Tag: Ric Flair

AEW signs multi-year deal with Ric Flair (and his energy drink)

Wooooo! Energy is the exclusive energy drink of AEW thanks to its deal with Ric Flair.

Taking opinions about Ric Flair, the person, out of the equation, it was both surprising and nostalgic to see the Nature Boy show up at the Oct. 25 episode of AEW Dynamite in Philadelphia. Now it seems the Nature Boy will be sticking around as well.

AEW announced today that it had signed “a multi-year deal with Hall of Famer ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair,” mentioning his appearance in Philly as Tony Khan’s “gift” for the soon-to-retire Sting.

There is, fortunately, no mention in the press release of Flair returning to the ring. The 74-year-old Flair had what was promoted as his last ever pro wrestling match last year, and while he (of course) has made comments suggesting that it might not really be the end for him, trust us when we say it should be.

So what’s in it for Flair if he’s not going to be wrestling or even playing an on-screen role after Sting retires next spring? His deal with AEW also makes his Wooooo! Energy (gotta remember all five o’s) the exclusive energy drink of the company. The press release announcing the deal says we’ll see it at concession stands at AEW events, on the announce table, and in the wrestlers’ locker rooms.

Well, we won’t see the drink in those locker rooms, but you get the point.

“I’ve been in the wrestling business for over 50 years,” said Flair in the press release. “Together with AEW and Wooooo! Energy, I’ve never been more excited, and I’ve never had more energy! When the Nature Boy promises a show, you know how it’s gonna go! Wooooo!”

Having never tried a can of Wooooo! Energy, yours truly can’t say whether it’s worth this kind of spotlight. “Clean energy without the jitters” does sound pretty good.

But really, as long as Khan doesn’t get the urge to have the “true” final match for Flair, this is all fine. Seriously, don’t do it. Just enjoy the “Wooooo!” and let that be enough.

Ric Flair makes surprise AEW debut, celebrates Sting as his retirement tour begins

Ric Flair made his surprise AEW debut on Dynamite to celebrate Sting.

On last week’s episode of Dynamite, Sting confirmed that his time in the wrestling ring will end at AEW Revolution in 2024. It will mark the end of one of the greatest careers in the industry, going out on his own terms after coming out of retirement from an injury he suffered in WWE.

With mere months until the event, it was always going to be interesting how AEW would handle Sting’s retirement tour between the announcement and the match. However, the ensuing show made it clear that it would be a special ride.

Ahead of the Oct. 25 episode of Dynamite, AEW teased a special gift for Sting. It was not clear what, or who, it would be, but when it came time, Tony Schiavone welcomed Ric Flair, making his first AEW appearance, as the surprise to the awe of the fans in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia crowd welcomed Flair with open arms. However, Christian Cage disrupted the moment by roasting everyone in the ring. This led to an angle for Full Gear where Christian, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne will face Sting, Darby, and a partner of their choosing on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Flair and Sting have been linked since their days in WCW, and in 2016, the Nature Boy inducted his longtime friend into the WWE Hall of Fame. Therefore, it was fitting for Flair to come out and praise Sting for his achievements in his incredible pro wrestling career.

Overall, the first leg of Sting’s retirement tour provided a nice moment as he and Flair shared a ring once again. It could be an indication of other special moments to come, to help conclude Sting’s legendary career in 2024 and ride him off in the sunset.

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20 best WWE finishers of all time: The best finishing moves ever

Finishing moves come and go in WWE, but these 20 are the best we’ve ever seen.

There’s something undeniably thrilling about the best WWE finishers. Just the anticipation for an especially great finishing move is a lot of fun, the palpable feeling that ripples through the crowd when a match is about to reach its dramatic conclusion.

And those occasions where a wrestler unexpectedly kicks out of a top finisher — provided they don’t happen too often — produce some of the loudest crowd reactions in the business.

Thanks to its position as the No. 1 pro wrestling company in the world for decades (even during times it didn’t want to admit it), WWE has seen more than its fair share of amazing finishing moves. But we wanted to dive in and find the ones that were truly the best, the crème de la crème of match-ending maneuvers.

To do that, we consulted a number of lists of this type that are already out there, including the WWE’s own rankings of the 50 best finishing moves of all time. Like our list of the top WWE PPVs ever, that makes this list pseudo-crowdsourced and not just our own opinions — though we slid some up or down where we felt it was warranted.

So what makes a truly great finishing move? The answer varies from fan to fan, but we considered the following:

  • Recognizability/cultural impact – Is a finisher so famous that even casual or non-wrestling fans know what it is or who does it?
  • Believability – If pro wrestling wasn’t scripted, does the move look like it would really end a fight?
  • Uniqueness – Does the move stand out on its own, or does a certain performer elevate it by adding more atmosphere to it?
  • Sellability – Does it offer the person on the receiving end the opportunity to play it up even more?
  • Legacy – Has it passed the test of time, even if others don’t use it as a finisher?

