The Piledriver Report 4.02.08: Thanks for the Memories, Ric Flair

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 04.02.2008

This weekend wasn’t about Floyd Mayweather, the Big Show, Triple H, Randy Orton, or John Cena. This weekend was about the end of an era. This weekend was about saying good-bye to the in-ring career of Ric Flair. Join Ronny Sarnecky as he looks back at the man who he once thought wasn’t much, but turned out to be so much more then he could have ever imagined.

WOW! So, that's it? It's over. The career of Ric Flair has come to an end, and it is just starting to hit me. Ric Flair started his professional wrestling career in 1972, the same year I was born. For my entire existence the "Nature Boy" dazzled the fans with his "stylin' and profiling.'

Growing up, I was a fan of the World Wrestling Federation. That's where my allegiances lied in the wrestling world. Sure, I checked out other promotions, like the AWA, World Class Championship Wrestling, Global, and of course the National Wrestling Alliance. However, like my favorite sports, I stood behind the WWF against all others.

There was a kid when I was in high school, which would sing the praises of the NWA and all it had to offer. Ric Flair, the Road Warriors, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Magnum TA, the Midnight Express, the Rock n' Roll Express, and of course Dusty Rhodes were the best that pro wrestling had to offer. I would counter with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, Ricky Steamboat, the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, and Andre the Giant. Forget the NWA and the Apter magazines; the WWF was the federation in my eyes.

Eventually, I started to tune into the NWA. Not because they were "the major leagues of professional wrestling." Quite the contrary. I realized that stars like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, Ricky Steamboat, the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, and Andre the Giant didn't just go from wrestling school to the WWF. No, these men wrestled in territories through the country before coming to the WWF.

I started to watch these other federations as my way of scouting the competition. I reasoned that eventually, the WWF would sign the best of the best of these wrestlers from these rival organizations. By scouting these wrestlers before they come in to the WWF, I would have the jump on most WWF fans of knowing which of these wrestlers were really good, and which ones couldn't hang. By doing this, I learned a lot about the business.

Also, by watching these other shows, I got to see many performers at their best, before the WWF machine either changed them from a name to a gimmick, or buried them in the undercard. One wrestler that I was able to see when he was on top was Ric Flair. I remember when I first saw the "Nature Boy."

Of course, it was on a Saturday night between the hours of 6:05pm-8:05pm on the Superstation WTBS. He was usually rambling on about Space Mountain, leer jets, limousines, kissing girls and making them cry, and "to be the man, you have to beat the man." He did all of this while holding the ugly old NWA World title belt.

I know this may seem sacrilegious to say, but in my early years of the NWA, I was not a Ric Flair fan. It wasn't that I was a big fan of the fan favorite flavor of the month challenger. Far from it. I just didn't see what all of the hype was about.

Now, before I get killed with hate e-mail, and profanity laced comments, let me explain. Where I lived, if I wanted to see wrestling in person, the WWF was the only game in town. The NWA never came to the Garden, and very rarely did they visit the Meadowlands arena in East Rutherford, NJ. There was no pay per view for the NWA just yet. If I wanted to see Ric Flair wrestle, I was forced to watch the occasional squash matches that he had on TBS. Not exactly anything that would convince me that he is better the Randy Savage or Ricky Steamboat, when I just saw them tear the house down at WrestleMania III.

Eventually, I did jump on the Flair bandwagon. When I finally had access to an NWA pay per view, the 1988 Great American Bash, I ordered it. I must admit that I was a Luger mark. Looking back, all I can say is what was I thinking? This was the first of many NWA/WCW pay per views where I would feel ripped off. The main event was Flair against Luger for the title. If you remember, the match ended with Flair trapped in the torture rack. The ref rang the bell, because Luger had what amounted to a paper cut on his forehead. However, a year later, in the same building, Ric Flair bled like a gutted pig, and the match went on. Then there was the 1990 Capitol Combat where Flair fought Luger in a cage match that ended in a disqualification. What the hell?

