By the time Ric Flair had made it to his second WWE run he had already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest if not the greatest of all time. He could have never wrestled another match and still had a more than Hall of Fame worthy career. Already into his 50s in 2001 Ric returned to WWE as an authority figure and then as a full time wrestler. Most people thought it was great that we would get a few more Ric Flair matches and figured he would coast along on name value alone. That however wasn’t the case at all.
During the twilight of his career Ric Flair had what were arguably his best years ever and he consistently took the younger generation to the woodshed so to speak. What you will see below is 5 excellent matches featuring Ric Flair outshining his much younger opponents. Sometimes they’re exciting, sometimes they’re brutal and sometimes they’re downright terrifying. The one thing all of these matches have in common is that each and every one is an epic part of wrestling history and a shining moment in the career of Ric Flair.
#5 – Ric Flair Vs Randy Orton – Parking Lot Brawl
[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgJGiNvzroc”]
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About a year after Ric Flair “retired” Randy Orton was wreaking havoc across the WWE with little to no consequences. being the disrespectful little prick that Randy’s character was, he pushed Ric Flair over the edge. Never one to back down from a fight, Ric rose to the occasion and gave Randy a pretty good beating but also received an even worse beating in return. Ric was 59 years old at this point and still willing to put his body on the line. Ric Flair looked like a bad ass and Randy just ended up looking like the bad guy who had to beat up an old man to get a little bit of glory.
#4 – Ric Flair Vs Triple H – World Heavyweight Championship Match
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Well past his prime and years removed from his last World Heavyweight Championship title reign, Ric Flair got the opportunity to become champion again during this match on Raw. He was put against his running buddy Triple H who insisted that he would take it easy on Flair but Flair wasn’t having any of that. You can take it easy on Ric Flair all day long but don’t expect him to do the same for you. He may not have gotten the victory but he added another noteworthy page to the epic book that is the legacy of his career.
#3 – Ric Flair Vs Mick Foley – I Quit Match
[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eStv6uU8kD8″]
Although Foley certainly wasn’t all that young himself when this match took place, he was still in much better shape than Flair at this point. There has never been any love lost between these two legends because they don’t seem to be all that friendly in real life. If there’s one person who is willing to go the extra mile and put his body on the line it’s Mick Foley. Pair him up with Ric Flair who is always willing to due to the same and the result is absolute mayhem.
#2 – Ric Flair Vs Big Show – ECW World Championship Match
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WWE’s version of ECW was pretty much a complete joke but this match was easily one of the most memorable moments to come out of that failed experiment. Looking to win his 17th World Championship and his first ECW World Championship, Ric Flair challenged Big Show in an extreme rules match which dropped the jaws of every single person that watched it. Ric Flair was always willing to go the extra mile to put on a great show but absolutely no one expected what they got with this match. Ric Flair proved that no one in the history of this business will ever be able to match his charisma but he also proved that if he had to, he could have easily survived in the original ECW.
#1 – Ric Flair Vs Edge – TLC Match For The WWE Championship
[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3t5oV9KlUM”]
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At this point in his career there was just no reason why Ric Flair should have been competing in a TLC match but he did it anyway. Edge was trying to make a name for himself at this point as the WWE Champion and Ric Flair was trying to cement his legacy as the greatest of all time. There wasn’t any fan watching this match live that didn’t have legitimate concern for Ric Flair’s health. The bumps he took in this match were something that should never have been asked of a man his age. But of course this is Ric Flair, no one asked him to do any of this, he volunteered.
