Ric Flair’s last match was a bloody, grueling war ... and a whole lot of fun

Ric Flair strut down the aisle one final time for his farewell bout at Ric Flair’s Last Match. The 16-time world champion tagged with Andrade against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. It was a bloody, grueling affair with Flair controlling the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Flair entered to his iconic entrance theme in a white robe with blue trim. He had the Big Gold Belt around his waist.

Flair and Jarrett started the match. Jarrett talked smack, so Flair slapped him. Jarrett tagged out to Lethal. Lockup takedown on Flair, but the Nature Boy escaped with a headscissor. Flair then locked up to take down Lethal. Lethal backed Flair into the corner for a slap. Flair slapped right back.

Continuing with the mind games, Jarrett strut first.

A short while later, Flair strut back.

The match progressed with the pattern of Jarrett and Lethal working over Andrade to set up the hot tag for Flair to work the crowd into a frenzy. Flair’s offense was mostly punches, chops, and some mat work. He kept it simple and effective.

The bout broke down into shenanigans when Jeff hit Flair with Karen Jarrett’s shoe. Jeff smashed Flair’s head into the guardrail to get blood. Karen mouthed off too much, so Flair’s daughter, Megan, grabbed her hair in a skirmish. Flair showed why he is the dirtiest player in the game by faking heart attack chest pain as a ruse to poke Jarrett in the eye.

Back in the ring, Flair took his biggest bump of the night on a suplex from Lethal.

Jarrett worked over Flair to set up a figure-four. Andrade landed a flying splash on Jarrett for the save. Flair dodged a flying elbow drop from Lethal for the hot tag to Andrade. El Idolo ran wild with clotheslines and suplexes. He pinned Jarrett off a flying DDT, but Double J was able to get his foot on the ropes for the break.

The match was even wilder down the stretch. Andrade dodged a superkick from Lethal to accidentally hit Jarrett. Lethal kicked again to accidentally hit the referee. Andrade executed a poison rana to Lethal and tagged in an exhausted Flair. The Nature Boy crawled in to cover Lethal, but the referee was still out. The crowd counted past ten on the pinfall.

Jarrett entered the ring with his guitar. Lethal held Flair in place. Andrade pulled Flair to safety, and Jarrett cracked Lethal.

That was the beginning of the end. Andrade blasted Jarrett with a superkick. Conrad Thompson tossed in brass knuckles to his brother-in-law. Andrade handed the foreign object to Flair. Boom! Flair cold-cocked Jarrett. Flair locked in the figure-four for good measure. A backup referee ran in to count Jarrett’s shoulders on the mat. Flair and Andrade were victorious.

Flair caught his breath and thanked the crowd for their support.

There will be divided opinion on Flair’s performance. Some, like myself, will have enjoyed the spectacle of it all seeing a legend wrestle one final time. The pomp and circumstance had a big-time feel. Jarrett and Lethal were excellent foils as bad guys to create great tension against Flair. The Nature Boy kept it simple to work his magic. Others will view this as a sad exhibition with Flair looking every bit his 73 years of age. He did appear to be dangerously exhausted by the end of the match.

Check out the full results here for the event as a whole. Replays of Ric Flair’s Last Match are available through Fite TV here.

What’s you take on Ric Flair’s last match?