OK, enough talk of the NWA/WCW's horrid pay per view booking. This article's about Ric Flair. As I was saying, I started to become a Flair fan. I rooted for him in the NWA/WCW against everybody except Luger and Ricky Steamboat. My favorite Flair time period was the Four Horseman version that consisted of the "Nature Boy," Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and Barry Windham. They were awesome together. Don't get me wrong, I loved Luger in the group, but the Four Horseman quartet AFTER he left consisted of arguably the greatest collection of wrestlers that were in the NWA at that time. Plus, this was the group that I was first able to see the Horsemen in action on pay per view on a regular basis.

When Tully and Arn left for the WWF, Ric eventually turned face. I can picture it now. First, came his series of matches with Ricky Steamboat. For someone like me, who was not able to see what Ric Flair was all about until this point in time, his feud with Steamboat in 1989 allowed me to see the greatness of Ric Flair. He was awesome on the mic and electric in the ring. Wow, it was beautiful. Immediately after their final match ended, Flair's face turn was about to begin. A "retired" Terry Funk came into the ring, and challenged Ric Flair for the title. In a move I still do not understand, Flair said that there is a Top Ten list of contenders, and Funk has to get to the back of the line. I understand that this was used to set up an angle, but a newly face champion is supposed to take on all challengers, Top Ten list be dammed. What happened next was a moment that will live on in the minds of Ric Flair fans forever. Terry Funk attacked Flair, and piledrived him through a ringside table. You have to remember that this was during a time when nobody when through tables. After all, it was still four years before ECW was born, and the ritual of smashing people through tables would become a staple in professional wrestling.

After his war with Terry Funk ended, it back to being a heel after Flair, Arn, and Ole Anderson turned on Sting, or Stink as I called him. I was never a fan of his. When Sting got injured, I jumped off the Flair bandwagon for one more war with my boy Lex Luger. Of course, Luger would get screwed at every instance only to have WCW's golden boy Sting take the title from Flair.

It was around this time that things started getting rocky for Ric Flair behind the scenes in WCW. In February 1990, he was stripped of his booker duties. Jim Herd, who was in charge of WCW, wanted Ric Flair to take on a smaller role in the company. One of his brilliant ideas was for Ric to shave his trademark long hair, wear an earring, and call himself "Spartacus." WOW! Not even Vince McMahon would come up with that lame ass gimmick for a legend. Can you imagine if Vince told Bruno Sammartino to do this during the late seventies, when Bruno still had legs? Ridiculous.

When the concept of the Great American Bash was first created, Crockett Promotions didn't present just a one-night show. The Great American Bash was actually a series of cards that were held throughout the summer. When pay per view came into existence, the NWA put the biggest card on the tour as it's PPV showcase. However, the tour was still alive and well. It was because of this tour that I would finally see Ric Flair wrestle live…..or so I thought.

On July 3rd, World Championship Wrestling was coming to the Meadowlands Arena. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. However, the thought of seeing Ric Flair live made me hop in my car with only $25 to my name to see the latest stop on the Great American Bash tour. After paying for tolls, and parking, I had $15 left. That was enough money for a scalper to give me pretty good seats. Actually, the ticket price was higher then the price I paid. Thank God, wrestling was in a decline period. When I got inside, the arena was buzzing with the pre-Internet news. Ric Flair would NOT be defending the WCW title on this night, or any night. He was fired from the company. Soon enough, the rumors were confirmed, and my hopes of seeing Ric Flair wrestling in person were crushed like a bug hitting a car windshield. This would be my first and last WCW card that I would attend.

The disappointment of not seeing Ric Flair, quickly turned into an air of excitement. If Ric Flair was gone from WCW, that meant only one thing. Ric Flair would have to be heading to Titan Sports, a.k.a the World Wrestling Federation. Visions of Flair vs. Hogan were dancing in my head.

On a Saturday morning that summer, I would not be disappointed. Bobby Heenan appeared at the end of the show with Ric Flair's World Championship belt. He proceeds to tell Gorilla Monsoon "this happens to be the real championship belt. You're right. Comparing this belt to Hulk Hogan's belt is like comparing ice cream to horse manure. Comparing the men that wear these belts would also be like comparing ice cream to horse manure. The man that owns this belt is currently under contract to another organization. In the very near future, he may be coming to the World Wrestling Federation. The man is also a very long, dear, personal friend of mine. This man has not only challenged Hulk Hogan on numerous occasions- unanswered may I add. You want to compare them, fine. Then, let's compare Hulk Hogan….to Ric Flair…." Screen faded to black, and I marked out like a 15-year-old girl when John Cena comes to the ring.

