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Ric Flair should stay retired amid new report

When ESPN’s Marc Rai­mondi reported on Mon­day that pro wrestling legend “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair was going to have “one more match,” you likely could have heard the sound of my eyes rolling.

“The Rumors Are True!” the 73-year old Flair wrote on his Twitter feed Monday morning. “I’m Going To Walk That Aisle, Style And Profile, One Last Time! July 31st! Nashville, Tennessee! Jim Crockett Promotions! I Will Prove Once Again, That To Be The Man, You’ve Got To Beat The Man! Now We Go To School! WOOOOO!”

So there you have it. While the opponent is yet to be determined as of this writing, Flair is set to wrestle on an independent card at the Nashville Fair­­­­­grounds this summer, with the event being billed as his final match.

Excuse me for not wanting to take this seriously, but I’ve heard this song and dance before.

Flair’s first retirement match, a memorable loss to fellow wrestling icon Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24 in 2008, has stood the test of time as an instant classic that had a proper buildup and even more proper finish, capped off by Michaels uttering “I’m sorry, I love you,” before super-kicking Flair and getting the 3-count.

That memory, a favorite for many wrestling fans, could have remained untarnished if not for Flair deciding to return for an odd one-off against Randy Orton on “Monday Night Raw” the next year that I had forgotten even happened until researching for this column.

And no one needs to be reminded of his match against Sting on a “TNA IMPACT” taping in 2011. It’s likely for the best that those matches, much like Michael’s tag match with Triple H against Kane and Undertaker at “WWE Crown Jewel” in 2018, be left to the annals of history.

The fact of the matter is, whether there are people who would be more than willing to spend the gate price to go see the elder statesman of professional wrestling bump in the ring for 15 minutes, even if it’s a multi-man tag match where he will be as protected as possible, we don’t need this match, and he should stay retired.

Flair has a litany of well-documented health scares over the past several years since his last in-ring action. Flair was placed in a medically induced coma for 11 days in 2017 to treat a ruptured intestine that, according to his telling, doctors only gave him a 20% chance to survive.

In 2019, Flair had multiple surgeries over the course of five weeks to remove blood clots in his leg and lungs after suffering from Afib and an irregular heartbeat. And he’s long had a reputation as a drinker and party guy, with all the negative repercussions that entails.

And lest we forget, the accusations of sexual harassment stemming from the infamous “Plane ride from Hell” incident in May 2002 that came to light during an episode of Vice’s “Dark Side of the Ring” last year that added yet another black eye to his legacy.

The bottom line, and not because Stone Cold said so, is that if Flair wants to wrestle another match, there isn’t anyone in the world who could stop him, outside of maybe his wife, Wendy, and perhaps his daughter and WWE superstar, Charlotte.

That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t tell him it’s a bad idea.

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