Ric Flair says he passed out twice due to dehydration during his Last Match.
Flair opened up about his experience on the pay-per-view during his most recent edition of the To Be The Man podcast.
“I don’t think people realize that I passed out twice,” Flair said to Conrad Thompson on the show.
“What happened was, my regimentation for training was so strict that I kept my weight on. I wanted my perfect weight to be like 220lbs going in. So, the last day and a half, aside from all the work that we had planned for me to do, I didn’t hydrate cause I had it in my mind that I had to weigh 219lbs. So anyway, I went to the ring at about 217lbs. What happened during the body of the match, I just became dehydrated.”
“While I was standing on the apron, I looked at Jay which started the whole wheel of motion. I said, ‘Man, I think I’m getting sick because I was getting lightheaded, nothing to do with my heart, nothing to do with my intestines, just getting lightheaded.”
“I’m sure a lot of it was nerves as well. I think Jay said, ‘we got to move this along,’ and that isn’t what I meant but to the point where Manny (Andrade) came over and said, ‘your turn sir, your turn sir, your turn sir’ and so I got in but I didn’t know where we were in the match because I had missed about, clearly like 10 seconds of it.”
He would continue to talk about a moment in the match where he was to be superplexed from the turnbuckle. Flair said it was Jarrett’s decision to not go through with the move.
“Jeff, out of respect for me, he lifted me atop the turnbuckle and Jay was going to give me a superplex, which would have blown the roof off the joint but he was worried about my health. Jeff, sincerely, he said, ‘we can’t do that Naitch, we can’t do it again,’ so anyway, rather than look awkward, I came down with him, then Jay came in and gave me the suplex and we were back rolling.”
Flair said he passed out for a second time during the match after Jarrett went to hit him with a guitar. Jarrett would miss and hit Lethal, but Flair says he passed out again shortly after the spot.
“Then along came the guitar, right down bingo, don’t know. While I was down, I passed out again. I just passed out. Manny is going, ‘sir, you have to wake up, I have the brass knuckles, sir, you have to wake up.’ So then I woke up, I knew where we were right, boom and we’re home.”
“I swear to god twice during the match, I went completely black,” he continued.
“My hand started trembling, yeah, but it was all dehydration. I had two doctors in there right away with me and everything. The Undertaker came running in and said – I had six beers there – he took them out of my hand and said, ‘you’re drinking two Gatorades first,’ I said, ‘Gatorade?’ So, I drank two and that was that’s all it was. I underestimated the importance of keeping hydrated, which is really big especially when I lost that much weight and trained that hard.”
Flair also revealed that the reason he has a pacemaker is not because of a heart issue, but rather that he has a low resting heart rate.
“My pacemaker isn’t there because I have a heart issue, my pacemaker is there because my resting heart rate before I even got sick and has been for years, like 38, which drives people crazy but it’s from all the years of cardio and all the hour broadways.”
Flair also revealed that he was texted by AEW’s Tony Khan after the event.
“I got the nicest text from Tony Khan in the world. [He] congratulated me on everything, explaining why he wasn’t there.”
“My relationship with Tony Khan is great, I think my relationship with WWE is great. I got texts from everybody in the world that means anything to me and probably people you’d be shocked to hear from. Randy Orton sent me something, I started crying, that nice.”
“I’m the luckiest son of a b***h alive to have all this going on. I’m 73 guys, most people thought I’d be dead. Angelo Mosco told me when I was 24 if I lived to 30 I’d be overstaying my welcome. So 43 years later, I’m just so thankful for the opportunity.”
Conrad Thompson has opened up regarding how everything came together for Ric Flair’s Last Match.
Speaking on My World with Jeff Jarrett, Thompson said the event was part of a “bigger master plan.”
“You and I talked about this over a year ago,” Thompson said to Jarrett. “I said, ‘no, I’m not doing wrestling, I’m not promoting wrestling, I’m not negotiating finishes, I don’t want to be involved in the politics.’ I like my lane but this opportunity presented itself. The real story that we’re not talking about, we will tell you one day, but this is part of a bigger master plan and no it does not involve Ric Flair wrestling again but the entrepreneur brain kicked off and I saw an opportunity for Sunday and I said, ‘if I don’t do it, I’ll wonder what if, so let’s do it.’ We rolled the dice, I couldn’t be more tickled with the results.”
Thompson also credited Tony Khan and Vince McMahon for allowing contracted talent to take part in the event.
“I want to give a ton of credit and props and kudos to Tony Khan for allowing really the forbidden door to happen. We’re not supposed to talk about it but we’re going to say it one time, we had an AEW superstar tag teaming with a WWE special Vice President to take on an AEW superstar and Ric Flair. That shouldn’t have happened,” Thompson said on the show.
“There’s a lot of reasons that it shouldn’t have happened but Vince McMahon, back when that was a thing, green-lit it and so did Tony Khan and this could not have happened without both of those folks allowing it.”
Thompson would continue to talk about how it was decided that Flair and Andrade El Idolo would team up against Jarrett and Jay Lethal in the main event.
“There were lots of ideas put together for how could we do Ric Flair’s last match but when we settled on a story, it sort of clicked. ‘Hey, wait a minute, the videos of Jay Lethal training with Ric have gone super viral, millions of views,’ so we already have a built-in story there, we can just build on it. But it doesn’t make sense for Jay to be his partner because they’ve been working against each other. So, in an effort to best take care of my father-in-law and Morgan’s grandpa, let’s make sure the guy he’s wrestling that night is the guy he’s been wrestling four times a week since April.”
