10 Wrestling Storylines Totally Ripped Off From Movies

5. Ric Flair's WWE Retirement Mimics Rocky Balboa

The wrestling industry has a lot to thank the Rocky series for, there's a lot of natural story-telling from those movies which translates nicely into the world of grappling. More will be explored in a later entry, using an earlier Rocky film for inspiration, but first it's time to take an in-depth look at how the latest movie in the franchise, Rocky Balboa (VI) helped WWE tell the story for Ric Flair's retirement in 2008. Towards the end of his active full-time career with WWE, Flair was starting to more than show his age, certainly when in the ring with younger, more agile opponents. It seemed that only his amazing history and the adulation of the crowd were driving him on, something which can be said for Rocky Balboa in the move of the same name as he comes up against the remarkably more accomplished Mason Dixon. Agreeing to a match at WrestleMania XXIV against the younger Shawn Michaels, Flair would inevitably come up short against his quicker opponent. Having to accept that his glory days were behind him, the 'Nature Boy' broke down in tears upon realising that the stipulation for the match called for the end of his career. In Rocky VI, Balboa is aware that the fight against Dixon is his last hurrah, and must face up to the fact that he can't go like he used to.