As soon as it was announced that Ric Flair was having a final match, fans began to speculate who his opponent would be and would end up being the tag team of Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal; many were hoping for Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat, though, would say he didn’t want to ruin what he’d done in his final run with Jericho, and it would subsequently be confirmed he’d turned down the opportunity.
Now though, Steamboat has opened up in an interview about the match and revealed he was initially going to face Flair but backed out once he found out Flair had a pacemaker. With the former NWA World Champion not wanting his legacy to end up being that of the man who was in the ring when Flair died, which thankfully didn’t happen.
Initially, you know, Conrad, who’s the promoter, we talked, we went to Nashville, and we had a sit-down, and it was Conrad, his wife, and me and my wife, Sandy. I was still training quite well and feeling damn well. So I said okay, and we hadn’t signed or sealed the deal on the money part of it.
But what put the nail in the coffin was a week after that when I found out Flair was wearing a pacemaker. All these years, I never knew, and I immediately said I don’t think I wanna do this. I don’t want to my legacy to be, you know, I was in a ring with when he happened to pass away, or something went wrong.
Ricky SteamboatLast month Steamboat would go on to have his own comeback match when he teamed with FTR against Brock Anderson, Jay Lethal, and a mystery opponent revealed to be former NWA World Champion Nick Aldis. And while to some, the reveal of Aldis did fall flat, with many hoping it would be someone from Steamboat’s past, overall, fans were left entertained with the match. As while FTR would carry the load, Steamboat hit his trademark spots and looked in fantastic shape for a 69-year-old.
Notably, the match was never promoted as a final or retirement match, which has led many to suspect that Steamboat may roll back the years at least once more in the new year. And with Tony Khan stating he was open to the notion of a Steamboat match in AEW, he may get to have a last match that not only matches Flair’s in significance but actually surpasses it.
