Ric Flair wanted to dive outside in Last Match, Charlotte said ‘no’
Ric Flair won’t be diving from the tope rope to the outside during his last match.
Flair spoke with Marc Raimondi earlier this month during a training session at The Wrestling Lab gym in St. Petersburg, Florida. Charlotte Flair was also in attendance to observe her father’s workout.
Charlotte said that her father wanted to do a dive from the top rope to the outside during his final match but she put a stop to it.
“A lot of our men and women in all companies miss those all the time,” Charlotte said of the move. “I was like, ‘No, not needed, not necessary. Wasn’t necessary in your prime, isn’t necessary now. So, no.'”
During Flair’s workout that day, his trainer and upcoming opponent, Jay Lethal, ran him through a “blow-up drill” similar to what the trainers at the WWE Performance Center use to test an athlete’s conditioning. The 73-year-old reportedly ran through the drill with double the reps and executed it “flawlessly.”
“That was very much a ‘Rocky’ moment, seeing my dad like that, pushing so hard,” Charlotte said of her father’s performance. “To do what he was doing and to know the wind that it takes and the conditioning and him going at it, I was just like blown away. It was mind over matter.”
Jay Lethal also spoke about what it has been like training Flair for the match.
“Sometimes he’d want a private [workout] in the morning and he’d wake up before me,” Lethal said. “I’d look at my phone and I’ve got a voicemail. ‘Wake up, m—–f—er. I want to get in the ring. Suplex me off the top.’ I’m like, ‘What?!’ And that’s the end of the message.”
“One of the first things he wanted to do was a suplex off the top or a clothesline over the top to the outside. I’m terrified. I’m like, ‘Why do you need to do that?'”
Still, Lethal says the experience is “a dream come true.”
“He’s literally my idol,” Lethal continued. “[Training with him] is like capturing lightning in a bottle. A dream come true is an understatement. I’m in awe.”
Ric Flair also admitted that he is nervous about his final match.
“I’m very nervous, because I’ve got to perform,” Flair said. “I need to walk out to the ring and be regular. I have to do some stuff I used to be able to do.”
He also got emotional when asked about Charlotte’s reaction to hearing the news that he was going to wrestle again.
“[She said,] ‘I’m proud of you, Dad,'” Flair said. “How big is that, right?”
Ric Flair’s Last Match will take place on Sunday, July 31 from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. It will air live on FITE TV as part of Starrcast V. The lineup for the show is as follows:
- Ric Flair & Andrade El Idolo vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal (w/ Karen Jarrett)
- Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Jacob Fatu
- Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Deonna Purrazzo and Rachael Ellering in a three-way match
- Ricky & Kerry Morton (w/ Robert Gibson) vs. Brian Pillman Jr. & Brock Anderson (w/ Arn Anderson).
- Rey Fenix vs. Laredo Kid vs. Taurus vs. Bandido
- The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
- Killer Kross (w/ Scarlett Bordeaux) vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
- Ren Narita vs. Yuya Uemura
- The Von Erichs (Marshall & Ross Von Erich) vs. The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
- Jonathan Gresham vs. Nick Wayne vs. Alan Angels vs. Konosuke Takeshita
- Bunkhouse Battle Royal