Judgement Day has come and gone, and in its wake a legend has returned. Of course, I’m speaking of the great Ric Flair, who made a surprise return at the ppv, and has now subsequently interjected himself into the Batista/Orton angle. Hmm?? This is an issue that intrigues me, and this is an issue where I want to hear from all you readers…in your own opinion, should Ric Flair return to active wrestling, or not?
There are many arguments from both sides of this issue. The most obvious, he had a tremendous classic match against Shawn Michaels on the grandest stage of them all which was followed by the classy farewell the next night on Raw. Why would he want to jeoprodize that as a final memory? Another agrument against a return, Flair is simply to old; and the longer he goes at it in the ring, the higher the risk of a permanent injury.
However, the arguments that favor a return can be justified in the simple fact that this is the business of professional wrestling. First and foremost, Flair might be a bit on the older side, but he has proven he can still go with the younger guys on any given night. By the same token, if there was or is a time where Flair was unable to go at it 100%, then the man or men he may be in the ring with would be more than capable of helping him carry a match. Unless his final, true match ends up against the Great Khali!
As for the risk of injury the longer Flair stays in the ring, well that point is really moot. Why? This is professional wrestling; and anytime any single person enters that ring, at any age they risk career-ending injury. A guy as athletically gifted as Shelton Benjamin could make one small mistake and that could be the end of his time in the ring. The fact that Ric is still able to do what he can, is in my opinion, a true testament to how much this business runs in his blood. I mean come on, its not like this is Hulk Hogan trying to come back again!
Really, my opinion in this whole issue of Ric Flair returning to the ring has flipped and flopped back and forth from day to day. In the end however, I have set on the fact that Ric should do what makes Ric happy. Sure, he had a great match at ‘mania against HBK, and sure he had a great send-off the following night but we all know in the world of wrestling, nothing lasts forever and nothing is truly set in stone.
We hear it all time from wrestlers during interviews, that wrestling is in their blood and that the business is truly part of them. Ric Flair is the model of this. One of (if not THE) greatest champions of all-time, you can tell this business is in his blood. I know this, we only live once so shouldn’t we all have the chance to do what we love for as long as we can? This is of course…the great debate.
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