WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair, age 73, and Hulk Hogan, age 68, are rumored to be locking up at Starrcast V, due to new comments from the legendary B. Brian Blair.
As we’ve noted, Flair is scheduled to return to the ring for one night only at Starrcast later this summer. 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. Flair is expected to team with AAA & ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR against WWE Hall of Famers The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and a mystery partner. It was rumored that WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat would be the mystery partner, but he recently nixed that talk.
In an update, there are new rumors and speculation on Hogan being the mystery opponent due to comments that Blair made to James of Wrestling Shoot Interviews. The following transcript was provided:
B. Brian Blair: “…I’m looking forward to seeing Flair and Hogan”
Interviewer James: “…You were 62 or something like that when you had your last match. Ric Flair’s coming back at 73. He has a pacemaker. What do you think about that?”
Blair: “Well, I think if Ric were gonna die anywhere he’d wanna die in the ring. Terry’s had his fair share of surgeries – way too many – and I’m getting ready to call Terry in a couple of minutes. But I wish them the very best. I know that fans are the ones that have been really egging it on, that really wanna see it, so it’s sparked them and all I can say is it’ll be interesting and I pray that they both come out in one piece.”
James: “Not to be a Negative Nancy but is this a ‘be careful what you wish for’ kind of thing?”
Blair: “It could be. It could be, but then again you never know. You’ve got two of the greatest minds in the business. You never know, you could sure decorate things up and bring things in to create more illusions and create a much better match than most people would even think about.”
James: “Um… but I never mentioned Hulk Hogan. Is Hulk Hogan the secret opponent? Is that what you’re telling me?”
Blair: “That’s what I… well… I mean, that’s what the rumour is. I don’t know that to be a fact.”
James: “Where did you hear the rumour?”
Blair: “I read it on the internet”
James: “Ohh, I thought maybe you had an inside line.”
Blair: “I do have an inside line but I mean, uh, that’s why I got to call [Hulk], I wanna make sure it’s not Terry, it can’t be!”
James: “Hopefully you’ve not given something away that you shouldn’t have given away there, but maybe you have, who knows?”
It should be noted that Hogan has not been one of the rumored opponents in recent internet reports.
Hogan is likely still signed to a WWE Legends deal, but there’s no word on how that might impact an in-ring return, which will stream live on FITE TV. Hogan has also had his share of health problems in recent years, and while he was feeling better after a recent back surgery, he noted in March that he does not plan on wrestling another match due to the various injuries.
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 Randy Orton the following year on RAW, and then worked four matches with 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.
Hogan has never formally retired from in-ring competition. He has not wrestled a match since the TNA Maximum Impact Tour of the UK in January 2012, where he teamed with James Storm and Sting for a win over Bully Ray, Kurt Angle and Robert Roode at two shows. Before that, Hogan was defeated by Sting at Bound For Glory 2011.
The Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin Tour was the last time we saw a Flair vs. Hogan singles match, but they did face off on the March 8, 2010 Impact episode. Hogan teamed with Abyss for a No DQ win over Flair and AJ Styles that night.
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. Starrcast V will be a big weekend for Flair as there will be a Four Horsemen reunion and The Roast of Ric Flair.Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more on Flair’s last match.
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