Thompson also addressed fans who were concerned about Flair’s health heading into the match.
“I know there was a lot of people who said, ‘oh man, when Ric steps through those ropes he’s going to die.’ Okay smart ass, he wrestled an hour a week four days a week since the first week of April. So, when he stepped through the ropes that Sunday it wasn’t the first time he had done it, it was just the first time you had seen it.”
In terms of Jarrett being Flair’s other opponent, Thompson said Jarrett’s loose association with the Four Horsemen played a role.
“We had been talking about on this podcast, is Jeff a Horsemen? Is he not? For over a year. So, those two things just fell in line, and by the way, over the summer, literally the day our tickets went on sale is when Andrade married Charlotte. So, everybody now knows through TMZ and People Magazine and everywhere else that Andrade is Ric Flair’s son-in-law and everybody also knows that Jay Lethal has been training Ric Flair for his last match. I happen to be in business with and partners with a guy who knows how to be a heel in Nashville better than maybe anybody and so here we are. It worked but it couldn’t have happened without Tony Khan, it couldn’t happen without Vince McMahon.”
Thompson would continue to praise MLW’s Court Bauer, Impact’s Scott D’Amore, and AAA’s Dorian Roldán for allowing talent contracted to their companies to participate. He also credited the talent on the card with not treating the event as just another payday.
“Not one person involved in this treated it like it was for the payday,” Thompson continued.
“There was not a bunch of big debate about what are we going to do for finishes. There was no politicking.”
Thompson also mentioned that the undercard went 15 minutes short on time. They had hoped to get the main event in the ring by 8:15 p.m and they were able to do so by 8:00 p.m.
“We had an hour for the main event, we hoped for 45 minutes with the post-match at most.”
“Everyone went out of their way to do it because they understood even though this might be one of the biggest crowds I’ve wrestled in front of or a big pay-per-view crowd or whatever, it ain’t about me, it’s about Ric.”
“This was bigger than a one-off, this was bigger than a one-time show. No, we’re not starting a promotion, I’m not saying that, I’m definitely not saying that. I’m just saying everybody minded their Ps and Qs because what are we going to do? Boy, if they don’t do what we need them to we’re going to punish them next week on TV? There is no comeback, this is it, they just did it and it was such a special thing.”
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including HHH and Logan Paul talking shop, Ric Flair and his thoughts on his last match, RAW line-up for Monday, latest on the G-1, Rampage, Smackdown, Battle of the Belts and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
For the first time since last Sunday’s Last Match pay-per-view, Ric Flair spoke about his performance, saying he was very happy with it.
Flanked by his son-in-law Andrade El Idolo, the 73-year-old spoke to Lucha Libre Online ahead of their appearance at Saturday’s WWC’s 49th Anniversary show and was asked about how things went last Sunday.
“I’m very happy with it. I needed to give it one more shot. I feel like I didn’t go out the right way and to have the relationship now that I do with Andrade, with Charlotte (Flair), to have a son-in-law like him to be a tag team partner, for him to tag with me at this time and have the whole family there and his family, who I have gotten to know well, watched it from Mexico. It was big for all of them,” he said.
He continued, “It was especially big for me because my entire family was there and the only person to get an opportunity to do that twice: once in 2008 with Shawn Michaels (at WrestleMania) and now with my son-in-law in Nashville. It was big.”
There was criticism of Flair’s performance in his tag team win with Andrade over Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett due to his physical condition and struggling with basic movements like putting on a pair of brass knuckles.
The event was a strong one for Flair and promoter Conrad Thompson, generating between 24,000-29,000 PPV buys and a $448,000 gate — all with no national television exposure.
Flair appeared on Saturday’s WWC show, getting physical with old rival Carlos Colon during Andrade’s match with Colon’s son, Carlito.
Job Listing: Onlamp php/mysql developer. Experience with vbulletin and drupal/WordPress a plus. Email [email protected] with subject PHP DEVELOPER with resume.
Ric Flair’s last match show, the good, the bad, the ugly, and where it stands among the biggest indie shows in history
The life and legacy of Ric Flair
Behind-the-scenes notes on the show
Business coverage of the show
UFC 277 coverage by Ryan Frederick, match-by-match, what happens next for all the key fighters on the show, business notes and more
Full G1 coverage with the standings, key stories, notes on the matches this week and coverage of all the past week shows.
Coverage of Dragon Gate’s two major shows over the weekend including one of the company’s best matches, title changes and future notes
The life and career of Gil Hayes, a Stampede Wrestling Hall of Famer who was one of the key building blocks of WWC in Puerto Rico, a unique life of a headliner who is largely forgotten today
Ratings and trends of all the national shows
CMLL announces the biggest matches for its anniversary show, the biggest event of the year
CMLL announces its annual World Grand Prix
First two nights of the Stardom Five Star Grand prix
More on the new IWGP World Women’s Championship and why it is happening
Karl Fredericks leaves New Japan
New Japan’s U.S. show rundown
XFL news under Dwayne Johnson
Women of Wrestling starting up
New book on ECW
More news on King of Indies
Old promotion in Mexico restarting with a national TV deal
The WBD financials and how it affects AEW, as well as where AEW could be very valuable
Cost of AEW compared to usual Discovery fare, ratings, and compared to WWE programming
New trademark by AEW and what does it mean
More on new AEW promotions
Upcoming WWE & AEW ticket sales
Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW
International TV ratings
Major new UFC fight scheduled
Jake Paul-Rahman fight falling apart notes
Sasha Banks & Naomi
Peacock financials
New PPV location
WrestleMania launch party
How Nick Khan got to WWE and his deal making ability
What was the match that never happened which led to Nick Khan’s first interaction with WWE
Dana White talks his only live WrestleMania
Bryan Danielson talks famous Talking Smack segment with Miz
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Sunday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering the latest news including Battle of the Belts, G1, Smackdown, AEW drama and WWE changes.
Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti were scheduled to be married today.
The Saturday G1 show from Osaka was easily the best G1 show so far, to no surprise. Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi was everything it was expected to be and more. But the weekend’s biggest story was Jonah knocking Kazuchika Okada from the ranks of the unbeaten. G-1 continues Tuesday and Wednesday in Hiroshima with Tuesday having Yoshi-Hashi vs Yujiro Takahashi, Sanada vs. Chase Owens (who had a career match with Ishii earlier today), Tama Tonga vs Taichi, Lance Archer vs. Jonah and Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenta. It starts at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday morning.
No updates on the Tatum Paxley and Carmella past the injuries were legit from last night’s shows. Paxley looks to be a jaw injury and Carmella a head injury but nothing is confirmed. (thanks also to help from Matthew Ray and Shaun Burn)
Ric Flair was in action last night at the WWC Aniversario event in Bayamon, PR. Andrade vs. Carlito as the main event. Ric Flair was in Andrade’s corner. This led to Carlos Colon coming out and gave Flair a few punches and a headbutt. Carlito pinned Andrade to win the match.
Jake Paul attempted to put together a fight with KSI on 8/27. KSI beat Logan Paul to start this entire story of web celebrities drawing huge money. Paul’s fight with Hasim Rahman Jr. scheduled for last night fell through due to weight issues as has been talked about. KSI was scheduled to fight on 8/27 but his opponent fell through and said he would get a new opponent. Jake Paul said he’d cut to 180 to make the fight. He claimed KSI’s people said they would agree to the fight only if Paul did the fight without getting paid and his side took 100 percent. Paul agreed to those terms and KSI said he would do the fight, but not on 8/27, because a fight that big should be a Wembley Stadium. Paul called him all kinds of names.
A&E tonight has the Lex Luger biography at 8 p.m., Rivals is on the WWE vs WCW war (I’m sure this will be a fair portrayal of that) at 9 p.m. and Smack Talk at 10 p.m. will also feature Lex Luger.
Jerry McDevitt stated to us that he has never spoken or dealt with the woman in question in the first Wall Street Journal article in any way. The WWE investigation of Vince McMahon started in March when a friend of the woman sent an email to the Board of Directors. The Wall Street Journal reported that the letter sent referred to McDevitt, but McDevitt said that was categorically false. We had mentioned that story on the recent Talk is Jericho show.
We’re looking for reports from the WWC Anniversary show in Bayamon, PR lat night, Friday and Saturday NXT shows in Largo, FL and Gainesville, FL, as well as tonight’s WWE show in Fayetteville, NC to [email protected]
Thanks to Thomas Simpson and Alan Thomas for the report from Greenville.
The Canadian National Post actually picked up the Ronda Rousey suspension and reported it as real news.
MMA Fighting reported that Leandro Lo, a BJJ legend, was shot in the head and passed away while attending a concert earlier today in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was 33. Police officer Otavio Oliveira Velozo is a suspect as witnesses said that Velozo grabbed a bottle from Lo’s table, which led to Lo taking him down and holding him on the ground. They were pulled apart and then Velozo allegedly pulled a gun and shot him in the head. Lo had won eight IBJJF world championships in the black belt division since 2012.
Sam Alvey reported suffering a broken jaw in his fight last night against Michael Oleksiejczuk at the UFC event in Las Vegas last night.
We’re looking for your thoughts on both G-1 show in Osaka, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
There was nothing this week from pro wrestling, boxing or MMA that cracked the Google search listings except Conor McGregor on Friday finishing No. 8 with 100,000 searches because his fiance, Dee Devlin, got a tattoo of McGregor’s name as she celebrates her 35h birthday. That means Saturday’s UFC show on ESPN didn’t even chart, which is unusual. Nothing from WWE charted.
Rob Van Dam will be inducted into the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia’s Hardcore Hall of Fame on 12/17. If ever there was a no-brainer pick for what that Hall of Fame is, RVD would be right there with the likes of Sabu, Taz and Terry Funk.
Bully Ray said that he tore his hamstring in a match last night at the 2300 Arena. He said it after the main event where he and PCO wrestled Atsushi Onita & FMW Leather. Results: Brian Kendrick b VSK, Ray Jaz b Facade, Dark STG & Beastman b Afa Jr. & Charlie Haas, Rich Swann b Willie Mack, Jasmine Allure b Myka, Buddy Matthews & Tony Nese b Brian Cage & KC Navarro, Ken Shamrock b Davey Boy Smith Jr., Atsushi Onita & Super Leather b PCO & Bully Ray. Next show is 12/17 wit RVD vs. Rhino, Bubba & Devon team up plus Shane Douglas, Tod Gordon, Bill Alfonso, Sabu and Sandman.
WWE
WWE Performance Center strength and conditioning coach Sean Hayes finished up. He will be taking a new job as a strength and conditioning coach for the XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia.
