Last night, Ric Flair was going for Intercontinental championship gold, a chance to fight Jeff Hardy for the title at WrestleMania if he won in the non-title match on RAW. At first, this storyline was the most subtle on RAW all night, but by the end, it was clear how much Flair is still “with it.” The story in the ring went like this: like every North Carolina wrestler, Hardy grew up idolizing the Nature Boy. Now Hardy fights Flair in complete respect, clapping for him like a good face would before the match. Very early on, Hardy ‘hurts’ his knee and that opens it up for Flair to use the psychology to eventually lead to the Figure Four leglock. The actual ring work was a little off by Hardy if you watch closely but otherwise a good story was told as Flair was about to showboat prior to the Figure Four and Hardy rolled him up for a victory. Flair looked pissed off (at himself, at Hardy) and teased a heel turn but gave Hardy a hug and all was well in the babyface kingdom.
Later on we got into the real story. Carlito, Torrie Wilson and the damn dog are about to leave to go have a life outside of WWE when Flair stops them and gives a strong promo on how if you care about the WWE and climbing the ladder, you shouldn’t leave early. He says he doesn’t know who he is sometimes and the fans do know who he is but he has to prove himself to McMahon and these guys don’t give a damn. This was Flair gold, but, he should also give this lecture to Triple H when he comes back and Shawn Michaels as many times as he has gotten beaten down because his friends left too early.
Of course the underlying meaning is McMahon saying through Flair that people in the back better watch it because they are on watch to get cut next. McMahon is saying through the story that he is still calling the shots, and you shouldn’t expect things handed to you until you’ve earned it in McMahon’s eyes. The veterans are saying, and I would say justly, that the talent now shouldn’t expect first-class treatment until they’ve earned it. The true vets went to the wrestling school, ate and spent their lives on the road, staying in their cars and dumps to get by. They paved the roads, so respect them, respect the sport and pay your dues and care.
What did you think of the Flair segment? I’m looking forward to the Road to WrestleMania through Flair’s eyes, passion and promo, if the storyline continues right. Flair doesn’t have a lot of current choices of champions he can face right now other than Hardy, since the main event picture is full of kids already. Hardy and Flair can tell a good story in the ring, both live in North Carolina and both are respected by the fans. I hope it leads to “more” than a heel turn by Flair, I don’t want to see a ‘pathetic, I don’t get the win face’ Flair either. I want to see Flair full of passion and the “respect me, respect the business” story to continue.
Always remember, for things to change, you have to make movement. Thanks for reading and for all the feedback, feel free to contact me anytime at Bam@4sternstaging.com.