That was unbelievable. In that day and age, the WWF never acknowledged another wrestling promotion. Not only did they acknowledge the existence of another wrestling organization, but they also gave the impression that that champion is on par with the WWF World champion, Hulk Hogan. It was the type of promo that is very rare in today's scripted land of the WWE.

After seeing Heenan's promo, I made a pact with myself that I would see Flair vs. Hogan in person. I remained true to my word. While Hogan fought Ric Flair for the first time on October 25th, 1991 in Oakland, CA, I would see the two lock up on November 30th in Madison Square Garden. While I was disappointed in that Hulk Hogan lost the WWF title three days earlier at the Survivor Series, and Flair was now carrying the WWF Tag Team title as his "World Championship" thanks to a court injunction, I was still amazed at seeing the leader of the WWF battling the leader of the NWA. What was even cooler was that in the heart of WWF country, Ric Flair received more cheers then the "Immortal" Hulkster.

The highlight of Flair's first WWF run came at the 1992 Royal Rumble. In the Rumble, Ric Flair won his first WWF World title. I was ecstatic. I never thought that Vince McMahon would allow the face of the NWA capture the WWF's biggest prize. If that wasn't awesome enough, Ric Flair delivered one of the greatest promos to ever put over the WWF World title.

"Let just say, after video distorting the belt that proclaimed me the REAL World Champion, I'm going to tell you all, with a tear in my eye, this is the greatest moment in my life. To walk around this world proclaiming to be number one, the only way you can stay number one is to be number one. And this is the only title in the wrestling world that makes you number one. When you are the king of the WWF, you rule the world. Think about it like that. Mr. Perfect, the Brain, Wooooo! It's the greatest moment of my life. I want to jump. I want to party, but I've got to tell you like this. For the Hulk Hogans, and the Macho Mans, and the Pipers, and the Sids. Now, its Ric Flair, and you all pay homage to The Man. I love it. I love it. I love it."

What a great moment! Ric Flair became "The Man" in the WWF, and he would have everybody's dream match against Hulk Hogan inside the Hoosier Dome at WrestleMania VIII. I couldn't wait. After all, Hogan vs. Flair deserved to be on the biggest stage of the biggest card of the year for the WWF.

In what can be only looked at as the stupidest booking decision until the WWE screwed up the WCW Invasion angle, the WWF decided to go with Hogan vs. Sid, and Flair defending the WWF title against Randy Savage. The "Macho Man" was my favorite wrestler at the time, but I thought this decision was asinine. I don't care if Hogan is going to leave the WWF for a year. WrestleMania is all about the dream match. Flair vs. Hogan was the dream match to end all dream matches. I understand that the WWF couldn't have Ric Flair beat Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania. Then end the match in a disqualification/count out. Don't tell me that you can't end WrestleMania that way. If you watch the DVD of WrestleMania VIII, you will see that is exactly how they ended that year's WrestleMania main event. Hulk Hogan beat Sid by disqualification due to outside interference, and then the Ultimate Warrior made his return to allow everyone to go home happy. For the most part, I thought the WWF used Ric Flair better then I could have hope. After all, if Vince didn't create it, normally he does what he can to kill it. Not with Ric Flair. I feel he treated Flair with the respect that he and his character deserved. My only complaint would be that he didn't give the fans the Hogan/Flair WrestleMania dream match.

Well, I do have a second complaint. His WWF stint was too short. His year and a half in the WWF seemed like only three months. Once again, the WWE handled Flair's departure with the same dignity they handled his entire run. He lost to Mr. Perfect in a loser leaves the WWF match. This match was held on one of the first Monday Night RAW episodes, making RAW the wrestling program that you must see.

After a year and a half of chanting "We Want Flair," the fans of WCW were granted their wish. Flair returned to WCW in February 1993 as the host of an interview segment entitled "Flair For the Gold." His return to WCW was made complete in December of that year when he faced the WCW World Champion Vader at Starrcade. The stipulation added to the match was for Ric Flair to either win the title or retire. I ordered the show on pay per view, not because Flair may have to retire, but because I wanted to see Ric Flair officially be back where he belonged, as the World Champion of Ted Turner's wrestling promotion.