Canadian Elite Wrestling on 8/12 to 8/14 in Dauphin, Oak Lake and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Sanctuary Fight Club form last night in Hamtramck, MI: Ren Jones won over Shane Sabre and Joe Demaro, N8 Mattson b Kyler Coleman, Gavin Quinn & Juntai b Solo & Jody Threat, Alex Shelley b James Alexander, Karam b Dickie Bronson (thanks to Leonard Brand)
The annual AIW JT Lighting Invitational tournament takes place 8/19 and 8/29 in Cleveland, OH at the Odeon. The biggest names in the 24-man field are Drago, Colin Delaney, Jack Evans, Dom Garrini, Eric Young, Adam Priest, Dalton Castle and Ernest the Cat Miller.
The King Jerry Lawler Memphis BBQ Company has opened a restaurant in Houston on the East Side and the Houston Chronicle has a story about it (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
On Friday’s PFL show at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden, they had the semifinals of the lightweight and light heavyweight tournament on ESPN. Stevie Ray beat Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision and Olivier Aubin-Mercier to Alexander Martinez in the lightweight semifinals. For light heavyweights, Omari Akhemdov beat Josh Silveira and Robert Wilkinson beat Delan Monte. The finals will be in December.
Eugene Palermo, the son of longtime WWF ref Bucky Palermo passed away this morning (thanks to Norm Connors)
According to numbers reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, last Sunday’s Ric Flair’s Last Match pay-per-view was a financially successful one and the second-biggest ever indie show in the U.S. in the modern era.
Meltzer is reporting that the PPV did between 20,000 and 25,000 buys via streaming PPV buys and nearly 4200 more through linear PPV.
As he noted, the number is impressive considering the show had no traditional TV promotion.
“The only promotions with a show not promoted on national television that ever beat this number would have been All In (55,000) and when Pancrase was billing itself as pro wrestling and SEG did a taped show (60,000),” he wrote.
The event did over 6800 fans for a $448,502 gate. It’s the second-largest behind 2018’s All In which did 10,541 paid and $458,525.
“Aside from All In, WCW, WWE and AEW, that gate number was never hit previously in pro wrestling history in the U.S. As far as an indie show doing 6,800 fans paid in the U.S. aside from All Out, there was a 2013 show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena that drew 7,000 with El Hijo del Santo & L.A. Park & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. Cien Caras Jr. & Blue Demon Jr. & Dr. Wagner Jr., but the gate would have been nowhere close to that one. Jacques Rougeau Jr. had bigger crowds when he promoted his retirement show as well as is own promotion at the Bell Center in Montreal many years back,” he wrote.
The beginning of a new era on PPV, with Paul Levesque in charge of creative, took place with SummerSlam on 7/30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
The show was generally praised. It didn’t feel appreciably different from a Vince McMahon show, with all the video packages and both long and short matches. Logan Paul was the big shock, and he had one of the Miz’s best matches of his career. There were short matches. Usos vs. Street Profits came nowhere close to their previous match. And it was really all about Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, with Reigns winning the third straight meeting of the series in a last-man-standing match that featured Lesnar using a tractor to turn over the ring and tons of interference by the Usos. Lesnar kept getting up from spears, briefcase shots, and belt shots before he was buried under all kinds of broken tables and chairs so he couldn’t get up. After the show ended, he got up from the debris, got in the ring, and took off his cowboy hat to the fans.
The goal of the match was for Reigns to win but to protect Lesnar and maintain his aura. But in doing those finishes where you don’t want anybody to really lose, there is no satisfaction in getting the win. Here, the idea of the forklift and the visual were done to camouflage that. Most found it entertaining and the best match on the show, although in almost any other case, that kind of interference and a finish to something promoted as a conclusive match in a long series would be taken differently. The finish seemed to work well for most, because of the time and more importantly, the company.
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including Lance’s memories of Larry Cameron, Ric Flair’s last match and why Lance couldn’t watch it, lots of thoughts on Dynamite, why he’ll be watching RAW or Smackdown again and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including updates from the Ric Flair show, Becky injury update, Ronda Rousey’s storyline suspension, Sasha and Naomi potentially returning, ratings, Women of Wrestling getting TV, AEW and NXT previews, RAW report and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Ric Flair’s Last Match notes
7:04: Becky Lynch seperates shoulder
8:50: Ronda Rousey ‘suspended’, update on Sasha Banks & Naomi possibly returning to WWE
10:10: NXT, AEW previews
12:40: Ratings
16:34: Women of Wrestling entering syndication in the fall
Following Sunday’s Ric Flair’s Last Match pay-per-view, Dave Meltzer provided some notes on how the “Nature Boy” is doing, some changes to the show, and who was handing production.
Meltzer said that there were two family doctors backstage that are close with Megan Fliehr, one of Flair’s daughters. He said Flair “was said to be fine after the show.”
“It was interesting because a lot of people I know really liked the main event who were in the building, because of the drama and such, but man, was it hard to watch from home,” he said.
A star-studded audience
Meltzer did a roll call of the various wrestling luminaries that were in the house for the event, both in the crowd and backstage:
“Mick Foley, Michael Hayes, Shane Helms, Magnum T.A., J.J. Dillon, Vickie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Charlotte Flair, Rikishi, Baby Doll, Al Snow, Undertaker, Bret Hart, Stephanie Hart, Michelle McCool, Mojo Rawley, Sammy Guevara, Ricky Starks, Billy Gunn, Dorian Roldan, Santino Marella, Kid Rock and likely many others. WWE active talent was not allowed to appear on camera although Dolph Ziggler was in a video clip and called by his real name: Nick Nemeth.”
He also noted Flair was emotional and crying all day in seeing so many wrestlers and former talent come out for the event.
