10 Times Wrestlers Quit Before Major PPVs

3. Ric Flair (WCW The Great American Bash ’91)

In 1991 Ric Flair was booked to defend his WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Lex Luger at The Great American Bash in a steel cage main event.

He appeared on all the marketing and posters for the event, with the match billed as ‘Legend vs. Legacy’. It was the headline attraction for WCW at one of their biggest annual events, but Flair was having a series of issues and clashes with WCW President at the time Jim Herd, who he accused of knowing nothing about pro wrestling.

Herd, meanwhile, saw Flair as past his prime, with the finish of the TGAB match booked to have Lex go over and win the big gold belt.

Flair knew his worth. Having grown sick and tired of Herd’s cartoony era of WCW and the way he treated him, Flair made plans to defect to the WWF. Two weeks before TGAB Herd claimed he fired Flair to save face, even though Flair was leaving WCW no matter what. Herd stripped Flair of the title but Flair still physically had the title in his possession though. Flair showed up with the gold on WWF TV shortly after. Barry Windham ended up substituting for Flair on at The Great American Bash in the steel cage with Luger.