Ric Flair admits that faking a heart attack during his return to the ring was not in good taste.
Flair, 73, wrestled his first bout since 2011 in the fittingly named Ric Flair’s Last Match on July 31; he teamed up with Andrade El Idolo to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. In one highlight of the contest, Flair faked a heart attack to cover up for the way that he felt “lost” at that point in the match. “The Nature Boy” subsequently explained that he was severely dehydrated, and he wanted to help get the match back on track.
In an interview with the New York Post, Flair looked back on the moment and explained that he hoped to slow everything down, and the fake heart attack was meant to do just that. He noted tha it was not in good taste, but it seemed necessary at the time.
“I did that on my own,” Flair said. “I told the referee [to tell] Jeff Jarrett to slow down. Boom, bring it back down and lay the rest of the match out. And we did that. That was an audible to get everybody back on the same track — slow down, I’m fine. It was not the plan. It was not in good taste. I realize that. It was the only thing that was going to keep everybody from going right to the finish.”
Ric Flair just faked a heart attack right in front of his daughter, Mick Foley and Undertaker LMAOOOOOO #RicFlairsLastMatch pic.twitter.com/1rGXLc1Vxd
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) August 1, 2022
Flair also recalled how he felt lightheaded during the match, and everyone “jumped” too early, so he felt like he had to step in.
“I made the mistake of saying to someone in the match that I felt lightheaded, so everybody jumped way too early [toward the finish of the match], and I just said [in my head] that this was the only way to slow it down,” Flair said.
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