On Sunday, July 31, Ric Flair will wrestle what is advertised to be his last match in Nashville, TN.
Flair will team with his son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to take on Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett. Many wrestlers have claimed to be retired or wrestle their last match -- including Flair who lost to Shawn Michaels at WWE WrestleMania 24 in what was billed as his retirement match -- only to return to the ring later in life.
Appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Flair explained why this will be his last match.
"It has to be," he said. "That question, I get asked a lot. It will just have to be. Even if I do real well, I can't go back on my word to the people that have given me all this respect and time and have bought tickets. I've already been offered 10 matches at 50 grand a piece. Over in Europe, a guy offered me $100,000. This will be the last one. I can manage somebody in the ring, but this will be my last match."
When asked why he made the decision to do one more match at this stage in his life, Flair once again reiterated that it's not about the money for him.
"It's not about money at all. I'm great, money-wise. When I saw Steve (Austin) and Vince (McMahon) at WrestleMania, people have been asking me to do it. Some people offered me $100,000 to do it, and I thought, 'Nah.' I don't want to go in and half-ass it, I need to really get in shape. I'm taking three months to get into shape, I feel great. I've had some ups and downs. I had plantar fasciitis, I still have it, but it's almost 90% healed. I pretty much have that under control and I feel great. I don't hurt, I don't ache. Why not? Who doesn't like the glory. If I pull it off, I'll be bigger than ever. It'll be more than a 'Wooo,' chop, and strut. I have to perform," he said.
Flair repeated in the interview that if his pacemaker becomes unplugged in the match, he'll just plug it back in, but his doctor has told him that it shouldn't budge during the match.
Fans can check out the current lineup for Ric Flair's Last Match by clicking here.
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