Hey Kevin. As a faithful South African, where on earth in South Africa would Ric Flair wrestle exactly? The only market here that sells out is WWE. Sad to say, we have a largely ignorant wrestling fan base here so Flair on his own wouldn't fill up any arenas down here.

I'd go though...perhaps with a "Ric Flair put my butt in this seat"

Great blogging as always sir.

Kev,
I have a hard time seeing the words "integrity" and "wrestling" (professional) in the same sentence. I love it but "integrity". Naaaaah!

From Flair's point of view I completely understand why he would want to wrestle again and what he would wrestle for, I just think it's very selfish and greedy. I think the majority of wrestling fans would like to see him not wrestle ever again, be it in the WWE or elsewhere.

Aside from the fact that he's 60 years old, he had such a glorious career up until now, why would he want to risk that all for another year or perhaps 2 in the spotlight? The reason for retiring is to enjoy time with your family or pursue other activities, so although he says he will always be involved with wrestling, why not do ANYTHING else but wrestle. As you said yourself Kev, Flair coming back and wrestling would put a real dampener on his retirement match/weekend which I think was one of the most special I have ever witnessed and he also faces the risk of alienating a lot of fans.

And still the question begs to be asked Kev, will you enjoy watching him on a Monday night if it ever came down to it? Because I for one certainly wouldn't.

Now that you're on Twitter, you must check out Awesome Kong's Twitter. I fully expected to see tweets like:

"HRHHAR HUHR EHUHRHA AKLJF!!!"

Instead, you get tweets sprinkled with OMGs and LOLs and giving such insight as:

"Ducking out for some massage therapy and then back to my lazy day."

www.twitter.com/awesomekong

JimmyJam just made me laugh.

Who is Flair going to wrestle? The Ultimate Warrior or RVD perhaps? Regardless, I doubt anyone will be giving him a match that most would consider to be very good or great. There likely won't be any emotion attached to his future matches, and it is doubtful he will do anything in the ring that he would say made it all worthwhile.

He may as well wrestle in the States. Maybe he and Hulk can have one more round in a steel cage broadcast nationwide on NWA Showcase with Adam Pearce challenging the winner. I wouldn't doubt that TNA would have a place for him as a foil for Mick Foley since Al Snow didn't seem to work out so well.

The WWE had to have known that Flair never wanted to retire, but they went with the whole storyline to make money and have a Wrestlemania moment.

For the sake of his health, Flair should find another way to be entertaining without putting his body on the line. He should try a run in the movies since that seems to be a natural progression for WWE guys now.

I'm torn. I felt what every die hard Ric Flair fan felt last year when he received the most incredible send off in wrestling history, a fitting end to an amazing career. But I think I knew way down in my heart of hearts that wasn't going to be the last time we ever saw Flair wrestle. I mean the guy wells up with tears every time he even mentions wrestling. He loves wrestling! He IS wrestling, to alot of people. Let him keep doing what he loves.
Put it this way Eck. You decide one day that you've had enough of sports writting. No more Ravens talk, no more O's talk, no more bloging about wrestling. And you know in you're mind this what you want. So you retire. 6 months from now you start to get that itch again. The O's make it to the World Series (ha,ha) Shawn Michales is forced out of wrestling due to another major back injury (God forbid) and you have all kind's of opinion's you have to share with everybody. You're wife can only take so much. You get a phone call from you're old boss saying "There's always a place for you here, come on back if you want!" Do you jump at that opportunity? put yourself in his $1,000 Italian shoes. WHHOOOOOO!!!!!!

Two words - Brett Favre .

I could totally sympathize with the fact that Flair could make so much money with these appearances EXCEPT that the size of those paydays is so much bigger because of the "bring him out of retirement" factor. The cynic in me says that was a great business move by a man who's always loved his lifestyle, but even at the most generous I am pressed to think of any mindset Flair could have been in for those months where he was convinced he'd never want to come back. He had to know how that it would all play out exactly like he did, so to act like now he's seeing all the new possibilities is a joke.

