Why the Ric Flair storyline Is totally, totally backwards
Ric Flair's a legend. The best ever. If this really is his retirement storyline, then he deserves a fitting sendoff.
But having him cleanly defeat your up-and-coming stars cleanly -- including WWE Champion Randy Orton -- is as stupid as it gets from a business standpoint.
Sure, the fans cheer for it, and it's a feel-good story for Flair. But guys like MVP, Kennedy and Orton are the guys working all the house shows. They're the guys who will be around five, 10, 20 years from now to carry the load. You could say you're having them lose to a legend; I'd say they're losing to a 60-year-old man who won't be in the ring past this month.
How would I have done the storyline? I would have turned it around 180 degrees.
Flair comes out, says he's going to retire this Sunday at No Mercy, or whatever Pay-Per-View they started this out, but only on one condition -- he wants to go out with a win.
Then let him do what Ric Flair does best -- have a great match, only to come up on the losing end. He's that kind of wrestler that the fans will rally behind even when he loses. Heck, he's made a living out of it.
This continues, with Flair losing big matches you think he's gonna win. You're pulling for him; you want to see him go out on top. But he comes up short a couple of times.
Suddenly Vince takes notice and starts getting a kick out of watching Flair lose, out of watching Flair not be able to step aside gracefully. Maybe Vince starts throwing guys at Flair to beat him down, causing him to lose matches. He makes a game out of keeping Flair from retirement. Flair continues to lose big matches here and there.
Then at Mania, after all the adversity, all the build-up, the fans pay 50 bucks to finally, finally, finally see Flair WIN his last match, stick it to Vince, and go out on a happy note.
It's booking 101 -- you want people to rally behind a babyface? Throw everything but the kitchen sink at him and watch him battle back from adversity, then make the people pay to watch him get the big win.
So what you just did was:
-- Give some younger guys the rub by putting them over Ric Flair;
-- Made the storyline seem more realistic by having the young studs beat the 60-year-old man;
-- Let Ric Flair do what he does best: Put other guys over while creating emotion for his own ultimate victory;
-- Give fans the payoff they want to see at the biggest show of the year.
Using Flair's retirement to build talent and make money rather than as an afterthought and a way to bury young guys. What a concept.
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Comments (11)
So people are rooting for him to retire? Good in theory, probably not in practice.
A year from now, nobody's going to remember/care Flair going over MVP, Orton, and Kennedy. What they will remember is him going over HBK at Wrestlemania and retiring anyway.
Completely agree. I love the idea. McMahon comes out and tells Flair he can't retire because Flair still makes him money! And he's going to make sure he has no chance in hell of retiring. Good stuff.
My Flair retirement angle, would've been booked differently. We've seen every combination of Cena/Orton/HHH, so that main event for Mania is stale anyway. In my eyes Flair's retirement angle could've been booked stronger, first have him win the Rumble to get to the main event, make it a fluke win, so no young talent is jobbing to a 60 year old(its a battle royal). Next have him main event Wrestlemania for the World Title(not WWE), have him win the title, maybe by cheating or a freak win like the suplex spot where he gets the shoulder up at the last second. Then after the match, during his celebration, have either the former champ or a young wrestler, beat him down unmercifully until he cant stand. The next night on Raw, have Flair being told by Dr. Andrews that he has suffered major damage and will not be able to continue wrestling. Now you Flair retiring as champ, a wrestler getting the rub for retiring Flair, a PPV angle for a title tourney and a way for Flair to wrestle a match to pop a buyrate on PPV in the future if they need it, and not cheapening the retirement angle.
I would have had Flair lose to a returning Hulk Hogan. Then have Hogan attacked by a returning Tiny "Zues" Lister (whom Hogan also defeats that same night.) Then have Hogan defeat Triple H mere moments after HHH wins back the World Title.
Talk about "feel good" storylines!
Good God, I think my brain has been hacked by Terry Bollea.
You do realize that after a few weeks of this 'genius' idea, that people are going to get sick of seeing Flair lose and stop caring? Flair is a legend, and people don't like seeing legend's lose all the time. Once in a while, to a top star, is one thing. But week after week? This idea will sink faster than the Titanic.
I would have liked to have seen him tag with Michaels and have HBK Superkick him. I hate this mutual admiration crap. "I love you. I respect you. You are my best friend." God they should just make out already!
I hate this mutual admiration crap. "I love you, you're my best friend, I respect you." God I wish they would just end it and make out already!!
Actually Flair didn't really go over top WWE top stars cleanly. He went over by DQ. He did not start going over cleanly until mid level talent like MVP and Kennedy. There was even discrepancy there too.
If only Mr. McMahon added... oh and you need to win by pin or submission. That would be horrible though to have a guy leaving go over the guys staying.
Hahah, you know, that idea is actually absolutely superb. That would have been a fantastic angle. The way it is being done just now does suck a bit yeh - I couldn't believe that of all the people Flair has faced in the last few months, the person who has come out looking the best out of all of them has been Vince McMahon!!!
I agree with the poster above who basically said this was a crappy idea.
"Booking 101"?
You're booking the guy to lose constantly on his way out and then we're supposed to cheer for one of our all-time favorites to win so he can retire?
Sorry but that's about on par with the Katie Vick, Billy/Chuck, and Al Wilson junk you mentioned earlier.
Here's an idea...I agree that you don't want this 60 year old man going over younger talent and then hanging around as champion for another month until someone beats him.
But what I'd propose is that because this is Ric freakin Flair, he deserves something different than the time honored tradition of "jobbing on the way out".
I'd propose that he wins the title at Wrestlemania and promptly retires with it the next night on Raw. He goes out in style.
Then you follow that up the same night with the announcement of a tournament for the title. Your storylines are then pretty much writing themselves for the next 2-3 months.
You have guys like HHH, HBK, Cena, Orton, Umaga, JBL, Jericho, Kennedy, Big Show, etc, etc in the tournament. And if you want to make it bigger just include some of the Smackdown guys like Edge, Batista, Undertaker, etc.
In that one instant you automatically have shows and storylines built in for the next month, 2 months, whatever you choose and it can ultimately build up to the crowning of a new champ.
THIS seems like "Booking 101" to me. Simple and effective....it puts over Flair on his way out and gives the entire roster something to shoot for.
I don't see this working. People'd be cheering as he lost just so he could stick around. I'm fine with the idea of him winning and retiring anyway.