WWE: Does Ric Flair Have Anything Left to Give If He Were to Leave TNA?

After Ric Flair appeared at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony this year, many began to speculate on whether or not he would eventually return to WWE. And if he were to return, they wondered if he had anything left to give WWE.

Such a question reminds me of the one Ric Flair said his wife posed to him when he was about to hit the bars with John Cena: "What do you have in common with a man 30 years younger than you?"

The answer to both those questions—what does Ric Flair have to offer WWE and what does he have in common with a man 30 years his junior—is everything.

As long as Ric Flair is breathing (and probably well beyond it), he will be a great commodity in professional wrestling, and he will offer many, many functions that are invaluable and cannot be replicated by anyone else.

Much like the image of Ric Flair begging off, it is often when he is down that he is getting ready to make a great comeback again.

WWE Network and WWE DVDs

When WWE announced its own network and the WWE Legends House, I was more excited for what it would mean for older stars than for me.

It will give some of the most compelling men in the history of television a chance to be compelling again. It will give them time and attention. It will allow them to speak about the history of matches and angles and times in pro wrestling history. It will keep them busy and feeling important.

If we are talking non-WWE history in the '80s and '90s, much of that history belongs to the Nature Boy Ric Flair. That should be evident by the fact that the man has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice.

It is unimaginable trying to talk about so much of NWA and WCW history without Ric Flair. With all the world titles he won and the Starrcades he dominated, it is invaluable to have the man who wrestled seven days a week and twice on Sunday around to talk about each and every one of those matches, whether discussing them for WCW DVDs or the WWE Network.

And if WWE is going to split the network between history and reality TV, you can put Ric Flair in the top five must-gets for WWE reality TV. The same reasons some now condemn Ric Flair (which I will speak about in the final slide) are the same reasons he would be must-see on WWE TV.

You truly don’t know what the man will do, but you know he’s going to be Ric Flair. I have to imagine that characters like Ric Flair and Roddy Piper—who are always characters—would go a long way in making the WWE Network a more worthwhile venture.

With a Little Help from His Friends

When newer fans think of the 4 Horsemen, they probably don’t think of Ric Flair, Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. They probably think of Ric Flair, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and whoever is standing next to them in a photo op.

Ric Flair is close personal friends with the man who practically owns the WWE (Triple H) and one of the men who created some of the most memorable moments of the last decade (Shawn Michaels). You can’t say enough about men who want to work together and enjoy being together. These men happen to be among the greatest of their time, which is all the more reason for them to have access to one another when they want to do something special for pro wrestling.

Think about how Shawn Michaels came back to help enhance the Triple H-Undertaker program at WrestleMania. Ric Flair could serve in a similar capacity. There will never be a time that I don’t want to see Ric Flair come out and speak to a matter that is going on in pro wrestling. Whether it is to warn, council or encourage Triple H, or it is just a reunion between Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels, I’d like to see these guys together again.

With friends like Triple H and Shawn Michaels, it’s difficult to imagine that Ric Flair won’t one day come home again.

The Synonym of Wooooo!

There have been many who have compared Steve Austin’s What!? to that of Daniel Bryan’s Yes! I must confess, when I watched the Lakers play the Thunder recently and Kobe Bryant made a handful of clutch shots to win the game, I got excited. There was some standing and jumping and shouting. And one thing that came out of my mouth was something that sounded a lot like Wooooo!

And it hit me: Yes! is not the new What!? It is the new Wooooo!

Saying Wooooo!, in fact, is synonymous for screaming Yes! They are interchangeable. Both are a confident war cry signaling past or current or future success. Both are positive and lift the spirit. Both are an act of celebration.

During the world title reign of Daniel Bryan, I compared him to Ric Flair. His confidence, his way with women and the fact that he can project his voice and character at will all reminded me of Ric Flair.

I would absolutely like to see these two men work together. I’d like to see them do a promo. I’d like to see a Wooooo! versus Yes! back-and-forth.

But mostly, I’d like to see men like Daniel Bryan have the opportunity to learn from a man like Ric Flair.

It was a good move—in theory—when TNA paired Ric Flair with AJ Styles. It was almost perfect, but the almost was a big one. AJ Styles doesn’t have (or hasn’t shown) a personality that can stretch. It looks like it hurts him when he tries, and it hurts me as a viewer.

WWE has one of its best rosters right now. Guys like Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder and CM Punk could all benefit from being around the Nature Boy.

Anybody could, really.

From individual talents to stables, who couldn’t learn to be better from Ric Flair, the man who—let me say again—has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame both as an individual and as a stable?

A Final Word on Ric Flair Leaving WWE and Wrestling Again

I’m going to be honest—it disappointed me when Ric Flair wrestled again. But keeping with that same honesty, the negative response towards Ric Flair from pro wrestling fans after he left WWE was far more disappointing to me than Ric Flair choosing to live his life in the way he sees fit.

We can enshrine characters. We cannot enshrine human beings.

We can’t tell them who to be, where to go or what to do. If fans had simply voiced disappointment, I would have been fine. But many have targeted Ric Flair and acted as if his legacy hinged on one moment in WWE history. They act as if WWE simply did Rid Flair a favor, as if it offered them nothing to work with one of the greatest of all time.

I wonder how many of those fans watched wrestling in the '70s, '80s and '90s.

Here is a simple truth: WWE got past it, so should all of us.

Trust me when I tell you they know who Ric Flair is. His friends and Vince McMahon have all had to help him due to the life that he leads.

But do you know why Ric Flair was great? Because of the life that he leads.

The 4 Horsemen didn’t become the 4 Horsemen when the camera light went on. They lived it every hour of every day. Ric Flair didn’t talk about limousines and wild women because it sounded good. He did it because it reflected the life that he lived.

Ric Flair is Ric Flair when it’s beautiful, and he’s Ric Flair when it’s damn ugly. You can’t take one and reject the other and be an honest person.

Might it suck to you that he wrestled again after that wonderful match with Shawn Michaels? Sure. Did it come close to damaging his legacy? Not even.

Ask the WWE, who inducted him into the Hall of Fame again and would no doubt love to have him on DVDs and with their network. Ask the wrestlers, who would benefit by simply being in the presence of all the history he carries in his worn body.

I believe Ric Flair and WWE will work together again, and many will then find healing concerning their feelings towards Ric Flair.

It’d be better if they could find it now.

Ric Flair is, was and always will be one of the greatest of all time. And there is a fair chance WWE fans will get to see just why again some day.