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Ric Flair’s career looks to be finally over, with him wrestling his ‘last match’ in the year of 2022. He would emerge victorious in that bout, which was his first match in 11 years. In the time before that, during his stints in both TNA and in WWE, his last 10 losses were spread out over a period of four years.
This was largely due to him retiring for a period, before returning to action in TNA, and also due to his schedule being lighter over time too. Surprisingly, despite his name value and the focus TNA had on older stars, Flair lost the majority of his matches in the company.
10 Ric Flair Vs The Great Khali, WWE SmackDown 08/10/07
This match took place at the time in which The Great Khali was reigning as the World Heavyweight Champion, despite being awful in the ring. Even though this match lasted four minutes, it wasn’t very enjoyable.
This was to build up Khali’s feud with Batista, with Khali dishing out punishment to Flair as he was Batista’s former mentor. It was more of an angle than a match.
9 Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels Vs La Familia, WWE SmackDown 03/14/08
In the lead-up to WrestleMania, Flair and Shawn Michaels teamed together against the ‘La Familia’ faction in a four-on-two handicap Steel Cage match, with it full of chaos to help to build the PPV.
The Undertaker made an appearance, targeting Edge, but La Familia thwarted his attempts, with Edge escaping the cage and picking up the victory. This was more about building the World Heavyweight Championship bout between ‘Taker and Edge than anything else.
8 Ric Flair Vs Shawn Michaels, WWE WrestleMania 24 03/30/08
Initially, this was intended to be Ric Flair’s final ever match in professional wrestling. It was a stunning match jam-packed with emotion, tension, and several unforgettable moments. Flair managed to pull off all his greatest hits, with this being up there with WrestleMania’s all-time best matches.
The ending sequence in which Michaels uttered the words “I’m sorry, I love you”, will live forever in the collective memories of fans. It was the perfect farewell for Flair, but unfortunately he would end up returning the ring.
7 Ric Flair & AJ Styles Vs Hulk Hogan & Abyss, TNA Impact 03/08/10
Following a brief tour alongside Hulk Hogan, Flair made his return to televised in-ring action inside a TNA ring, in an era in which old timers were very much the focus of the product. Teaming with AJ Styles, who was presented as a mini version of Flair, donning a robe too, they took on Hulk Hogan and Abyss, with the latter using Hogan’s HOF ring to gain powers.
They opened the show, but it ended in a no contest due to interference, leading to a No DQ rematch later in the night. It was a bloody match despite Hogan and Flair barely able to move.
6 Ric Flair Vs Abyss, TNA Impact 04/26/10
The feud between these men continued, with Abyss channeling the power from Hogan’s HOF ring – with him even hulking up during the match. Flair unsurprisingly was busted open in this match, with him also taking a scary looking bump from the top rope. Flair initially pulled off the win via cheating with a low blow.
However, the match was restarted, with Abyss gaining victory instead.
5 Ric Flair Vs Jay Lethal, TNA Victory Road 07/11/10
In terms of match quality, this was one of Flair’s better bouts during his time in TNA, although all the credit should go to Lethal for achieving that feat. He did most of the work whilst allowing Flair to utilize his classic offense.
Flair put over a fair few individuals during his time in TNA, with him only picking up a couple wins overall, so to see Lethal defeat a legend was by far the correct judgment call from a booking perspective.
4 Ric Flair Vs Mick Foley, TNA Impact 10/7/10
On paper, a match between two aging old timers like Flair and Foley in 2010 sounds like it would be a disaster. However, in reality, the pair put on a brutal display, exceeding all expectations by putting their bodies on the line in this very enjoyable battle.
There was blood, thumbtacks, barbed wire, and table spots, with Flair even hitting a move from the top rope. Foley would manage to win this Last Man Standing match, with Flair taking a second bump into the thumbtacks to cause his defeat.
3 Ric Flair Vs Matt Morgan, TNA Impact 11/18/10
If Matt Morgan lost this match, it would cost him his shot at the World Title. The show would go off-air with this match continuing on TNA ‘Re-Action’, and it ended in absolute chaos.
The Immortal stable would interfere, but trouble in their ranks allowed Morgan to take advantage and pick up the victory over Flair, retaining his title shot and also getting the opportunity to pick the Special Guest Referee for his eventual title bout against Jeff Hardy.
2 Immortal Vs Fortune, TNA Lockdown 04/17/11
This was a Lethal Lockdown match between two warring factions full of some of the biggest names up and down the card in TNA. For the most part, it was an enjoyable battle full of strong hardcore moment, with Dave Meltzer even rating it four stars, as per cagematch.net.
Flair once again got busted open, and he would be the one to lose the match for his team, submitting to James Storm to end the match, giving Fortune the victory.
1 Ric Flair Vs Sting, TNA Impact 09/15/11
Ric Flair’s final ever loss in wrestling took place in this bout against one of his greatest ever rivals, Sting. The match itself was hard to sit through, with Flair being a broken down performer by this point.
The name value of both men ensured that the atmosphere was decent, but it wasn’t enough to salvage it from being poor.
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