Jim Ross responded to Ric Flair’s interview with Alex Marvez, where Naitch revealed he contacted WWE about returning to the ring (and which Iain Burnside blogged about here), in his latest blog entry.
J.R. spoke with Flair last weekend and got the impression that he was getting the itch to return then. He offers an interesting rationale for why Ric is itching to lace up his boots again:
Ric called me last Sunday morning and we had a nice talk and I could tell that “Naitch” was getting “the itch” to get back in the ring. He might be feeling somewhat burned out regarding all the autograph shows and meet ‘n greets that he’s done over the past several months. One can only imagine how much flesh Ric has pressed since retiring.
Ross says you can’t compare Flair wanting to return at such an advanced age to someone like Chuck Lidell making an ill advised comeback because, well, they don’t call it sports entertainment for nothing:
This is not like Chuck Liddell having another UFC fight. UFC is sport and the magnificent Liddell has done enough to his body and for his sport to proudly and graciously say “Adiós” to MMA. Pro wrestling is show biz and Ric is a magnificent showman who can entertain audiences in a variety of ways but Ric also has the curse of a performer in that once a performer always a performer and Ric likely would like just as soon “die on his sword” as not.
Ross has more to say, and it’s all worth reading, but this turn of phrase lifted from his BFF caps off my copy and paste job the best:
But here is the bottom line….my thanks to Stone Cold….it’s Ric’s life and he should do whatever he wants to do at this stage of the game that makes him happy.
