Ric Flair’s Last Match Results
July 31, 2022
Nashville, Tennessee (Nashville Municipal Auditorium)
Results by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
Pre-Show Matches:
— Ren Narita def. Yuya Uemura
— Mance Warner won the Bunkhouse Battle Royal
Main Show:
— The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) def. The Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards)
— Killer Kross def. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
— Jonathan Gresham def. Alan Angels, Konosuke Takeshita, and Nick Wayne in a Four Corners Match to become the #1 Contender for the Progress Championship
— The Four Horsemen (Brian Pillman Jr. and Brock Anderson) def. Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Kerry Morton)
— Rey Fenix def. Taurus, Bandido, and Laredo Kid in a Four-Way Match
— IMPACT World Champion Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu went to a No Contest
— The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) def. The Von Erichs (Marshall and Ross Von Erich)
— Jordynne Grace def. Deonna Purrazzo and Rachel Ellering to retain the IMPACT Knockouts Championship
Live coverage begins here:
Video Package: Ric Flair’s Last Match
The Undertaker and Mick Foley are shown at ringside. Jerry Jarrett is also shown at ringside.
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair makes his entrance to a huge ovation. He’s wearing a World Heavyweight Championship belt. That’s the original Big Gold Belt. Flair is wearing a white robe, a shirt, his classic trunks, shin pads, and boots with the “R.F.” initials on them. The shirt he’s wearing has a bedazzled “Nature Boy” logo on the back.
David Penzer makes the ring announcements.
Tag Team Match – Ric Flair’s Last Match
Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett w/ Karen Jarrett vs. Andrade El Idolo and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Ric Flair gets in Jeff Jarrett’s face. The crowd is buzzing for the legendary “Nature Boy.” Referee Mike Chioda restores the order.
The bell rings, and Ric Flair’s Last Match has begun. Ric Flair will start the match against Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett shouts at him, and Flair smirks at him. Jarrett gets in his face, so Flair slaps him. Jarrett circles around him before tagging Jay Lethal in. Lethal gets in the ring, and Flair motions to him to “bring it on.” Lethal talks trash and pokes “The Nature Boy” in the chest. Flair hits the ropes, and they lock up. Lethal hits a headlock takeover, but Flair grapevines the head. Lethal kips up, and Flair gets to his feet. They lock up, and Flair applies a side headlock before hitting a takeover. They lock up, and Flair puts him in the corner. Lethal turns him around and gives a clean break before slapping Flair in the face. Flair slaps him back, and Lethal bumps. Lethal is flabbergasted and calls for a timeout.
Andrade tags in and shoves Lethal. Andrade shoulder blocks him down and avoids a leapfrog before forearming him. Lethal punches back, but Andrade knees him. Andrade hits the ropes, but Lethal elbows him. Lethal hits the ropes, but Andrade big boots him for a two-count. Jarrett tags in and punches away at Andrade. Andrade reverses a whip, and Andrade hits a pair of hip tosses. Andrade wrenches the arm and Ric Flair tags in. Jarrett quickly runs to his corner to avoid the 2-time Hall of Famer. Flair challenges Jarrett, and Jarrett takes a lot of time to think about it. They lock up, and Jarrett applies a side headlock. Flair whips him off and goes for a right hand, but Jarrett holds the ropes before doing the Fargo Shuffle. Jarrett lays across the top turnbuckle and smiles. Flair smirks at the situation. Flair hooks a side headlock. Jarrett whips him off, but Flair holds the ropes and does his “Nature Boy” strut to a HUGE ovation. Flair then tells Lethal to “suck it.” Jarrett backs up and looks shocked. They lock up, and Jarrett applies a side headlock before cinching it in. Flair whips him off and goes for a chop, but Jarrett avoids it. Jarrett isn’t successful for too long as Flair begins chopping away at him. Flair chops him to the corner. Lethal comes in to blindside him, but Flair kicks back and low blows him. Andrade gets Lethal out of the ring and chops Jarrett down for good measure. A frustrated Jarrett goes to walk off. Jarrett gets all the way up the ramp before Karen Jarrett runs after him. She tells him to get back down there and fight. Jarrett goes back to the ring but immediately gets out. Jarrett then goes to walk off again and says he’s not putting up with this. Flair, despite not having done much, is huffing and puffing in the ring. Chioda, after a long time, begins to count Jarrett out. Jarrett gets back in.
Andrade tags in, and Jarrett rakes the eyes. Lethal tags in and stomps him, but Andrade powers him to his corner and shoulders him. Flair hooks a chin lock on for good measure. Flair tags back in and chops Lethal down. Flair unloads on him with some rights and lefts before chopping the chest again. Flair then lets out a “WOO!” Flair goes to whip him to the corner, but Lethal holds on. Flair chops him before whipping him to the corner and chopping him back down. Andrade tags in and stomps the midsection of Lethal. Andrade has a whip reversed, and Jarrett gets a cheap shot in. Lethal takes Andrade down with a backbreaker before tagging Jarrett in. Jarrett stomps away at Andrade before choking him on the ropes. Jarrett avalanches him against the ropes and struts again. Lethal tags in and goes to the top rope for a double ax handle. Lethal bounces him in the corner and stomps him down. Lethal hits a hip toss, does a cartwheel, and dropkicks him. Lethal then blows Flair a kiss. Jarrett tags in and jabs away at Andrade. Jarrett goes for a back suplex, but Andrade turns himself around and splashes him.
