Despite the bloodshed, ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair managed to come out victorious in his final match as part of Starrcast V in Nashville, TN. The Hall of Famer teamed with his son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
There were many who felt uncomfortable watching the Hall of Famer wrestle for supposedly one last time. In a recent interview on Highspots TV, Jarrett discussed some of the negative reactions to Flair’s final outing.
You can check out some of the highlights from the interview below.
Jeff Jarrett on the mixed reaction to Ric Flair’s last match: “Going into it, I knew there were mixed emotions with it. Coming out of it, there may be more. Some people – if you were there live, you have an opinion on it. But some people watched the same event, and there are really truly some mixed emotions about all of it. I find that fascinating. I was taught at a very young age from my grandmother that you always have that, but the wrestling fan at the very core, is passionate about one side of the fence or the other, and thank god they are.”
On his experience being in the match and the criticism of Flair’s performance: “Obviously, being in it is completely different than watching it. But I have learned this, and we’ve heard it for years and years, expectations – I think everybody in their mind had a completely different expectation going in and they do remember Ric and the glory years. Nobody likes to remember fat Elvis, everybody likes to remember [glory days] Elvis. I totally get that. You can’t kill a memory. Dutch Mantel used to ingrain that in my brain, and I believe that. But the expectation of what did you expect is something. Then, to get right down into it….it’s really fascinating in so many ways that the expectations of so many, both inside the business and out, were so mixed. Across the board.
“Like, the simple low-hanging fruit comment of, ‘Man, Ric was really out of breath.’ Yeah, no shit. He’s 73 and hasn’t had a match in 11 years. I can take a 25-year-old guy here today, plug him out, and put him in a humongous high-pressure situation and not have a match for a year, and 90 seconds in, he will not be able to spell his name. It’s just what nerves do to you. I don’t care who you are. I was nervous, Jay Lethal was nervous, Andrade was nervous. The pressure that the three of us had on us, you think about it – it’s a huge blessing, we got to be in Ric Flair’s last match. Yeah, think about that.”
For news on Ric Flair, follow us on our Twitter and Facebook pages.
