WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat is reportedly coming out of retirement for one final match.
As noted earlier, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is scheduled to return to the ring for one night only at Starrcast during WWE SummerSlam Weekend. The match is planned for a special one night only “Jim Crockett Promotions Presents: Ric Flair’s Last Match” event on Sunday, July 31 at Starrcast in Nashville, Tennessee, live from the Nashville Fairgrounds.
In an update, it’s been rumored that Flair is to team with AAA & ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR to take on WWE Hall of Famers The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, and a partner to be named, in six-man tag team action. Now Fightful Select reports that the working plan is to have Steamboat return as RNR’s partner.
Sources close to the 69 year old Steamboat report that there are plans for him to come out of retirement, and it’s no coincidence that Steamboat and the 73 year old Flair are returning to the ring at the same time.
It was noted that the match has not been confirmed, but has been in the internal Starrcast plans for several weeks following an in-person meeting between Steamboat and Conrad Thompson. With that said, it was also noted that the match has not been signed off on by AEW President Tony Khan and is “far from a done deal” at this point.
One of the angles behind the match is to help give Flair and Steamboat memorable final matches as neither man likely expected what ended up being their final match.
Regarding the one night only Jim Crockett Promotions event during Starrcast, word is that there will be heavy JCP elements featured in the event surrounding the match.
This would be The Dragon’s first official match since he teamed with his son, Richie Steamboat, in WWE’s FCW developmental territory back in 2010. They defeated Caylen Croft and Trent Beretta that night.
Flair and Steamboat have teamed up together or went against each other hundreds of times over the years. Their last interaction came on WCW Saturday Night in July 1994 with WWE Hall of Famers Sting and Steve Austin involved. Stone Cold teamed with The Nature Boy to defeat The Dragon and The Stinger that night. The last Flair vs. Steamboat TV match came on the April 23, 1994 edition of WCW Saturday Night, which saw Flair retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title. That match came less than one week after their last pay-per-view match, which saw Flair and Steamboat wrestle to a No Contest for the title at WCW Spring Stampede 1994.
Flair had his retirement match back at WWE WrestleMania 24 in 2008, losing to WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. He worked an Unsanctioned Match against current RAW Tag Team Champion Randy Orton the following year on RAW, and then worked four matches with WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan on the Hulkamania tour of Australia in November 2009. Flair also worked 11 matches for TNA/Impact Wrestling in 2010 and 2011, with his last match coming as a loss to WWE Hall of Famer Sting on the September 15, 2011 edition of Impact. Flair suffered an arm injury in that bout, which was heavily criticized and needed to be edited.
The “Jim Crockett Promotions Presents: Ric Flair’s Last Match” event is scheduled to begin at 6:05pm ET on July 31, with the start time being a throwback nod to pro wrestling on Saturday nights. The event is being produced by Thuzio, a Triller company, and will stream worldwide via FITE. Tickets will go on sale Friday, May 27 at 12pm ET, which is also when FITE pre-ordering will go live. It was noted on the RicFlairsLastMatch.com website today that Flair’s opponent and the full card will be announced soon.
Stay tuned for more on Steamboat’s possible return to the ring and more on Flair’s big event during Starrcast. Below is Flair’s tweet from earlier today, along with the recent clips of Flair training in the ring with Jay Lethal:
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