Based on comments in JR's blog (I think that's where I saw this), the amount of money that Flair owes people and banks is incredible. Even if he didn't want to get back into the ring, he made it seem like wrestling would be the only way for Flair to get enough money to pay his ex-wives and other obligations.

Anyway, the writing has been on the wall regarding this for a long time. I knew it was only a matter of time before he got back in the ring from the first time I saw him making a special return appearance post WM 24. If you have an alcoholic, and they've been good about not drinking and avoiding those types of situations, if you ask him to hang out with you at the bar a few times, he's probably going to end up drinking a few beers. You ask Flair to work a few Raws, cut a few promos, hang out with the boys in the back, how is he supposed to not to get the itch to wrestle again?

After reading your interviews with him last year, I never thought I'd say this but I'm beginning to think Scott Steiner has a helluva lotta credibility. ;-)

Flair keeps saying in interviews and on TV that he didn't retire [WWE] retired him. If he didn't want to retire then why did he agree to the storyline? If someone thinks he was just doing his job I think Flair has a little more pull than just doing his job, especially when it comes to him retiring.

They MADE him retire? I'm sorry, is Flair kayfabing this whole thing or is he serious? Did he never want to retire? Did WWE force him to go through with the retirement angle?

This is pretty ridiculous, sorry, but the man has the right to do what he wants and what makes him happy. If we ( and I am definitely including me) were all to be 100% honest, then surely we'd say that the reason we dont want him to wrestle is because it makes Wrestlemania less of a moment for us. Whos being selfish and greedy here?

Who cares if he decides to take some bookings in some obscure overseas promotions?

Of course he is going to wrestle again, and probably knew this even before the fanfare of his retirement in WWE! And I don't believe that made it any less monumental. When he 'retired', he retired from the spotlight and from mainstream wrestling. The point was to celebrate and cap off his career in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.

It's not like he's going on an indy tour in the US to wrestle for a little money in some high school gym. If promotions overseas are willing to pay him, he will go, and he definitely should. He has earned it after his long and successful career.

However, I will say that if he wrestles in WWE again, then you have a point. In that case, it would be all for nothing. But don't say he is 'just another wrestler who couldn't walk away'. Wrestling is a business and he is a WRESTLER. Of course the money is what it's about and has always been. 'Wrestling history' isn't going to feed his family.

Two words - Brett Favre .

Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | May 28, 2009 8:28 PM
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I'd say the more accurate comparison is Floyd Mayweather, another guy who retired but then had to come back to his sport to continue to finance his ridiculously extravagant lifestyle.

That being said, I had little issue with him returning to the ring. If wrestling a decade too long didn't tarnish his legacy, then some overseas tour shouldn't either. The list of athletes and entertainers who retired then un-retired is miles long at this point.

I think Vince should bring him back and pay him enough to keep him from having to wrestle. I would love to see him turn on Batista and join Legacy as a heel manager. Wrestling has lost something without managers, and Ric would make a great one. He could have an occasional incident (not a match) in the ring and still make the money he needs to pay off the ex's. Ric was the greatest bad guy of them all, and it would be a natural fit. I would love to see it.

i would have to agree i would like not to see Flair wrestle again i think over the last decade he has not been used properly and to me has deminished his legacy and will only continue to do so I don't know why Vince can't say hey lets make a new 4 Horseman with you playing the role of J J dillion and pay him as if he were a wrestler amd then have like some stips every now and then if 1 of his guys loses they get 5 min. with flair. instead of flair coming back be basically apart of the upper mid card putting over people like the spirit squad ,Dibiase Jr. Shelton , etc

Ric appears to have made some questionable decisions over the years. Returning as an active wrestler now would arguably be another one.

The WWE should find a meaningful long term non wrestling job for him which would pay him a salary befitting someone who is the equivalent of Gordie Howe in hockey.

