Match Point is an ongoing series at Last Word on Pro Wrestling, where we look at intriguing matchups in indie wrestling and beyond. They may be dream matches, first-time matchups, or hotly anticipated rematches. Today we will focus on Ric Flair’s Last Match as he teams with Andrade El Idolo to take on Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
On July 31st, 2022, Ric Flair will (again) wrestle his “last match“, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. At 73 years of age, “The Nature Boy” will lace up his boots and step into the ring one more time (again). With his son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, they will take on Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett in a tag team match. They will main event a show with an under-card absolutely brimming with international talent. The show was originally going to take place at the Nashville Fairgrounds but sold out so fast that they moved it to the larger venue, the Municipal Auditorium.
It’s been an interesting road to the show, taking place the day after WWE’s “SummerSlam”, which also takes place in Nashville. Here’s the big picture on how a 73-year-old Ric Flair is managing to come back (yes, again). With the help of his independently famous son-in-law, take on the man who helped get him back in ring shape, and another man with multiple connections to Flair, going back decades.
Ric Flair’s Last Match: Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal
The Initial Signs of Another Flair Return
There were rumors as far back as mid-2021 of Flair wanting to work another match when he interfered on behalf of his daughters’ then boyfriend, now husband, Andrade El Idolo at AAA’s TripleMania in August of 2021. He saved Andrade from a beat-down courtesy of Kenny Omega and his corner-man, Konnan. The idea being for Flair and Andrade to eventually go against Kenny and Konnan in a tag match.
Unfortunately, plans fell through for multiple reasons. The least of which not being the September 16th, 2021 edition of VICETV’s “Dark Side of the Ring” on the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” story. In the episode, a flight attendant who was on the plane at the time told a story of Ric Flair preventing her from leaving the back galley area of the plane, essentially trapping her, and making unwanted advances. Either this or the simple fact that Flair had a hard time finding a doctor to clear him to compete at his age and in his shape, considering Flair almost died in 2017 due to liver failure and congestive heart failure.
Despite all this though, and despite the fact that it’s been 11 years since Flair’s last match, (one against long-time rival Sting in TNA circa 2011) a video of Flair training and working spots in a wrestling ring with Jay Lethal could only point to one logical conclusion; Ric Flair was coming back again. Now the only question that remained was who his opponent would be.
Who Wants to Beat the Man?
After the match announcement came in mid-May, questions swirled over who Flair’s opponent could possibly be. Ric Flair has many famous rivals. As well as plenty of current workers who are old school enough to handle the task. Hulk Hogan, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Sting, and even FTR were all names that people brought up. Jay Lethal obviously was a logical choice as well. As it turns out, it’s a bit more complicated than that.
In part 2 of the YouTube documentary, “The Last Match”, a docu-series on Flair’s YouTube channel chronicling his journey to the match, Jay Lethal turned on the man he had been helping train to get back in the ring. After Flair snubbed him, not even allowing him to be on the under-card for his last match, Lethal attacked Flair in the parking lot after a media event that Flair had done with Jeff Jarrett to help promote the show. An event at which Flair was rude to Jarrett multiple times. When Jarrett came to the parking lot and saw this, he attempted to help stop Lethal from attacking Ric. However, after verbally abusing and insulting Jarrett multiple times, Flair instead ended up getting beaten to a bloody pulp by both Jarrett and Lethal.
At the end of the video, we finally get to know the main event. Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo, vs. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett.
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What to Expect
While 73-year-old Ric Flair probably doesn’t have a lot left in the tank, it’s hard to imagine that this will stop him from doing everything he can to push his body to its limits. As recently as July 28th, F4WOnline.com reported that Ric Flair wanted to dive from the top rope to the floor outside the ring, and idea his daughter Charlotte was quick to kill. Especially with Sting on AEW television regularly, and the legendary “Stone Cold” Steve Austin returning at WrestleMania this year to work a 14-minute match with Kevin Owens in the main event of WrestleMania. Flair is going to be motivated to show everyone up by doing more while being older.
If you cannot attend in person, you can order the event via FITE.TV.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
