I'll be in Cleveland for “Monday Night RAW,” and there is a lot of speculation it will feature the return of Ric Flair to WWE television on a regular basis.
I'll enjoy hearing Flair's famous music. That's about it.
More speculation is he will be working along side Cleveland's own The Miz.
I won't enjoy any of this. In fact, I will probably select this as an opportune time to capitalize on the shorter lines for concessions and a bathroom break.
The Miz would be making his return after filming the latest movie installment of “The Marine” for WWE. This is all a “good guy” Miz is good for — PR. It's the only reason he was turned face after his eventual success as a heel. He does well representing the company. He's kind of like David Otunga in the sense he'll always have a job because he's valuable getting camera time to represent the company.
Miz has more charisma than Otunga. If Otunga ever gets divorced, then maybe he gets fired.
WWE tried Flair and Miz once. It was a complete failure. It pained me even more because about eight months before this, I wrote that the plan was for Flair to be the manager for Dolph Ziggler. This idea never developed on-screen, but my published report was eventually validated by dozens of other reports and rumors since of the Flair/Ziggler potential talks.
Flair is a favorite of Vince McMahon and Triple H. Ziggler is not a favorite of either.
Flair was granted an early release in 1993 when he didn't think his WWE run was going well, and he wanted to resume his career in WCW. Flair was put in the main event of the final “WCW Nitro” per McMahon's request because of his respect for Flair. The Nature Boy has been supported by WWE in an attempt to help Flair in his personal life.
Flair received a free pass when he appeared to be drunk on a panel for a video game over “SummerSlam” weekend that ultimately led to the firing of Jim Ross. Ziggler was punished for speaking out against company policy on a radio show when he did early morning media tours for the company.
I'd like to think if Flair is a favorite and he likes Ziggler, maybe can convince the bosses to put the two together. On the other hand, say, “OK Ric, we'll think about it. In the meantime, go tell everyone you've shown The Miz how to apply the Figure Four Leg Lock.”
The sad reality of Flair's return is, who really cares?
Half of WWE's audience wasn't watching wrestling when Flair was active. The other half knows how far he has fallen.
No disrespect to one of the greatest performers of all time, but his sporadic, lackluster repeat appearances in random roles have diminished his legacy. You can only “Woo!” so many times until people turn to the person next to them and say, “Why is he here?”
The last appearance — he was in the center of the ring between Evolution and The Shield — was a prime example of everything I'm trying to articulate. A big promotion was done to see him on “RAW.” He showed up in the final segment not looking his best. He rambled, had his back to the camera and left the ring. It made me wonder: What was accomplished in the last three minutes of programming?
Flair's upcoming run could be memorable and positive. WWE should have him lead a new stable — not Evolution, and not The Four Horsemen. The stable can be something fresh, people would subconsciously recall successful gimmicks, and it would earn credibility.
WWE is big on stables right now, so it would be a fun fit. But this likely won't happen. That means there likely will be nothing memorable about this next WWE run for Flair. I'll likely be annoyed by Flair, and by his legacy being diluted.
Sorry, I almost forgot: There is a RAW GM opening! That will be great; we've never seen that!