While I was disappointed that the WWE never gave me the Hogan/Flair pay per view match, shockingly WCW would provide that match for me. When WCW signed Hulk Hogan and immediately announced that his first match would be against Ric Flair at Bash at the Beach, I came to the realization that this was no longer Ric Flair's WCW. Even though Ric Flair was still the WCW World Champion, Hulk Hogan was now the "man" in WCW. After being forced to watch WWF-lite, I was officially turned off by the product on March 19th, 1995 when WCW presented Uncensored. Hulk Hogan defeated Vader in a strap match by dragging, not Vader (his opponent), but Ric Flair (in drag, I might add), and touching all four turnbuckles. At that moment, not only did I realize that Ric Flair was no longer a prime time player in WCW, I also knew that WCW fans would have to deal with the same old tired Hulk Hogan act that WWF fans had to put up with for 10 years. I that moment, not only did I decide to no longer purchase a WCW pay per view as long as it was the Hulk Hogan show, but I barely watched WCW after that.

Despite not being a fully invested fan of the product, I still kept tabs on it, especially through the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and this new medium called the Internet. Not only was the Internet going strong, but also the WWF/WCW rivalry was turning into a full-blown wrestling war. At the height of Eric Bischoff's arrogance during his war against the WWF, Ric Flair, who wasn't being used, had a scheduled night off to see his youngest son Reid take part in an amateur wrestling tournament. Bischoff decided that he wanted Flair at the show. Bischoff sued Flair and threatened to bankrupt him. During this time, I had hoped that Flair would be released from his contract, and land back in Vince's awaiting arms. Unfortunately, it was not to be. After several months of the behind the scenes battle, Ric Flair returned to WCW. He delivered an amazing shoot style interview against Eric Bischoff. The WWE should watch this interview as proof that you do not need to script promos, just put the wrestlers in a situation where they believe what their character is fighting for, and magic will happen.

I stopped watching WCW in 1999 and 2000, but then again, didn't everybody? The next time I really watched Ric Flair was on Nitro's final episode. Once again, Ric delivered a killer promo, and wrestled in the final match of the company against Sting. Even though, I supported the WWF, and was glad they won the war, it was sad to see Ric Flair's career coming to an end.

Like most fans, I was really happy to see Flair return to the WWE in November of 2001. I liked the way the WWE brought him in. He was the "co-owner" of the WWE. Eventually, he would get back into the ring as a wrestler, but I enjoyed him the most as the manager of the heel group Evolution. I felt this was the perfect spot for him. When he was in the Four Horsemen, the group managed by JJ Dillon, made sure the gold would stay around Ric Flair's waist. In Evolution, the goal was to make sure the belt stayed around Triple H's waist, with Ric Flair playing the JJ Dillon role. After awhile, Ric Flair was less of a manager, and more of a wrestler. Flair would go on to win the Intercontinental and Tag Team championships on RAW.

Somewhere along the way, Ric Flair became the WWE's "Babe Ruth of Professional Wrestling." It's weird, because, as pointed out earlier, Ric Flair was not a Vince McMahon creation. Yet, Vince has always treated Flair's character with respect. He never bastardized the "Nature Boy" character like WCW's own Eric Bischoff did. It seemed like whenever the WWF signed an NWA/WCW staple, the WWF tried to turn him into a cartoon. Harley Race became a king. Dusty Rhodes wore polka dots. Ricky Steamboat breathed fire. The Road Warriors went by their "Legion of Doom" moniker, and carried around a dummy. It seemed like the only wrestlers that were big NWA stars in the 80s that were not made into cartoon characters were Tully, Arn, and Flair.

I believe that the first real highlight of Flair's second WWF/E run was on May 19th, 2003. Triple H defeated Flair in a World Heavyweight title match. After RAW went off the air, most of the wrestlers in the locker room came out to honor Ric Flair, even the McMahons were present. Triple H put the title on Flair's shoulders, and gave him a hug. It wasn't until "The Ultimate Ric Flair DVD Collection" came out that I was able to see the celebration of Ric Flair. It was on that day, I believe that Ric Flair went from being the greatest wrestler ever to being the hailed WWE's living, breathing Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling. Since then, wrestlers constantly praised Flair as being something more then an icon or legend. He was, as JBL would say, a "wrestling god."

