Tarnishing A Legacy vs Continuing A Love Affair with the Business

I was watching some of Hulk Hogan's promotional work tonight for the upcoming tour of Australia he has, nothing really out of the ordinary if you know Hogan but he did confirm one thing everyone had been speculating on since the tour was announced, that being that Ric Flair had also confirmed himself to come out as part of the show. And that got me to thinking, at what point does a wrestler stop being an icon we want to see and start becoming a object of our pity as a broken down shadow of the hero we once knew desperately chasing one final payday from a business who like an abusive spouse, they can't seem to break away from?

"The Nature Boy" was one of my heroes growing up as a wrestling fan, he had it all, charisma on the mic, a great gimmick, limos, lear jets, champagne, caviar. He both infuriated and entertained anyone who ever watched him as one of the mainstays of the NWA and WCW. What really made Ric Flair so special though was he didn't just say he was the greatest wrestler around, he actually went out there and proved it night after night after night. He was the original "Brookstick" wrestler (So called because the thought was he could wrestle a broomstick and still have a great match). Then in 1991 it all changed, the first real shock of wrestling happened as Flair fell out with the guy running WCW at the time, Jim Herd (who promptly fired him) and jumped ship to the WWE. There was Bobby Heenan on WWE television with the NWA championship belt saying that the "Real World's Champion" was coming to the WWE. When Flair joined fans around the world sat up and salivated at the thought of the dream match, Flair vs Hogan finally coming true. Of course it never happened, for reasons unknown but probably not limited to "Vince McMahon is a giant dumbass". He only lasted in the WWE about 18 months before going back to WCW where he stayed till they closed in 2001. After the pathetic Invasion angle the WWE tried to save face by bring Flair in as a co-owner, which pretty much started the "Brand Extension" that we live with now. But eventually he got into the ring regularly and started having great matches again.

But like all great heroes in any sport there was one opponent Ric Flair couldn't beat, time. The moves became less sharp, the matches less classic and slowly but surely he became someone who was less the wrestler I regarded as a hero but more a pale imitation, even Ric himself saw the writing on the wall and so it came to be at Wrestlemania 24 Ric Flair had one last great match against Shawn Michaels and walked away into the sunset never to be seen again.

For about three months.

While he hasn't really wrestled since then Ric has appeared in feds such as Ring of Honor and even once again on WWE television, helping out where he can while seemingly unable to break away from the business that made him a household name and the more I see him mentioned, the more I weep.

Now don't get me wrong, Ric Flair even today at least interview wise is better than 75% of wrestlers out there, he can teach the new generation of superstars a lot about how to get a crowd involved and hating (Or loving) you. However, the Ric Flair of today is not the Ric Flair I grew up idolising. Time has slowed him, a lot of what made him the greatest superstar in wrestling is now gone. While he will always get a great reaction from people for me he's tarnishing a legacy earnt over three and a half decades of service.

I understand that people need money, and this is the only business Ric Flair has known but there comes a time when you have to look yourself in the mirror and ask "Is what I'm doing hurting me or helping me?". The day that Ric Flair can do that and answer himself honestly is the day that he will finally cement his status as a true legend.

His moments on this tour even today for me will be something to cherish, he'll always be entertaining. But I do pray, for the sake of his legacy that this is the last goodbye for the Nature Boy.