The Smackdown! following No Mercy pits Ric Flair against MVP. ric wins via submission thanks to the figure 4. MVP beats down Flair afterward to a hord of boos. Next week, in a failing effort to liven up the pathetic title picture, Teddy long starts of the show by announcing that the World Heavyweight Title will be decided in an elimination Chamber! there will be a tournament throughout the show to determine who will enter. At the end of the show it is apparent that the competitors will be the Great Khali (defending) vs. Batista vs. Finlay vs. MVP vs. Ric Flair vs. Mark Henry.
The next week we have two triple threat matches to determine the order of entry. The winners of each will compete for the last spot, the others will be random. The Great Khali beats Batista and Finlay and Ric Flair beats MVP and Kane. During the Flair/Khali match, all the other competitors come out to help flair to victory and insure that khali will not gain the final entry.
Survivor Series: It comes down to Khali, Flair, and MVP. Flair has khali in the figure 4 and MVP lays on top of flair for the pin, not realizing that would leave him alone with Khali who makes short work of him for the retain. Next Smackdown Flair comes out and tells MVP that he made a rookie mistake and cost both of them their chance at the title. MVP comes out and says he did it cause he thought he'd be happy if Flair left without championship gold around his waist, but realized he'll only be happy when its around his.
So they have a number one contenders battle royal as the main event. 15 man over the top rope that comes down to MVP, Flair, Henry, and Batista. Flair lunges at MVP and eliminates both MVP and himself. Batista wins. Then the following SD! Vicki announces Flair/MVP at Armaggedon and the winner will be named number one contender for the title at the Royal Rumble. Henry comes out and says that a number one contenders match without him in it is about as good as a get out of jail free card in trivial pursuit. So Vicki makes it a triple threat.
Armaggedon: Batista beats Khali for the title. Triple threat is a back and forth contest and ends when MVP lays flair out with a chair followed by a playmaker on the chair. He doesnt pin, he walks out and Henry capitalizes with a splash and pin on flair.
Flair comes out on Smackdown! to address the people. To address MVP. To let everyone know how he probably wont wrestle much longer. About how many years he has been doing this and about how much he has accomplished. Yet there is one thing he hasnt done, one thing he needs to do before he can say goodbye forever. and that is to Beat some respect into MVP! Promos back and forth leading up to the rumble. Flair says on the sd! before the rumble that MVP needs to watch and learn what a fully grown, mature, smart, and admitedly dirty wrestler can do when he wins the royal rumble.
Royal Rumble: During the pay per view, they announce Ric Flair as the first inductee in the 2008 wwe hall of fame! Flair is out early as entry 10. MVP is out at 16 and takes out Flair and himself in the same way flair did so many weeks ago in the battle royal. MVP then drags flair around the ring and the arena just beating the hell out of him and bashing his head into every hard thing he can find.
Next SD! Mvp tells Flair to watch who he calls immature and dumb. he says that there is a reason he is the highest paid smackdown! superstar in franchise history. he says that he could do things as a rookie that flair still cant do. then he says that he has compared their careers and says that if flair retires, he might as well too. Flair comes out and tells him to put his money where his mouth is and challenges him to a retirement match at No Way Out. MVP accepts. throughout the month MVP pulls a number of shenanigans and gets the one up on flair. he tells him that its not too late to pull out of the match and retire on his own terms and try and salvage some dignity. flair says its still on. MVP says that he is about to be inducted into the hall of fame. and as an active wrestler! he says flair doesnt know when to quit and that he'll see him on sunday.
No Way Out: MVP beats Flair in the retirement match, of course causing Ric to have to retire. The following smackdown! ends with the MVP hyped Ric Flair's Farewell Address. Ric makes his way to the ring and says his peace. but before he says goodbye he has a request. Help him finish his goal. help him accomplish the one thing he said he needed to do. Give him MVP on the Biggest stage of them all. Give him one more chance, and win lose or draw, you'll never see him again.
The following week, Teddy comes out and says that he has cleared the match with the board, on the condition that MVP accepts. At the end of the show MVP accepts the challenge and Flair names the stip. A respect match. Similar to an I Quit match only in order to win, you have to get your opponent to say that they respect you.
Wrestlemania 24: Flair and MVP wrestle around the entire arena and are both bloody and exhausted. Flair gets MVP in a figure 4 on the stage and MVP cant get out. He taps a number of times but wont give flair his respect. Flair takes him in the ring and ends up in the figure 4 again later and MVP finally says he respects flair. Flair wins and MVP shakes his hand, gives him a hug, and raises his hand in the air.
Now i think MVP can respect flair and not turn face, cause i dont intend for him to be face following this.
Rob: Apparently the only options for Flair to work with are MVP, Matt Hardy, Finlay or Khali. I love the Respect Match and I love the Mania blow off. It might be a bit of a Foley-ending, what with Flair's career ending and then him still getting injected into Mania, but I quite liked it. And I agree that MVP shouldn't turn face off the back of it.