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive in and check out what we found to be a bit of a consensus on the 20 best WWE finishers of all time, starting at 20 and working down to No. 1.

Watch: Titans’ Mike Vrabel tells funny story about Ric Flair

Ric Flair attending Titans practice wasn’t the first encounter Mike Vrabel has had with the wrestling legend.

The Tennessee Titans had a special guest during their second practice of training camp a few weeks back when they hosted wrestling legend, Ric Flair.

“The Nature Boy” was in town for his latest final match, which took place on July 31 in Nashville. Flair spoke to coaches and players and broke the team down at the end of practice.

Flair also noted that he was a fan of head coach Mike Vrabel as a player, and running back Derrick Henry is his current favorite player.

“I loved [Mike Vrabel] as a player in New England. He just reached out to me and said, ‘you want to come to talk to the Titans?’ I said, ‘hell yeah,’” Flair explained, per Ben Arthur of The Tennessean. “My favorite player in the NFL right now is Derrick Henry. Hated him at Alabama, I love him here.”

Vrabel’s encounter with Flair during that practice wasn’t the first of his life, though. Check out Vrabel’s funny story of how he saw “The Nature Boy” stylin’ and profilin’ on a night out during his days in college.

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See highlights of Ric Flair’s Last Match

See highlights from the main event of Ric Flair’s Last Match, billed as the final pro wrestling match for industry legend Ric Flair.

Ric Flair has always made “looking as only I can look” part of his Nature Boy shtick. At the aptly named Ric Flair’s Last Match event in Nashville on July 31, he lived up to that mantra by bleeding for the fans (literally) one final time.

Teamed with real-life son-in-law Andrade El Idolo, Flair took on Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett in a tag team bout complete with a story that Jim Crockett Promotions had built up prior to the event: that Lethal, who grew up idolizing Flair, had trained him for his swan song but turned jealous when the Nature Boy denied him a place on the card.

As you might expect at age 73, Flair was a shadow of his iconic self, though he certainly hit as many of the high points fans would expect from him, including his famous chops and the corresponding “Whoo!” Lethal took some of the bumps Flair has turned into staples, particularly the flip up and over the turnbuckles.

A number of pro wrestling greats were on hand, including The Undertaker, Mick Foley and Bret Hart, who Flair stopped and spoke with after he managed to pin Jarrett.

You can check out highlights from Ric Flair’s final match and a bit of his subsequent speech thanking the fans in the video package above.

The match was by no means a classic, but was memorable nonetheless. A debate can certainly be had about whether Flair should have been cleared to compete in any capacity — he looked as if he could barely stand when the match ended — but fortunately, he appears to have come out of it no worse for the wear overall.

All that is to say this should absolutely be it for Flair, and no one should entertain any more “final” matches after this. At least he got to go out on something of a high note, in front of plenty of family and friends..

Nature Boy Ric Flair’s incomparable wrestling career

Ric Flair went out stylin’ and profilin’ as only he could in his final match

Wrestling legend Ric Flair went out with one last match — again — Sunday in Nashville. The Nature Boy was bloody but unbowed as he put his patented figure-four leglock on Jeff Jarrett to end his career triumphantly. A look at Flair’s wild and crazy run through the decades of professional wrestling and sports entertainment.

Ric Flair’s Last Match live results

Check out Ric Flair’s Last Match live results from Nashville on July 31, 2022.

This is it … probably. Ric Flair’s Last Match is supposedly exactly what it says it is on the cover, the final pro wrestling match for Ric Flair, one of the greatest to ever grace the ring.

Now 73, Flair is supposedly calling it quits on the 50th anniversary of his pro wrestling debut in 1972. Along with the main event, which will see Flair team with son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to face Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, there’s an entire card that’s been put together for the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville featuring talent from across the country and around the world — some recognizable AEW, Impact and NJPW wrestlers included.

If you can’t watch the show as it’s taking place, we’ve got you covered. Bookmark this page and check back throughout the evening for the latest.

Ric Flair’s Last Match quick results:

Scroll down for more detailed Ric Flair’s Last Match live results.

Ric Flair attends Titans practice, calls Derrick Henry his favorite player

Flair also believes Titans head coach Mike Vrabel could make it in the WWE.

The Tennessee Titans had a rather uneventful practice on Thursday during the second day of training camp with players going half speed during the team period, but a special guest spiced things up a bit.

With the WWE’s SummerSlam set to take place at Nissan Stadium this week, wrestling legend Ric Flair, who will be taking part in his final match at the event, stopped by practice and addressed Titans players.

Following his talk with the players, Flair spoke with the media and admitted that Derrick Henry is his favorite player, which made coming to Titans practice even more exciting for the 73-year-old.

