- Queens of the Earth: The Mare 1
- I Warned HIM, and Hes Defending Himself (Part 2)
- I Warned HIM... I Warned HIM and he didn't listen!
- Thus Ends Methuselah
- Queens of the Earth: The Lioness
- The Road to Hell: Great Tragedy, Sorrowful Nightmare, Last Depression, Final Damnation (Part 1)
- The Road to Hell: Great Tragedy, Sorrowful Nightmare, Last Depression, Final Damnation (Part 2)
Novid
A Man is Gone.
No, not dead. Just retired.
Richard Fliehr, also known as Ric Flair, the aforementioned Nature Boy; fought his last match against Shawn Michaels several days ago. It's not the greatest match, but in some ways it is.
35 years ago, when most started to know about Flair, he was not the man he later became. He was 300 pounds. Nobody would have told you he was going to be the greatest of all time.
The country was going through Vietnam, America's first of many dark moments. Flair had his dark moment, when a plane crash nearly ended his career and life and in hindsight could have ended the business years before. But taking a program which brought him back into the ring, during the days of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the cynical movies of the antebellum years of Vietnam, and the first era of genericsism in the country, Ric Flair became the star. The Man. He was the best thing going today at that time. Through the Apter magazines, the future TV shows on TBS and then the WCW, he was the face of the Pro Entertainment world.
I don't have to go through all the machinations of what he did in the business. The Five Greatest Matches of all time? Flair/Steamboat, Flair/Sting, Flair/Vader, Flair/Jumbo, Flair/Michaels. All Modern Day 3 to 5 star matches start and end with Flair/Steamboat. Where does it go from there? To greatness, i bet.
It was Steve Austin who told the Nickelodeon rejects that Flair should have a farewell tour. Planned to perfection, it shows how much more important Austin is to The Brand than first realized.
Did you see the end of the match, and the end of Raw? Did you see how much things have changed since then? Nothing is the same, and as the Undertaker bowed to him, you knew something great has passed on.
The question is now, where do we go from here?
He was the TV ages pro star. Him, Ali, Pele. All retired. Leaving a whole gaping hole across that no star since has filled.
Now the Net is here, and where is the new star? The new legend? The new Niatch?
Hard to find it now, as those who have waited, wait no longer and have moved to the Mixed World Of Martial Arts. Nothing against that. But its strange now, how even those have quit on it mentions it on a MMA, money making blog.
Heres a man that created his life, the best way he could. All there is left in the ring is a sign saying; "Space Mountain is closed!" and a distant wooo! over the stage.
All there is left in the business is the shattered truth. The times have changed, and the dream is coming to its end. Childhood ends and the grave is the next step. What's left, is crystal shards of boyhood dreams. Of fatherhood, of welcoming heroes with ticker tape parades. None of these things are possible now. And then, on the apron towards the left of you; which you legs are bare because you walking on such holy ground are two watches. Diamond studded Rolex. You look at the back and its engraved with words on both ends...
"To Be The Man... You gotta beat the man."
And one last tear falls, knowing this fatal truth.
The men are gone, and that was the last great one.
Say it loud, for we will not such see a man such as this.
WOOOOOOO!
Thanks, Ric.
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