Flair comes in and hits some slow-motion chops before whipping Lethal hard to the corner. Flair takes Lethal down and applies a Figure Four Leglock. Jarrett breaks it up and calls for Karen to give her high heel shoe to him. Jarrett takes his wife’s shoe and smashes Flair with it. Jarrett chops Flair and bounces him off the barricade. Megan Flair grabs Karen Jarrett by the hair and takes her down. Jarrett pulls his wife away. Flair is busted open. Lethal beats the bloodied Flair in front of his family. Jarrett shoves Wendy Barlow. Flair feigns a heart attack and gets some momentum back by poking Lethal in the eyes a few times.
Jarrett puts Flair back in the ring and challenges “The Nature Boy.” Jarrett puts Flair in the corner and puts him on the top rope. Lethal tags in and pulls Flair down. Lethal connects with a textbook vertical suplex on the 73-year-old wrestling legend. Lethal covers, but Andrade breaks it up. Lethal quickly throws Andrade out of the ring. Jarrett tags back in and starts working on Flair’s leg. Jarrett signals for the Figure Four Leglock and applies it to the master of the maneuver, Ric Flair. Andrade breaks it up, so Lethal throws him out of the ring. Lethal tags in and punches away at Flair. A “Nature Boy” chant picks up. Lethal goes to the top rope for a diving elbow drop, but Flair rolls out of the way.
Andrade and Jarrett tag in. Andrade runs over him with two clotheslines before elbowing Lethal. Andrade clotheslines Jarrett a third time before hitting Lethal with a suplex. Andrade then gives Jarrett a front suplex onto Lethal. Andrade signals for the knees and hits Jarrett with double knees in the corner. Andrade covers, but Lethal breaks it up. Andrade throws Lethal over the top rope. Jarrett powers Andrade to the corner, but Andrade elbows him away. Andrade hits Jarrett with a diving DDT, but Lethal breaks up the pin. Lethal and Jarrett send Andrade into the ropes and attack him. Jarrett holds Andrade up for a Lethal superkick, but Andrade moves, and Jarrett eats it! Lethal accidentally takes out referee Mike Chioda. Andrade then gives Lethal a poisonrana!
Flair tags in, but there’s no referee. Andrade goes for a plancha on Jarrett, but Karen moves him out of the way. Flair rolls over onto Lethal, but there’s no referee. Jarrett gets into the ring with his guitar and tells Lethal to get Flair to his feet. Jarrett winds up, but Andrade pulls his father-in-law out of the way. Jarrett then smashes his guitar over Lethal’s head. Andrade has brass knucks and gives them to his father-in-law. Flair is down on the mat. Andrade helps Flair up, and Flair annihilates Jarrett with a loaded right hand!
Andrade calls down for another referee, as Mike Chioda is still down. Referee David Miller runs down. Flair puts Jarrett in the Figure Four Leglock and passes out. Miller counts an unconscious Jarrett’s shoulders down, but Flair’s are also down. Flair is awarded the match.
Winners by Pinfall: “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo
Confetti streams from the rafters. Ric Flair slowly gets to his feet and looks emotional. Flair slowly gets out of the ring and goes over to his family. Flair then embraces the legendary wrestler “The Undertaker” Mark Calaway. Flair hugs Mick Foley and fist bumps Bret “Hit Man” Hart.
Tony Schiavone approaches Flair. Schiavone says he first interviewed Ric Flair in 1983; this was a great moment in 2022. Flair is the greatest ever and it’s an honor to stand next to him. Flair can bleed all over him and it’s fine. Flair says he doesn’t know how something so special could happen twice in a man’s life and happen better than the first time. This is a great wrestling town. Flair had one of the best matches of his career here against Ricky Steamboat. His whole family is here. All his kids and granddaughters are here, as are his friends. If he didn’t have enough pressure on him, Kid Rock walked into the locker room and said to him that Flair was supposed to entertain him on his night off. This is his last match. The fans make people like him go. Flair appreciates them all coming and hopes he didn’t let them down. Flair doesn’t remember half of it, but it was great. Flair is going downtown and celebrating with Kid Rock. Flair says, “How about that shit?” Flair shakes hands with Kid Rock and walks off with his son-in-law, Andrade. Andrade hands him the Big Gold Belt. A bloodied Flair holds up the title and blows a kiss to the crowd.
Jay Lethal comes out to the stage and embraces Ric Flair. Lethal trained Flair for the past few months to get him ready for this last match. Credits roll with pictures from Flair’s career shown throughout. Bob Caudle appears after the credits and says, “So long for now!”
Mike’s Thoughts: Well, if anyone thought that Ric Flair was going to go out there at 73 years old and be Ric Flair, they had another thing coming. My hat is off to Flair for getting through this unscathed (except for the blade job), but this went way too long. They stalled a ton. By the end, Flair looked really feeble. The chops were weaker and weaker. He was moving like he had cinder blocks on his legs. Flair did next to nothing in that match except for the chops, two Figure Four Leglocks, and operating a razor blade. There was one bump taken. However… if I’m upright at 73 years old, I’ll always wish I could do what Ric Flair did tonight at that age. It didn’t need to go this long and could have dropped 20 minutes from it, but I hope Flair is happy with it. I hope Flair feels at peace. Most of all, I hope I never see him wrestle again. May this be his happy swansong. Flair is one of the greatest of all time. He deserves to go out on his own terms, which he did. The Shawn Michaels match in 2008 was forced upon him. It was a beautiful sendoff, but not on his own terms. Flair’s run in TNA was embarrassing almost exclusively. Not a great way to go out. Flair finally got it on his own terms tonight. Let’s be thankful for that. Let’s be thankful that he got through it with his health intact. And finally, let’s tip our hats to one of the greatest of all time as he walks that aisle one last time into the sunset of his career and be thankful that we got to see him perform at any point in his career.