Production team
Meltzer said that former WWE producer Brian James and Impact’s Scott D’Amore produced and timed the show. Additionally, David Sahadi and Josh Matthews produced while Keith Mitchell, who headed up production for AEW before retiring in May, worked the show as well.
Card changes & injuries
Meltzer said MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone was supposed to be the one to go after Frank The Clown on the pre-show, but due to his flight being canceled, he was unable to attend. Jacob Fatu filled in instead as he was on the show already.
The Von Erichs vs. Briscoes match was pushed back to later on the card as Marshall & Ross’ flight from Hawaii was delayed. They missed a meet & greet earlier in the day and were rushed to the building upon arrival to make the match.
As discussed on Wrestling Observer Radio Sunday, Rachael Ellering suffered a badly sprained ankle in her three-way match with Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo. The injury occurred early in the match when Grace rolled on it accidentally, resulting in a loud pop. She continued to work the match, gutting through it.
Ellering hasn’t given an update as of this writing, but did post about it after the match:
Thank you all so very much for the kind words and thoughtful messages. My ankle is now a softball but somehow I’m still thriving!
Tonight meant a lot to me in many different ways. I appreciate you being on the journey with me 💜
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including a multitude of thoughts on Ric Flair’s Last Match this weekend, the match itself and the rest of the festivities, WWE SummerSlam ushering in the Triple H/post-Vince McMahon era, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including a full review of Ric Flair’s Last Match, tons of notes on the main event, ratings, G-1 update thus far, more on Triple H taking over for Vince McMahon, UFC injuries and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Ric Flair’s last match
18:00: Ric Flair’s Last Match show rundown
45:25: Bill Russell, Gil Hayes pass away
54:08: Ratings
58:32: G1 update
59:34: UFC injuries, other notes
1:06:12: Vince McMahon story from this week’s Observer
Ric Flair emerged victorious in what was billed as his final wrestling match Sunday evening in Nashville, Tennessee.
Flair, 73, teamed with son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. The finish had Conrad Thompson, Flair’s other son-in-law, throw brass knuckles to Andrade, who gave them to Flair. Flair then used them to strike Jarrett and put Jarrett in the figure four leglock as referee David Miller ran in and counted to three, giving Flair and Andrade the win.
After the match, confetti fell as Flair celebrated with Andrade and his family at ringside. He met with several people sitting in the front row including The Undertaker, Mick Foley, and Bret Hart. He thanked the fans and Nashville for being one of the greatest wrestling cities in the world. He then said that “everything you heard about him is true” and was going to celebrate with Kid Rock tonight. The show ended with Flair holding the NWA World Heavyweight title belt that he held during the mid-to-late 1980s in Jim Crockett Promotions.
Flair’s previous retirement took place in 2008, when he lost to Shawn Micheals at WrestleMania 24. Despite retiring, Flair returned to wrestling the following year and wrestled through 2011, with his most recent match being a loss to Sting on an episode of Impact Wrestling.
Pro wrestling royalty appeared in full force at Ric Flair’s Last Match event.
WWE Hall of Famers The Undertaker, Bret Hart, and Mick Foley were among those who attended the event in person and were shown sitting ringside for the main event of the pay-per-view. Former WWE talent Michelle McCool, Undertaker’s wife, was also ringside for the match.
Earlier in the show in a backstage segment, Jerry “The King” Lawler appeared with Jerry Jarrett, siding with Jeff Jarrett in the lead-up to the main event, Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. Flair and Andrade won the match when Flair pinned Jarrett with a figure four.
WWE’s Cody Rhodes Dolph Ziggler, Shawn Michaels, AEW’s Sting and Jim Ross, and WWE Hall of Famers Trish Stratus, Kurt Angle, and JBL were among those that sent in video messages in support of Flair that aired during the telecast.
DDP was also involved in an angle on the show during the Bunkhouse Stampede battle royal.
Former TNA president Dixie Carter, Lex Luger, Doug Dellinger, Booker T, Jake Roberts, Will Sasso, and NWA’s Nick Aldis also sent videos that aired.
Among other notable personalities that appeared in the crowd during the show were JJ Dillon, Vickie Guerrero, and Kid Rock.
Former NWA and WCW announcer Bob Caudle, who turns 92 years old on August 2, opened and closed the telecast with pre-taped videos.
The in-ring career of Ric Flair will end once again Sunday as “The Nature Boy” takes to the ring for a final time at Ric Flair’s Last Match to cap off Starrcast weekend in Nashville, Tennessee.
Flair teams with son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to take on Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal in a storyline that has played out in the preview series running up to tonight’s pay-per-view.
The card itself is a melding of talent from AEW, Impact, NJPW, MLW, the indies, and past stars.
Among the matches, Impact World Champion Josh Alexander will defend against Jacob Fatu while Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Deonna Purrazzo and Rachael Ellering in a three-way.
Jonathan Gresham vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Alan Angels vs. Nick Wayne is a highly anticipated four-way as is Rey Fenix vs. Bandido vs. Taurus vs. Laredo Kid.
Killer Kross takes on Harry Smith, Ren Narita battles Yuya Uemura, Kerry & Ricky Morton face Brian Pillman Jr. & Brock Anderson, and the Motor City Machine Guns face The Wolves.
The show will also feature The Briscoes in action, plus a bunkhouse battle royal.
**********
Live from Nashville, Tennessee.
Pre Show:
Tony Schiavone, David Crockett and Ian Riccaboni were on commentary for the first pre-show match. There was a set for the commentators that resembled the old Jim Crockett Promotions set from the 1980s World Championship Wrestling on TBS.
