41 Most Disgusting Promotional Tactics In Wrestling History RANKED

32. 1994 - Ric Flair Retirement Angle

Context is important here.

In 1994, Ric Flair was considered a near-sacred living legend. There was a sense within the WCW fandom that he was closer to the end than the beginning, but because he could still turn it on, fans were desperate to bargain for his future. He was in his “good once as he ever was” phase.

The anxious, bittersweet quality of this run was compounded by the arrival and mega-push of Hulk Hogan: a man who despite pulling in an impressive, casual pay-per-view audience was considered an affront to the philosophy of World Championship Wrestling.

It was bad enough that Hogan had defeated Flair so emphatically on night one, at Bash At The Beach. For Hogan to retire Flair, by winning a Steel Cage match at Halloween Havoc, was too upsetting. It was essentially canon that Hogan was the top star, and that Flair was the relic who didn’t have it in him anymore. Flair is five years Hogan’s senior.

It was genuinely felt that Flair had been “iced”. Some powerful figures within a company that wasn’t in a strong financial position felt it was prudent to remove his contract from the budget. An ever-emotional Flair took it to heart, and told friends he’d go along with it and retire at Halloween Havoc. At the same time, the pay-per-view buy amount was considered, internally, as a Ric Flair valuation of sorts. It was a budget meeting masquerading as a retirement match,

This game of chicken was very quickly revealed to be - or evolved into - a con. Flair was back on TV within months. Worse still, he was depicted as a desperate old guy who begged Hogan and Randy Savage to “say the right things to the right people” to get him reinstated.

It was hardly great, this tactic, but ultimately, the fans were ripped off. This has happened thousands of times.