Flair looks back on his last match.
At the age of 73, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair made his return to in-ring competition in the summer of 2022. His final bout was the focus of an event that took place in Nashville, Tennessee.
Flair teamed with his son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, and they picked up a win over Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. Flair further looked back on the match while being interviewed by Chris Van Vliet.
He feels he made a mistake when he told the other participants in the match that he was not feeling well. Flair stated that he was lightheaded. There were spots cut out such as a top rope maneuver and things they had planned to do on the floor.
Everything went great (for my last match), including the 9,000 people we packed in there which was more than WCW or WWE had-had in the building forever. And then I just walked on the ramp and I just, you know, a combination. I guess I’d be nervous and everything started out fine though. So, I don’t know why I got lightheaded for a second. I made the mistake of saying to one of the guys, ‘I don’t feel so good.’ Well, they all thought I was telling them, like, my heart or something like that. And that’s the worst thing I did and then I was like, I got real lightheaded. And I know that I was in and out all during the match.
I was fighting like hell to get through it. But it was just fighting here (his head). Nothing that I felt, I wasn’t hurting anywhere. I just felt bad because the guys had been all panicking and worried about my health… We had constructed such a great match. If it had come off the way we’ve practiced forever, it would have been a masterpiece, but, you know, when I walked back to the locker room, Taker made me drink three Gatorades. Then I went to Kid Rock and drank all night long.
Oh God (there were more spots we were going to do). They were just gonna slam me off the top, suplex me, stuff on the floor. Everybody just panicked. It all was a concern for me, they didn’t forget their parts. They just (went), ‘Let’s get through this.’ I mean, that’s why I had to fake that heart attack. I went, ‘Slow down, slow down, I’m okay.’ Should have never said anything. So then we got a little bit more back in. But my son-in-law (Andrade) had to put the brass knucks on my hand. He’s going, ‘Wake up sir.’ That was it.
Flair would go on to reiterate that he wants to wrestle again. He mentioned that he should have chosen Ricky Morton to have his last match.
I want to wrestle again right now. Isn’t it crazy? I feel like, because, Ricky Morton, the guy that I should have chosen for my last match, would have been great. Ricky Morton is still wrestling. You know what the best thing for me about it was? Is I forced myself to really get in shape. I’ve heard this from guys over the years. And when they were older, I was like, in my prime. The older guys would say, ‘Aye man, I’m tired of working out.’ And there gets a time when you just get bored working out. You don’t have a goal. I mean, they gave me a goal and I just attacked it. I didn’t stop drinking or anything but I was training literally training three hours a day, five days a week in the ring, or I was doing the sled, the ropes. Yeah, I got my bench press up for two-and-a-quarter. I mean, so from being dead to all that was pretty cool.
Prior to his return bout in 2022, Flair’s most recent match had been against Sting in IMPACT Wrestling in 2011.
On the 4/12/23 episode of AEW Dynamite, Sting gave props to Flair for being a major reason behind his success in wrestling.
