A storyline finale playing out to sheer and total perfection, the Shawn Michaels/Ric Flair superclash bid fond farewell to 'The Nature Boy' and made beautiful use of his inability to be the man he once was.
There's a small botch during a pinfall escape that - thanks to the heft both men were capable of inserting into the match - thoroughly enhances the encounter and the story of Flair's tearful goodbye. Ever artful, 'HBK' applies elegance with his every move, including the iconic "I'm Sorry, I Love You" conclusion that should have formed every retrospective on him as well that of his fallen friend and foe.
Weaving reality and fiction as few others could, Michaels was of course the right man for this task, as Flair was for his final WWE job. He wept before he hit the deck from the final superkick, but these weren't the usual tears of the bombastic clown. 'Slick Ric' had, one last time, reminded everybody exactly why Orlando's oldest ride still had the longest line.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