Ren Narita defeated Yuya Uemura
This was a great back and forth match, much like you’d see on the opener of a New Japan show. Ren Narita got the win with a fantastic finish, catching Uemura with a belly to belly suplex and bridge to get the pinfall.
– Tony Schiavone called out Ric Flair for a promo, but got Jay Lethal and Karen Jarrett instead. Lethal did his best Ric Flair impersonation and promised to embarrass Ric Flair. “It’s going to get real uncomfortable in here.” Karen Jarrett ran down the women from the 80s, prompting a “Who are you?” chant from the crowd. Karen Jarrett said that Ric Flair was willing to die in this last match, and Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal would give him his wish.
– This was followed by a pre-taped promo featuring Lethal and the Jarretts.
– Al Snow, the former Santino, and Frank the Clown were shown in the crowd. The Clown ran into the ring to interrupt the start of the Bunkhouse Stampede and insult “Flair’s last chase grab before he dies.” Jacob Fatu ran in to chase Frank down the aisle. Mick Foley cut off the Clown and tossed him back in the ring. Fatu gave Frank a superkick and an avalanche in the corner.
– Dixie Carter, Nick Aldis, JBL, Trish Stratus, Kurt Angle, and Cody Rhodes all sent in their best wishes to Ric Flair ahead of tonight’s match.
Mance Warner won the Bunkhouse Battle Royal (11:19)
The winner will receive a bronze boot and gold belt buckle. Dave Prazak joined Schiavone and Crockett on commentary.
This match was trash.
Participants included James Storm, Kal Herro, Big Damo, Crimson, Gringo Loco, Komander, Wolfie D, Joey Janela, Sinn Bodhi, Effy, Crowbar, Bully Ray, Matthew Justice, Manders, Jordan Oliver, RSP, Blake Christian and Mance Warner.
Storm and Bully Ray were the last two to make their entrances and start the battle royal. Nick Gage crashed the match less than a minute in and he brought a bunch of wrestlers from Game Changer Wrestling (including Janela and Christian) with him. I don’t think Gage actually participated in the match. All the GCW wrestlers went after Bully Ray. Damo was eliminated early. Oliver hit a nice inside the ring cutter on Crimson, who was eventually eliminated by the GCW contingent.
Crowbar went to the top, but was eliminated by Effy. Effy and Bully Ray then did the “wazzup” Dudley Boyz spot. Bully Ray then pitched Effy and a bunch of other GCW guys.
The final four got down to Storm, Bully Ray, Janela and Warner. Warner eliminated Storm and Bully Ray eliminated Janela. Bully Ray pulled a table out of the ring and powerbombed Warner through it. Warner then reversed Bully Ray’s attempt to toss him out to eliminate Bully Ray. Warner got the win. If I were watching this preview show to decide whether or not to buy the show, I would have turned the show off.
– Sting sent in a video message thanking Ric Flair for putting him on the map. In another video message, Jim Ross called Ric Flair “the best he’s ever seen.” Mick Foley, James J. Dillon and Vickie Guerrero were shown in the crowd. A second video message from Cody Rhodes played.
– Mick Foley got a house mic and took some shots at Al Snow and Tony Schiavone. “I think I put one or two butts in some seats.”
Main Show:
A pre-taped intro from Bob Caudle opened the show, with Tony Schiavone and David Crockett on commentary for the main show (along with many guests throughout). Hugo Savinovich and Carlos Cabrera were on Spanish Commentary.
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) defeated The Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) (11:06)
Scott D’Amore from Impact Wrestling joined the commentary team for this match.
It took a bit for the Wolves to get in sync. Shelley took a lot of punishment from the Wolves once they established control. Shelley went for an enziguri, but Richards caught him with an ankle lock. Sabin tried to run in, but Edwards rolled him into a single leg crab.
Sabin got the hot tag and hit both the Wolves with a crossbody off the top, then took Edwards down with a spinning DDT. Sabin hit both Wolves with a dive onto the floor. The match broke down. Richards hit a backpack stunner on Shelley, and Edwards came off the top with a double stomp for a near fall. Sabin caught Shelley with a cutter. The Guns finished off Edwards with the Skull and Crossbones (a hangman’s neckbreaker/crossbody combo) to get the victory. This was a good opener.
Killer Kross (w/ Scarlett Bordeaux) defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr. (5:22)
Joe Dombrowski joined the commentary team for this match.
Smith and Kross went back and forth exchanging backdrop suplexes. Kross countered a European uppercut attempt with a backslide for two. Kross got a choke, but Smith countered with a rollup attempt for two. Kross hit a forearm to the back of the head called “The Quickening” and got the pinfall in an out-of-nowhere finish. Not much to this one.
– Dolph Ziggler (identified as Nick Nemeth), Jake Roberts, Shawn Michaels, Booker T, Will Sasso, Doug Dillinger, and Lex Luger all sent in video tributes for Flair.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Alan Angels, Konosuke Takeshita, and Nick Wayne in a four-way to earn a Progress World title shot (5:40)
Ian Riccaboni was back on commentary for this match.
Everyone got an opportunity to shine in this match. Takeshita got a near fall on Wayne after a Blue Thunder Bomb, but the pint was broken up by Gresham. Angels and Wayne came off the top and hit moonsaults on Takeshita and Gresham on the floor. Angles went for a cover on Wayne, but Takeshita broke it up with a deadlift German suplex. Gresham and Angels exchanged a great series of near falls that ended when Gresham got an O’Connor roll and a bridge to get the pinfall. This was great but way too short.
