Vince Russo says "thank god" WWE legend "pulled out" of Ric Flair's final match (Exclusive)
Vince Russo is pleased with the fact that Ricky Steamboat chose not to participate in WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair's final wrestling match.
The Nature Boy competed in his retirement match at the show aptly named Ric Flair's Last Match on July 31st, 2022. Flair teamed up with his son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. However, in a chat with Sportskeeda Wrestling a few days ago, Ricky Steamboat revealed things could have been a lot different since he was first approached to wrestle Flair.
The WWE legend declined the offer after finding out that Ric Flair had a pacemaker in his heart. Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, Vince Russo stated that this incident shows the wrestling business in a nutshell.
"Apter asks him, 'bro, everybody thought Flair was gonna have his return match against you. What happened? It seemed to fall through at the last minute, right?' So Steamboat tells out, 'yeah, man, Conrad called me; this is gonna be Flair's last match; I was very, very interested in it. I went to Nashville, Conrad and his wife took us out to dinner; we had a great dinner," said Vince Russo.
The former WWE writer also added that he was happy to see Ricky Steamboat back out of wrestling Ric Flair after getting to know about his medical condition.
"We talked about the angle; we talked about money and everything else. Then Conrad told me all of a sudden, Flair has a pacemaker! Bro, that's the wrestling business in a nutshell! I popped so frickin' loud; that's the wrestling business. And that's why, thank god, Steamboat pulled out," added Vince Russo. (3:26 - 4:45)
Check out the full video below:
Ric Flair thinks WWE legend Shawn Michaels is the greatest of all time
In his recent appearance on the After The Bell podcast, Ric Flair named his pick for the greatest wrestler of all time. The Nature Boy was quick to mention Shawn Michaels' name, saying he could work as a babyface and a heel equally well. Flair also praised The Heartbreak Break Kid's athletic abilities inside the squared circle.
"I don't have to think twice, the greatest performer in our business of all time is Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels. I mean he can work both ways. You know he's a phenomenal babyface and all that but we when he was younger, Shawn could be a prick which made it real. He came across as a heel. Shawn's the first guy to do the moonsaults and allow you to think about it," said Ric Flair.
Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels is truly a classic WrestleMania match in my opinion. The emotional story telling was top notch. https://t.co/nwPRC9zCcZ
The Nature Boy and Michaels competed in one of the most emotional matches in WWE history at WrestleMania 24, where the former lost.
Do you think Ricky Steamboat did the right thing by backing out of Ric Flair's last match? Sound off in the comments section below.