7. Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 24
Sometimes it takes a slight nudge to encourage someone to retire. In this case, it took multiple superkicks. Heading into WrestleMania 24, the 59-year old Ric Flair was fighting every match as if it were his last because of a directive from Vince McMahon that said if he lost, then that would be his last match. Coming to terms with his own mortality, Flair challenged Mr. WrestleMania Shawn Michaels for the biggest show of the year. The 2008 Match of the Year (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) was as memorable as it gets. Flair pulled out every one of his old tricks, such as taking Shawn down with a flying cross-body from the top (the move that won him his second NWA World Heavyweight Championship 25 years earlier). The Nature Boy even managed to kick out of TWO superkicks from HBK, ultimately succumbing to a third after Shawn delivered the memorable lines, "I'm sorry, I love you." Flair went out on his back, but his last fight may have been one of his all-time best.
Eric Delgado has been writing about professional wrestling for five years and has been involved in the professional wrestling business as a performer for ten. He is also the former host of Steel Cage Radio and has an irrational love for The Ryback.