I think his best role would be to manage his son Reid in the WWE and then later the group Legacy (which would include his son).

Alternatively, he could function in some other on air talking head capacity - General Manger of one of the programs, Special Assistant to Vince McMahon, etc. The WWE could surely use him in that regard and this would be a fitting way for Flair to deploy his considerable talents.

Eck, I would really like you to give your opinion on the following thought. I would be the first one to feel dissapointed by an eventual come back by Flair, but why would that be "the wrong thing" for Flair to do? I mean, it´s the option that you like the least, but you and me don´t have much to do in this. He loves wrestling, and he probably wants to take another shot. I believe the money he is being offered is, as you said, relatively ridiculous, and even if it wasn´t, Flair might just want to wrestle. He probably enjoys much more in the ring, even while loosing popularity and fame, than at home with million of people talking about him on websites. Is it possible that WE (including me) are the ones being selfish? Let the man do what he loves, whatever it is that fulfills his dreams, which probably is wrestling again, and not eternal fame...

Joe Barber - I agree in that I have no problem with athletes changing their minds re: retirement . I just feel for those responsible for arranging the lavish send-offs .

As a die hard Flair fan I dont want to see him get back in the ring. After being in Orlando last year and witnessing everything live it would now feel like a wasted trip. If Flair wants to get back in the ring so badly he should open up a school, then he can get in the ring all he want as he trains the future stars of wrestling.

Interesting post Rob. If Flair really does need the money, then that makes the situation very sad indeed. I wasn't thinking of that possibility at all.

I don't think there's any question that Flair really needs the money - because of bad decisions in the past. However, I don't think that a mega-tour now with relatively ridiculous amounts of money is likely to change the string of bad decisions. The other side of the coin is it isn't my business to judge him.

I understand that he has financial obligations. In that sense, he should have a job like the rest of us who have financial obligations. My concern is should that job be an active in-ring competitor. Maybe I'm missing something, but with his legacy and abilities (not in-ring abilities) would it be that difficult for him to get a job in wrestling? Perhaps, he could be an announcer or a GM or work behind the scenes. Honestly, he's 60. In 40 years, he’ll be 100; that’s Shawn Michaels’ entire lifespan (give 3 years). What competition is out there for him that would be realistic? It was unbelievable to me that he actually beat MVP. Now almost a year and a half later, are we to believe that he - a grandpa so amazingly far removed from his prime - is legitimate competition? I would be very disappointed in a comeback. Comebacks are for wrestlers who have taken off but are still genuine competition. On top of that, he received a celebration that was unprecedented, special, and momentous. A comeback for him would be a slap in the face to all of his colleagues, legends who have not received send-offs, and the fans. How would we be able to respect the occasion of another's send-off if this is the result? Finally, he said that he didn't retire; they retired him. There's a reason for that. He should be thankful that they politely asked him to step out of active in-ring competition by giving him a grand send-off (into reality) with dignity instead of giving him the harsh truth in a more straightforward manner. I like Flair, but at some point enough is enough. His skills would be best used outside of the ring.

You all should know Ric Flair's reputation for being a swerve artist! He has been brought back to pull the swerve on Batista. He is going to be the new mentor to Legacy.

All my life I have been an RF fan. However, I sat in disgust through must of the last 10 years when he would get in the ring. If anyone saw him wrestle Steamboat in the 80s, you will recall those matches were 60 minute wresting "clinics". As of late, he would simply do his basic 7 or moves. The knee drop, the chop, the elbow drop, his flipping over the turn buckle gimmic, his being pressed high in the air by his opponant (the tossed on his bum). Followed by him begging on his knees, and of course the F 4 L L. So predictable it was unwatchable. Not to mention his late 50's body was a fabby joke compared to the competition. Hence, I say, never wrestle again And if you do Ric, I won't be watching. Also, what "Legacy" did he leave. I barely can recall 3 title matches he won without cheating or using outside interference. Hogan left the "Legacy".