Brock Anderson & Brian Pillman, Jr. (w/ Arn Anderson) defeated Kerry & Ricky Morton (w/ Robert Gibson) (7:21)
Nick Aldis joined the commentary team for this match. The showed a brief promo from the back with the Pillman/Anderson team, and you could see backstage a sign pointing out the “heel” entrance.
Pillman showed way more personality here wrestling as a heel than he ever does in AEW. So did Brock for that matter, when he demanded Ricky Morton face off with him. Ricky and Kerry hit Brock Anderson with a double dropkick to a huge pop from the crowd. The heels took control on Kerry Morton, with Anderson stomping on his arm and Pillman kicking his back. Pillman got a nearfall after a Death Valley Driver.
Ricky got the hot tag, and when Anderson went to slam Ricky, Kerry dropkicked Ricky onto Anderson for a near fall. Pillman hit Ricky Morton from behind, and Brock hit a gourdbuster on the elder Morton to get the pinfall.
Pillman Jr./Anderson made a much better team than the Varsity Blondes.
Rey Fenix defeated Bandido, Black Taurus and Laredo Kid in a four way (11:45)
This was an insane lucha spotfest.
Fenix hit Bandido with a jumping cutter for a near fall. Bandido came back with a torino for a near fall. Laredo Kid cut off Fenix and squared off with Bandido. Bandido press-slammed Laredo Kid. Bandido and Black Taurus squared off and Bandido sent him out of the ring with a head scissors after about a million rotations. Laredo Kid went for a tombstone on Taurus, but he countered that into a lung blower. Taurus then dominated everyone with his power, then he hit all the men on the floor with a spinning though the ropes tope.
Back in the ring, Fenix caught Taurus with a superkick, but Taurus came back with a clothesline. Taurus got a near fall on Bandido after a powerslam. Laredo Kid and Taurus ended up on the top rope, and Taurus gorilla pressed Laredo Kid from the top rope while standing on the top rope. Bandido and Fenix hit Taurus with a double superkick. Bandido hit Taurus with a Code Red on the floor, then Fenix came off the top with a springboard dive. Laredo Kid then hit a tornio off the top rope onto everyone on the floor. Bandido came off the top with Loredo Kid in a blockbuster slam onto the floor onto Taurus and Fenix.
Taurus hit a piledriver on Bandido, but Fenix came off the top to break that up and get a near fall. Fenix got Taurus up in a fireman’s carry and dropped him with a sit-out Fear Factor to get the pinfall. Great match!
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander vs. Josh Fatu went to a no contest (10:14)
Tom Hannifan joined the commentary team for this match.
Fatu hit a standing rana on Alexander, then clotheslined him into the ring from the apron. Fatu went to the top, but Alexander popped up and suplexed Fatu off the top. Fatu came off the top with a somersault cannonball. Fatu hit a moonsault out of a handspring for another near fall. Alexander came back with a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Fatu did a double springboard moonsault for a near fall. Fatu charged the corner, but Alexander moved and went for an ankle lock. Fatu kicked Alexander away.
Alexander picked up Fatu for a powerbomb, but dropped him on his knee for a backbreaker. Fatu tried to go for a springboard, but Alexander caught him with a right hand and the fight went to the floor. Fatu hit a twisting plancha on Alexander. Fatu came off the top with a moonsault for another near fall. Alexander hit a series of rolling German Suplexes, but Fatu came back with a pop-up Samoan drop and both men were down for a nine count.
As Alexander and Fatu made it to their feet, Brian Myers, Matt Cardona and Mark Sterling ran in and attacked them, ending the match in a no-contest. Fatu took out Myers, then disappeared. Alexander spiked Sterling down with a double underhook piledriver. DDP ran in and gave Cardona the Diamond Cutter. DDP celebrated with Alexander.
– In the back, Jerry Jarrett and Jerry “The King” Lawler were preparing Jeff Jarrett for his match tonight. Lawler cut an excellent promo and asked Jarrett to reclaim the “Fargo Strut” from Ric Flair.
The Briscoes defeated Marshall & Ross Von Erich (7:43)
Ian Riccaboni was back on commentary for this match.
Jay Briscoe hit both Von Erichs with a tope suicida, and Mark followed up with a somersault springboard plancha, using a chair as the springboard. The Von Erichs caught Jay Briscoe in their corner for a bit, but it didn’t last long and Mark got the tag. Mark hit a shotgun dropkick on Marshall, then caught Ross with an exploder suplex. Marshall cut off an attempt at Redneck Boogie, and Marshall nearly got the pin with the claw hold. Jay dropped Ross with a hangman’s neckbreaker and Mark came off the top with the Froggie Bow (top rope elbow drop) to get the pinfall. A short showcase for the Briscoes.
Impact Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace defeated Rachael Ellering and Deonna Purrazzo in a three-way to retain (9:17)
The match stopped about 30 seconds in when Rachel Ellering messed up her ankle on a rollup spot with Grace. The ringside doctor checked on Ellering, who continued the match.
Grace dominated Ellering and got a near fall after a Vader bomb. Purrazzo came off the top with a crossbody onto Grace for a near fall. Ellering hit a flying forearm in the corner and a fisherman’s driver on Grace for a near fall. Purrazzo hit a standing moonsault on Grace for another near fall.
Ellering caught Grace with a boot, but she came back with a spinebuster. Purrazzo locked an armbar on Ellering, but Grace locked in a rear naked choke on Purrazzo. Grace set up Purrazzo for a superplex, and Ellering powerbombed Grace down at the same time.