Dan: I don't know about this. It kind of seems like you're undoing all your hard work of putting MVP over by Flair beating him at Mania anyway. I really don't think I'd want to see Flair have a 6 month feud with anyone either. **
Matt: Rob, don't forget, there are no other wrestlers on Smackdown so he's screwed from the get go. Decent idea that actually uses some smarts. My two partners in crime did all the dirty work for me again. Halden, why am I always last?
Rob: And now there's just enough time for us to give our own suggestions for the end of Flair's run in the business. Since Sting is outside the realm of possibility, I'd go with something much less storyline-based. Ric Flair announces his retirement, thanks the fans and says that he has a few more matches left in him, and he wants to make them the very best of his career, to go out on a high-note. Therefore, the WWE have granted Ric the honour and the ability to pick his next five opponents for his dream matches. Flair says he's starting with a bang because at Summerslam he's going one-on-one with Shawn Michaels! HBK and Flair have a great match as rivals, no animosity beforehand and Flair gets a quick roll-up to win the match.
Flair takes some time off to heal after his awesome match with HBK, which builds anticipation for his next big, PPV fight. Flair announces that at Cyber Sunday his opponent will be none other than the WWE Champion John Cena! The fans vote not only for the title to be put on the line, but also for it to be a Steel Cage Match. Flair comes very close to winning but Cena escapes the cage and retains his belt.
Flair sits out the Survivor Series to again recoup and makes his next match feel like a special occasion. Flair announces that at Armageddon The Undertaker will return to action and face him in the ring. The two men have a knockdown, drag-out brawl with both men bleeding, but in the end Taker wins with the Chokeslam.
Flair returns at the Royal Rumble and challenges Triple H to a 2-Out-3 Falls Match. Flair takes the first fall with an inside cradle. Triple H takes the second fall with the Pedigree. Triple H tries to win the decisive fall with a Figure Four of his own, but Flair turns the hold over and Triple H taps out to the inverted pressure.
A weary Ric Flair says Triple H took practically everything he had, and he is so very close to calling it a day. But, the Nature Boy feels like he's still got one more match left in him. And he says there's somebody else who knows what that feels like…so he challenges Hulk Hogan to one last match at Wrestlemania 24! This match should be booked with both men in their classic attire and both men in their classic mind-sets. Superhero Vs Cowardly Heel. And Hulk Hogan has to win. Has to.
Dan: Rob, you stole my idea. The Ric Flair Retirement World Tour! Woo! I'll stick to that but book it a little differently. First of all I'd continue the Flair/Finlay rivalry until Summerslam where Flair beats Finlay in a submission match. After that I'd have Flair makes his retirement speech but he says he has a few more matches left in him, but he wants them to be special. The first one takes place at Unforgiven and it is one-on-one with Eric Bischoff who is forced to compete under the condition that he gets his old GM job back if he wins. He doesn't win, as Flairs batters him and makes him tap to the Figure 4. The next match takes place at Survivor Series and it is against an Evolution Reunion match pitting the 4 members of Evolution against the team of Edge, John Cena, CM Punk and King Booker. It ends with Triple H and Flair surviving last eliminating Edge (Booker turns on Cena mid-match causing his elimination and setting up a feud). After this match Flair requests a one-on-one match with Triple H at Armageddon, but Shawn Michaels comes out. He wants that match. He says Trips can fight Flair after, because that's the bigger match, but Shawn wants Flair. Armageddon, Flair and Shawn go twenty minutes and HBK wins with Sweet Chin Music. Royal Rumble is Trips vs. Flair in a Cage, much like Taboo Tuesday 05. They start by wrestling a match like the one they had on Raw in May 03, then it turns into a brutal bout. Flair makes The Game tap to the Figure 4 in his final match.
Matt: Oh yeah, they call me Old School for a reason. I think the WWE needs to steal from the Verne Gagne playbook and have Flair's last match (at Survivor Series if I had my way) for the World Heavyweight Title. Flair wins and retires forever. He goes out with the big belt and they find a new one to replace it. It's not like that particular title hasn't been vacated a ton already, so what's another time. Besides, that belt came in with Flair (yeah yeah not that EXACT belt, but it's the design that matters right?) and it's in my opinion that it would be so important for it to go out with Flair. For me that would make the last 22 years of being a wrestling fan worth it.
Homework Assignment: - Save Smackdown: The show is in trouble and we all know it. Using either the current Smackdown roster (for you hardcore bookers) or using 3 picks from Raw/ECW (for those who want it easier) book a Smackdown that will turn the tide and stop being the B-Show. Increase the Cruiserweight action? Re-draw the World Heavyweight scene? Bring back Paul Heyman? It's up to you!
Send all submissions to the e-mail address below and we'll see ya in 7 short days.
