Ranking Every WrestleMania Retirement From Worst To Best

5. Ric Flair - WrestleMania XXIV

Triple H boots
WWE.com

Truth be told, Ric Flair wrestled a little longer than he probably should have, and that statement was already true in the early-‘00s. The strut was there, the ‘WOO’ was there, but something was missing. Father Time is undefeated after all, and latter-day Flair matches were a difficult watch because they reminded you of what used to be. In his pomp, there was no one like Ric Flair. In the twilight of his career, Ric Flair was anything but.

What a way to go out though, right? The result of Flair’s retirement match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV was never in doubt, but the then-59-year-old pulled a rabbit out of the hat and put on a show. Admittedly, the rabbit was being led by the best of his generation, but it takes two to tango. What a magnificent tango this was.

We all know how it ended. Flair, tears in his eyes, begging Michaels to put the nail in the coffin. Michaels, full of uncertainty, utters the line we all know before planting his boot square in Flair’s jaw. That was that. It is difficult to top this one on the emotional level, although its impact has undoubtedly been sullied by Flair’s subsequent return to the ring.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.