The AEW Full Gear main card kicked off with a bang, pitting Adam Copeland, Sting, and Darby Allin against Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne. Tensions flared as Ric Flair observed Sting’s team from ringside. Christian Cage was upset by Sting’s retirement announcement at AEW’s Revolution PPV, where Ric Flair was also involved.
During AEW Full Gear, Ric Flair took a shocking turn and became violent for the first time. At ringside, babyface team member Ric Flair took a low blow from opponent Christian Cage, but the two teams ultimately came out on top. Even though Flair didn’t appear much on TV following Full Gear, there were signs of a major shift in his career.
Christian Cage attacks Ric Flair
This week on Dynamite, 16-time World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair made his AEW debut. Sting, who announced his retirement at AEW Revolution 2024 in March, received Flair as a “gift” from Tony Khan. Plans for Flair to join AEW in 2021 have altered due to the outrage from Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring show, which included the Plane Ride from Hell. But this time Tony Khan made it happen for Sting.
When Sting faced Christian Cage, Nick Wayne, and Luchasaurus at AEW Full Gear, Flair stood by his side to help him win. Christian attempted to cheat after the match, but was detected by Adam Copeland. Christian promptly left the ring. After Darby’s Coffin Drop, Copeland pinned Luchasaurus. Cage was annoyed by Copeland’s presence and felt overshadowed, but he still agreed to the match since they wanted to retire Sting before the Revolution.
The audience was rooting for Ric Flair instead of Christian, which allowed Copeland to get the pin and give Sting the victory in his last encounter in the Golden State. There is still potential for this last run if this is how AEW intends to employ Flair in the future.
Ric Flair’s last in-ring match in WWE
On July 31, 2022, Ric Flair’s supposed last match took place at Starrcast V in Nashville. Crossover matches from AAA, IMPACT Wrestling, MLW, AEW, and WWE were featured at this event.
Starrcast founder and Flair’s son-in-law, Conrad Thompson, was in charge of the event, which was once scheduled to take place at the Nashville Fairgrounds but was eventually relocated to the bigger Municipal Auditorium because of strong ticket sales.
Before the main event, the “Flair’s Last Match” program quickly progressed through eight matchups in only two hours. When Flair and Andrade battled Jay Lethal and Jarrett, Team Flair prevailed. Flair used brass knuckles first, then pinned Jeff Jarrett with a Figure 4 leg hold. The Nature Boy said, “I’m going to walk that aisle, one last time to prove once and for all, that to be the Man, you’ve got to beat the Man.”
It’s surprising to see the Nature boy become all rough and tumble in the ring. In the AEW Full Gear, the babyface seems to completely alter his personality. Share your thoughts in the comments.
