One final time Ric Flair walked that aisle and strutted his way to victory over Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
On July 31st Ric Flair brought down the curtain on a glittering career than spanned five decades. While the Nature Boy might leave behind a complicated legacy outside the ring, he stepped into the squared circle one last time with his legend as one of the greatest of all-time assured.
Before the match even began, Flair’s rival Jeff Jarrett appeared hell-bent on causing as much chaos as possible, confronting fans, squaring up to security and even pushing event promotor Conrad Thompson.
Entering in a classic white robe, Flair arrived with the original ‘Big Gold Belt’ in hand one last time while WCW legend Dave Penzer handled the introductions. The fifth man in the ring was veteran referee Mike Chioda.
Unbelievably, and in the most surreal fashion, with wrestling royalty gathered from far and wide, Flair and Jarrett started the bout, although the latter quickly tagged in Jay Lethal.
While much of the match was fought at what can only be described as a pedestrian pace, Flair sprinkled in his signature spots before Karen Jarrett and Ric Flair’s daughter Megan (Conrad’s wife) got into a altercation at ringside. Megan got involved after Double J hit Flair with his wife’s shoe.
In typical Flair fashion he bled one last time, and even took a Suplex from Lethal which left the crowd holding their breath. To add insult to injury, Jarrett locked in the Figure Four on his bloodied foe.
After Andrade broke up the submission, the action continued leading to Jay Lethal inadvertently taking out referee Chioda. With the referee down, Jarrett went to smash a guitar over Flair’s head, but he ducked and only hit his partner.
Then as the match reached its finale, Conrad Thompson launched a set of brass knuckles to Andrade who handed them to his father-in-law to lay out Jarrett. With Double Jay worse for wear, Flair applied to the Figure Four as Jarrett’s shoulders were counted to the mat.
After the match, Flair did a tour of the ring and was greeted in one star-studded corner by The Undertaker, Mick Foley and Bret Hart.
The blood-covered veteran was also joined by Tony Schiavone who paid his own tribute before handing the microphone to Flair. The Hall of Famer admitted he couldn’t remember parts of the match as he thanked fans for their support. Naturally, his final words boasted that he was about to go and hit the town with Kid Rock.
As the show went off the air, Flair held the Big Gold Belt aloft one more time and hugged Jay Lethal to a soundtrack of “Thank you Ric” chants.