Last year, Steve Austin came up with a storyline for Ric Flair. Flair would suffer several loses in a row. Then, sick of the losing streak, Flair would announce that his next lose would be his last, as he would retire. Flair would then go on each brand, beating every one, until he would lose at WrestleMania 24. The WWW decided to run with the storyline. OK, it was more like crawl with the storyline. The WWE presented a watered down version that culminated this past weekend.

I love the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. However, I hate that the WWE televises the event. Instead of watching the ceremony on the USA Network, I prefer to watch it when the WrestleMania DVD comes out, and the entire ceremony is included in the DVD package. The reason is simple. The WWE butchers the acceptance speeches that they air on USA. This year was probably the worst case. According to reports from people who attended the show, the producers had to tell Triple H on three separate occasions to tell Flair to wrap things up. Because of this, Flair had to cut short his speech, and he was forced to leave out people like Sting in his speech. That's ridiculous. This is probably the only time he will be able to thank everybody who had an effect on his 35-year career, and you rush him? Awful job. I don't care if they are running into the "taped" version of USA Network's telecast. Ask them to extend the coverage. If they refuse, end the show in mid-speech. Then hype the hell out of the WrestleMania DVD as the "only place where you could see Ric Flair's entire Hall of Fame speech." Trust me, it would sell a boatload of DVDs.

I couldn't wait for WrestleMania this year. While the build had left a lot to be desired, seeing the final Flair/Michaels confrontation where Flair pulled out the old NWA title got me pumped up for the event. I loved the way the stadium was set up. It reminded me of WrestleMania III. Light outside in the beginning of the show, and fading to darkness as the card drew to a close. I loved that Randy Orton retained the WWE title. I fully expected a Triple H celebration. I laughed a lot during the Big Show/Mayweather match. I couldn't take it seriously. I didn't like the ending. I would have preferred that a wrestler interfered on Mayweather's behalf. Although, Show's promo on RAW totally made up for the loss. By the way, Mayweather makes an awesome heel. After the match, I was so pissed that he won, I found myself hoping that DeLaHoya kicks his ass in September, and I hate boxing. My favorite match was the Undertaker vs. Edge. Once I saw that Flair/Michaels wasn't going on last, I really was hoping that the SmackDown! title match closed the show. Not only has Edge deserved a spot in the WrestleMania main event since 2006, but also the match the two put on was worthy of being called the main event of WrestleMania.

The one thing that this WrestleMania was lacking was the "WrestleMania Moment." I expected that the Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair match would give us that moment. I was wrong. While the match was really good, and the pre and post-match feeling special, something was missing. After the match was over, I said that all of the wrestlers should have come to the ring, and embraced Flair. If you thought that the Benoit/Guerrero end to WrestleMania XX was a tearjerker, this would have easily topped that moment. To the WWE's credit, they did give Flair the proper send off the next night on RAW. While I loved it, I thought it would have had a bigger impact if it was performed at WrestleMania. Speaking of the RAW tribute, the two people I kept looking out for was the Undertaker and Vince McMahon. I thought the perfect send off would have been for Vince to embrace Flair, and tell him that when people retire, they usually get a gold watch. However, he has something a little different in mind. The Undertaker would then hand Ric Flair the World Heavyweight title belt, the belt that Flair made famous. The Undertaker would get a new style World title belt on SmackDown!, but the big gold belt would be retired with the wrestler who is synonymous with the big gold belt, Ric Flair.

All in all, it was a great weekend to be a Ric Flair fan. Sure, he may come back as a manager, General Manager, or may even wrestle the occasional match or two. However, things will never be the same from this day forward. The era of Ric Flair is over. There will be no more rides on Space Mountain. No more limousine riding, leer jet flying, to be the man you've got to beat the man, son of a gun. The day of the touring champion from the territorial days is officially over. It couldn't have ended with a better man holding that torch. Thanks for the memories, Ric Flair. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!