2 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Starrcade 2019

4. A Flair For The Sold

Ric Flair doesn't get a live microphone on Raw or SmackDown very often now, with WWE perhaps mindful of some of the wild promos he's been cutting online accidentally escaping onto their carefully curated PG offering...or simply because one of the most electrifying talkers in industry history simply doesn't have his spark.

Like an Alan Partridge ratings graph, this started badly and got worse until we were all left with cheese being smashed into our faces - fans couldn't even hear Flair initially (him not being able to hear their "We Can't Hear You" chant was the sh*tception moment of 2019), and he strolled off message so much that they were probably regretting Kevin Owens swapping the microphones by the end.

What sounded like a noble attempt to put over the product inadvertently buried f*ck out of it - "They give us stuff to talk about, and bullet points...what I wanted to say was, we get a script and we look at it, and we try to cover what's important, but I've found with the product...obviously I'm so thrilled to see my daughter be part of it" was the sort of faint praise WWE often warrants. Flair, kindly, turned to Owens to note "I love what you did Monday by the way", before giving away that he was told to. "I'm hitting the highspots" immediately followed. High spot was right - nothing else of note got mentioned after this incredibly clunky start.

An interruption from The Club set up a surprisingly enjoyable unnancouned match, so that can wait for later in this article. Just ending this wretched opening segment was a mercy kill.