Ellering caught Grace with a spinning Boss Man slam for a near fall. At this point, the commentators stopped talking about the match, and the crowd wasn’t into it either, but this was solid work. Grace hit the Grace Driver for a near fall, but Ellering rolled her up with a crucifix for a near fall. Grace rolled out of the crucifix and caught Ellering in a rear naked choke. Ellering had to tap out.
The Undertaker and Michelle McCool were shown sitting with Mick Foley at ringside.
Ric Flair & Andrade El Idolo defeated Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett (w/ Karen Jarrett) (26:40)
There was around 20 minutes of build-up before the match started between history packages and the individual entrances for each participant and the ring introductions.
Doug Dillinger was at ringside doing security during Jeff Jarrett’s entrance. Jeff shoved Conrad Thompson who was standing in the front row.
Kid Rock was shown in the crowd just before Andrade and Flair made their entrances.
Ric Flair wore a white robe to the ring and the Big Gold Belt that he made famous in the 1980s (now owned by Thompson). Flair also wrestled in a purple t-shirt with “Nature Boy” on the back. WCW announcer David Penzer announced the participants for the main event, and Mike Chioda was the referee.
Flair and Jarrett started the match, but Jarrett tagged out to Lethal. Lethal and Flair exchanged side headlock takedowns. Lethal worked Flair into the corner and slapped him. Flair slapped him back, knocking Lethal down. Lethal asked for Andrade, who came in over the top rope with a springboard, showing his ankle was okay.
Lethal and El Idolo traded forearms. Jarrett got the tag and looked great against El Idolo. Flair tagged back in to work against Jarrett, and Jarrett taunted Flair with the Fargo Strut. Flair returned the favor and the crowd popped huge.
Flair worked Jarret into the corner with a series of chops. Lethal tried to interfere and Flair caught him with a low blow. Jarrett dropped to the floor and teased leaving, but broke the referee’s count. Back in the ring, El Idolo backed Lethal into his corner and Flair choked him down with a chinlock. Flair chopped Lethal down in the corner, dedicating the last one to the Undertaker. More chops from Flair took Lethal down.
Jarrett caught El Idolo with a knee from the outside. Lethal came off the top with an axe handle on El Idolo. Lethal hit his hip toss-cartwheel-dropkick sequence on El Idolo and blew Flair a kiss. El Idolo countered a suplex attempt with a crossbody. This seemed like a heat sequence that would end with a hot tag for Flair, but Flair just came in the ring and chopped Lethal and Jarrett. Flair caught Lethal coming off the top and put Lethal in the figure-four. Jarrett broke up the hold and tossed Flair to the floor.
On the floor, Jarrett got his wife’s shoe and hit Flair with it. Meaghan Flair (Conrad’s wife, looking a lot like Charlotte) attacked Karen Jarrett from the front row. Conrad Thompson looked irritated while Flair got worked over. Flair was bloodied after the shot from the shoe, and Jarrett and Lethal worked over the cut.
Back in the ring, Jarrett went after Flair. Jarrett set Flair up for something off the turnbuckles, but Flair (or maybe everyone) thought better of it. Lethal suplexed Flair for a near fall, broken up by El Idolo. Jarrett then put Flair in the figure-four leglock. El Idolo broke that up, and Lethal dumped him to the floor.
Lethal came off the top for an elbow drop, but Flair got out of the way. El Idolo and Jarrett go the tags and El Idolo took the fight to both Jarrett and Lethal. He suplexed Jarrett, then suplexed Lethal onto Jarrett. El Idolo tossed Lethal to the floor, then caught Jarrett with a diving DDT from the middle rope.
Lethal hit Jarrett with a superkick, then hit the referee with a superkick. El Idolo caught Lethal with a poisoned rana, then tagged in Flair. El Idolo missed a slingshot plancha onto Jarrett. Flair went for a cover on Lethal, but there was no referee. Jarrett brought his guitar in the ring. Lethal held Flair open for the guitar shot. El Idolo pulled Flair out of the way and Jarrett broke the guitar over Lethal’s head. Conrad Thompson then tossed El Idolo brass knuckles. El Idolo gave them to Flair, and Flair nailed Jarrett with the knuckles.
Flair put Jarrett in the figure four, and referee David Miller ran in to make the final count of Ric Flair’s career. Flair pinned Jarrett with the figure four.
After the match, confetti fell from the ceiling as Flair struggled to make it up to his feet. Flair, bloodied, had a smile on his face, but he looked in rough shape. Flair left the ring to celebrate with Wendy Barlow, Meaghan and Conrad. The Undertaker, Mick Foley and Bret Hart also congratulated Ric on the match. The floor director could be heard shouting directions to “the talent” to surround Flair.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Flair at ringside. Flair thanked the fans for coming out and complemented Nashville for being one of the greatest wrestling cities in the world. Kid Rock came into the locker room and told Flair to “entertain him” tonight, which added to the pressure. Flair said everything you heard about him is true, and he was going downtown to party tonight.
Flair held up the Big Gold Belt one last time. Jay Lethal met Flair at the stage and they hugged. Credits rolled with pictures of Ric Flair throughout the years. The show ended with Bob Caudle saying “So long for now!”
Final Thoughts:
The Flair match was probably the best you’re going to get out of a 73-year-old man going 26 minutes. Ric probably only needed a ten-minute match to send the fans home happy. But going 26, even with three younger guys doing most of the work was nuts. He didn’t look good at the end of the match. But the crowd was into everything about the main event.
The rest of the show was mostly okay, but it felt like a lot of the undercard matches got short-changed.
