Never in the history of professional wrestling has the writing been so clearly on the wall as it was when Ric Flair stepped into the ring with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV in Orlando, Florida in a Retirement Match. Everybody in the building knew that Flair would be hitting the ol dusty trail, with a lavish Hall of Fame induction before the event making the entire week seem like a Ric Flair love-fest not that it was the first time in his career he'd have one of those. Woo! Ric Flairs career had spanned decades, coming up wanting to play off of the gimmick of Dusty Rhodes. The difference being, Dusty Rhodes was an everyman who the working class folks could immediately gravitate towards. And Ric well he was handsome. He had the looks, could do cardio like nobody in the industry, and more importantly than anything else, he could get under the skin of everyone in an arena. Fans watched Ric Flair lead the NWA to great heights with his charismatic persona and unparalleled work ethic. He was the pinnacle of the pretty boy bad guy. We got to see the very best of Flair over the course of his career. His feuds with Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Sting, Lex Luger, Hulk Hogan, and the conception of the Four Horsemen and Evolution all stand out as landmark events in pro wrestling history. He was robbed of nothing, and we were lucky to see his career to a proper completion. But when the legends of sport break down, and they unlace those boots one last time, it is a looming reminder of mortality, something we run from as a species. We hate being reminded that all things must pass, and when a legend retires, it's an evident fact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k1t7huB_aM Everything and everyone has an expiration date. While Flair may have bided his time between the ropes with a lackluster TNA run thereafter, in our hearts the final Nature Boy match was at WrestleMania against the Heartbreak Kid. Im sorry, I love you rolled off the tongue of Michaels, and he broke the hearts of millions with a Superkick, as a definitive star in the sport burnt out that night in Floridas skies.
David McCutcheon is an American freelance journalist and writing consultant. Over the course of sixteen years, he has written for the likes of IGN, Future US, GamesRadar, PlayStation Magazine, Shout! Factory, and many others in the fields of video games, movies, and more. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife. You can find him on Twitter @ZoopSoul.
