Greetings. Like many of you, I’m puzzled and disgusted with the charade I saw on Monday Night RAW, which had legendary former NWA and WWF World Champion Ric Flair being unceremoniously fired by his daughter Charlotte. To be honest, I’m hoping the whole contrived charade will ultimately prove to be a well conceived “work” and that when all the smoke clears the Nature Boy will re-emerge with his dignity and reputation restored. At this stage, however, I’m pretty doubtful that will prove to be the case though.
I’ll grant you that it’s not uncommon in any wrestling, or any sport for that matter, for guys to be released or given their walking papers – as evidenced by the recent departures of guys like Damien Sandow, Wade Barrett, Zeb Colter, Adam Rose, Santino Marella and Alex Riley. No offense to any of them, but Ric Flair wasn’t just some run of the mill journeyman, he was an iconic former NWA and WWF world champion – one of the all time greats, who not only put his heart and soul into the wrestling business, but dedicated his blood, sweat and tears to getting those world titles over.
On countless occasions, the Nature Boy went into the ring against marginally talented nondescripts and ended up making them look like vaunted world beaters – which is what separates the good workers from the truly great ones. Having said that, even if the WWE felt that Ric had outlived his usefulness or was no longer a marketable commodity for them, they should have handled his exit with due respect by not only letting him leave on his terms, but by giving him a proper send-off worthy of a legend, rather than the shabby way they showed him the door.
You may recall, by comparison, last year when major league baseball bid farewell to iconic New York Yankees second baseman, Derek Jeter – every single American League team pulled out all the stops to honour him on his final visit, showering him with gifts and heartfelt speeches and whatnot. The same was the case for Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar Kobe Bryant when he made his farewell tour in the various NBA cities.
Ric Flair, contrary to what his daughter had the audacity to suggest, was every bit as big a star in the wrestling realm as Derek or Kobe were to baseball and basketball fans, and, as such, deserved the same type of sendoff from wrestling fans – whom he entertained and captivated for close to four decades, rather than being sent packing like some broken down old racehorse on his way to the glue factory.
No knock of Charlotte, but in my humble estimation, if she wasn’t Ric Flair’s daughter, it’s doubtful she would be wearing the WWE women’s world title today – or, for that matter, it’s a good bet that none of us would have ever even heard of her. Virtually all of her fame and acclaim is due to her legendary father.
I suspect that whomever in the WWE’s creative department that came up with this storyline probably thinks this will get her a lot of heat, but there’s a big difference between cheap, illicit heat like this and getting serious heat (like her father was capable of getting every time he stepped into the ring). To my way of thinking, desecrating her legendary father, for no conceivable reason, like this, tends to hurt her more than help her – regardless of whether she’s cast as a heel or not.
I might add that this isn’t the first time the WWE seems to have gone out of its way to demean and ridicule legendary former world champions. If my memory serves me correctly, iconic former NWA world champions, such as Harley Race and Dory and Terry Funk were never used anywhere near their capability or even acknowledged to have been world champions when they worked for the WWE back in the 80’s. Beyond that, other legendary former NWA world champions, such as Lou Thesz, Whipper Watson, Jack Brisco, Pat O’Connor, Strangler Lewis, Frank Gotch, Jim Londos and Gene Kiniski – who are considered to have been some of the greatest wrestlers of all time, remain conspicuous by their absence from the WWE Hall of Fame – which doesn’t say much for the legitimacy or propriety of that institution – especially when a host of other marginal types, like Jimmy Garvin, Jacqueline, The Godfather, Koko B. Ware, Mike Von Erich and Madusa have been welcomed with open arms.
Even more appalling is the way the WWE has treated many of its own biggest stars. Case in point, legends like Bruno Sammartino, Randy Savage, my brother Bret and the Ultimate Warrior – all of whom were among the most iconic champions in WWF history, had to wait years and years before they were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Beyond that, as I’ve pointed out to my readers in the past, other worthy candidates for the Hall of Fame such as my brother Owen, Davey Boy Smith, the Dynamite Kid, Billy Robinson, Karl Gotch, Bill Miller and Luther Lindsay have been routinely snubbed. I also thought the WWE’s expulsion of Hulk Hogan and failure to reinstate him, even though he was exonerated in court, reflects an egregious lack of respect and appreciation for the contribution of one of the people who laid the groundwork for the foundation of the whole franchise.
Having said all of that, I, nonetheless, am still hopeful that the powers that be in the WWE head office will see fit to bring Ric Flair back – if only to let him ride into the sunset with his head high and his dignity intact. Beyond that, in the immortal words of Triple H, it would be what’s best for business.
If they don’t see fit to do that and the abortion we saw last Monday night on RAW was, indeed, his swan song, then shame on them, and shame on Charlotte as well, for treating a legitimate legend like some worthless piece of shit. You would never, ever, see anything like this happening in any other major league sport or entertainment genre. In the WWE, however, it seems to be relatively common – which is one of the main reasons why wrestling continues to be routinely sneered at and treated with derision and ridicule.
To whomever in Stamford, Connecticut that’s responsible for crap like this, give your heads a shake and ponder what the hell the point of this whole, ill conceived charade is and explain to me how humiliating and degrading a guy like Ric Flair can be good for business.
On that note, I’ll call this a wrap, but shall look forward to catching up with you all next time.
– Bruce Hart