“I loved [Mike Vrabel] as a player in New England. He just reached out to me and said, ‘you want to come to talk to the Titans?’ I said, ‘hell yeah,'” Flair explained, per Ben Arthur of The Tennessean. “My favorite player in the NFL right now is Derrick Henry. Hated him at Alabama, I love him here.”

When asked what he likes most about Henry, “The Nature Boy” pointed to Henry’s speed.

“I didn’t realize he had that speed. When he gets in the open, he turns it up. I didn’t see that in college; I just saw a hell of a running back,” Flair said. “2,000 yards; think about it: that puts him in the same class as Adrian Peterson and people like that.”

Flair was then asked if he thought head coach Mike Vrabel could make it in the WWE. To nobody’s surprise, his answer was yes, and we couldn’t agree more.

“He’s big enough; I forgot how big he is,” Flair responded. “Remember, he was a linebacker so, probably at 260 right now. Absolutely, I can tell by talking to him he’s tough.”

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear what Flair said to the players, but in the two videos below you can hear the Titans playing his walk-up music as he approaches the players, and we also got a “woooo” at the end.

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Ric Flair will tag with son-in-law for final match against old, younger rivals

After plenty of speculation regarding a current WWE superstar, the opponents and partner for Ric Flair’s Last Match were revealed July 18.

A former WWE star will be one of the opponents for Ric Flair in what is being billed as his final pro wrestling match ⁠— just not the one many fans were hoping for.

After Flair teased a WWE connection a few days earlier, the details were revealed this evening by TMZ Sports. Flair will team with his son-in-law, AEW star Andrade El Idolo, to face longtime wrestler, promoter and current member of WWE management Jeff Jarrett and AEW’s Jay Lethal.

Despite the relatively late announcement with the Ric Flair’s Last Match card less than two weeks away, the video made to divulge the particulars (which you can see below) does a nice job weaving a narrative connecting the four wrestlers.

Specifically, Lethal is shown expressing how he idolized Flair growing up and was honored to get to help train him for his last hurrah, but getting upset when told he wouldn’t be on the card. Lethal then confronts Flair after a press conference for the event, attacking the Nature Boy in the parking lot … then getting some help from Jeff Jarrett and wife Karen in beating Flair bloody.

In voiceover, Flair then says “this is f–king family” as Andrade is introduced as his tag team partner.

Despite knowing each other for decades, Flair and Jarrett have only wrestled each other a handful of times in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Lethal and Flair have locked up twice in singles matches in 2010, with each man winning once.

Andrade, meanwhile, became part of Flair’s family in an official capacity only recently, marrying Charlotte Flair on May 27.

Flair’s use of the hashtag #WWERaw in his tweet promoting the announcement had many fans wondering if WWE would allow a current performer to take part in the event, with speculation zeroing in on AJ Styles. Jarrett’s involvement is essentially the next best thing; while no longer an active wrestler, he is WWE’s Senior Vice President of Live Events.

Ric Flair’s Last Match will take place Sunday, July 31 at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, with a card that now consists of nine matches and talent participating from a variety of promotions. The event will be streamed live on pay-per-view via FITE TV.

Ric Flair still doesn’t know who he’ll be wrestling in his final match

Even Ric Flair himself isn’t sure who will be on the other side of the ring July 31 for his final pro wrestling match.

Ric Flair is a pro wrestling legend, one who’s more than earned the right to go out on his own terms. Yet even after decades in the business, some things remain out of his control, and one of those, apparently, is who he’ll face in what’s being billed as his final match.

Indeed, a press conference held today for Ric Flair’s Last Match, which will be held July 31 in Nashville, ended without answering that very important question. The Nature Boy wasn’t able to provide any insight into exactly what kind of match he’ll be in or who he’ll be facing, noting that he’s not booking it.

Flair did say he didn’t need his opponent to be a “big name” as long as they could work. As for his own ability to put on a performance, he sounded confident he’d rewind the clock at least a bit.

“I promise you that on July 31st, I won’t be the Ric Flair of 1989, but I will be better than the Flair of 1999. Ha, wait. I mean 2009.”

The 73-year-old Flair also said he has no concerns about his health leading up to the event. While his heart has been an issue for some time, he suggested he simply won’t take his blood thinning medication that day, and that his pacemaker would also not be a problem.

Several matches for the card, including MLW’s Jacob Fatu facing Impact World Champion Josh Alexander, were revealed during the press conference. But Flair’s match remains a mystery, possibly because the original plans for it haven’t materialized.

Fightful Select reported that despite some interest, Ricky Steamboat is unlikely to participate. A six-man tag match of some sort still feels like the most likely format, but who will be on each side of it remains to be seen.

Ric Flair’s Last Match will now take place at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, a bigger venue than originally advertised. Additional tickets will go on sale Friday, June 24 at noon ET at RicFlairsLastMatch.com.