Flair’s last match a passing of torch

Make no mistake, the match at Wrestlemania which ended the wrestling career of Nature Boy Ric Flair was no hastily contrived event as he knew exactly what he was doing when he had his final match with the Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels.

The Nature Boy wasn’t just trying to have one great last match on the grandest stage of them all to cap his 36-year wrestling career. No, the match was symbolic, it was a passing of the torch from one generation to another as the 59-year-old dirtiest player in the game was giving his anointing as ‘The Man’ to the 42-year-old Show Stopper.

It was actually prophetic when you think about it. For years Ric Flair’s saying was ‘to be the man, you got to beat the man’, and at WM24 HBK did that very thing, thereby receiving the torch on Flair’s terms as expressed in the Nature Boy’s own words for many years. The pair even have matching gold watches commemorating the event.

As I’ve said before, the passing of the torch is very important in the wrestling industry. Even Flair was passed the torch in a way by the original Nature Boy Buddy Rogers and then later by seven-time champion Harley Race. There’s numerous other examples of torch passing, the most famous being at Wrestlemania III when Andre the Giant allowed himself to be slammed by Hulk Hogan, symbolically passing the torch to Hogan. And, try as he will, Hogan has also tried to pass his torch but no one wants to run with it as he first tried to anoint Bill Goldberg, who was a flash in the pan, and then he tried to anoint the Rock, who promptly retired from wrestling to make movies. This kind of shows that sometimes it takes more than just picking the flavor of the month to pass on one’s legacy as the top wrestler, it takes looking at a person’s body of work.

In the case of Flair, picking Michael Shawn Hickenbottom was a safe torch passing as Michaels is already a future hall of famer and is at the top of the sport. He, along with Undertaker, are the only two performers still there today who appeared in the very first RAW, the same Undertaker who almost retired him in 1998 during a casket match in which HBK took a bad bump and messed up disks in his back. He was retired for four years thinking his career was over until his returned with the NWO in 2002.

Now, the four-time world champion (three-time WWE champ and one time World Heavyweight champ) and four-time tag team champion (twice with Diesel Kevin Nash, once with Stone Cold and once with John Cena) will be expected to be the living legend in the absence of Flair. And, given his constant top card draw, it appears he is already filling the role perfectly as the delivery of Sweet Chin Music can instantly put a title belt around his waist if Vince is ever so inclined.

However, that’s one thing that really indicates greatness in this sport. A great wrestler does not have to have a belt around his waist to be great, to be a top draw and a main event attraction. Michaels can easily be the main event on any RAW or any pay-per-view in a non-title match and still draw a crowd.

Often, the championship belt is put on somebody to build them up into a main eventer. Current WWE champion Randy Orton is a perfect example as, following disciplinary problems and injuries that held him back, the belt was put on the Legend Killer after Cena’s injury last year. While always being a natural heel, Orton did not really attain top status until the belt was put on him. Hey, the same could be said of John Cena a few years ago as the belt made him more believable as a top face.

You can also see greatness in the way a wrestler can elevate the game of his opponent. Flair was always able to work a match with anyone, just as HBK does on a regular basis. Saying that, HBK will be taking on the Animal Dave Batista at Backlash, perhaps restoring the career of the once top level performer who hasn’t been quite right since his return from his last surgery.

Regardless of the story lines, Flair fans should not be sad as the Nature Boy will be returning to an on-air role after some time off as, although retiring from wrestling, Flair still remains under contract with WWE and will be used, likely like he was during his time with Evolution where he was more of a mentor than a wrestler.