Ric Flair Confirms AEW Talent's Involvement In His Retirement Match

Wrestling legend Ric Flair has confirmed AEW's FTR, as well as the Rock 'n' Roll Express, as participants in his final farewell match. 

The two-time WWE Hall of Famer will be coming out of retirement to wrestle for the last time on July 31 in Nashville, Tennessee. 

The bout is being billed as taking place under the banner of 'Jim Crockett Promotions' and will form part of the festivities of Starrcast V weekend. 

Speaking with Vickie Guerrero on the Excuse Me podcast to promote the event, The Nature Boy mentioned that people from AEW were involved and he was '90 percent' sure of their participation, saying: 

"I was gonna attend this event anyway [Roast of Ric Flair] but, then the idea of me having one last match came and you know, we're talking to obviously people from AEW. Hopefully they're gonna be able to participate. I'm 90 percent sure they are. But, it'll be a lot of fun for everybody".

Pressed for specifics about the match, Flair said that FTR and the Rock 'n' Express are involved, along with himself, and that the final participant is yet to be confirmed. He noted that a formal announcement would be made today (May 23). 

"That would be Monday [when the match is formally announced].

"A tag match. There are four people that I know are in it for sure: FTR and Rock 'n' Roll Express, and myself but the last person is working it out right now. Brand new robe, new tights, everything, one more time. Everything, yup".

The 73-year-old has been training with AEW's Jay Lethal of late in order to get back into ring shape and gave an indication of where his performance levels currently are and where he hopes they will be come bell time, saying:

"What I'm working on now is the pace. I have to pick — when I started realising I could take the bumps, that was at about ten percent, now I'm probably at about 40-to-50 percent. I've got two-and-a-half months [until the match], I'll be 85 or 90 percent in terms of speed. Just picking up the pace. I just had to get over the anxiety of taking the bump. I was taking the first couple of bumps because I’ve got that damn pacemaker. I don't need that to be unplugged any time soon [Flair laughed]. Not that they couldn’t fix it but…"

H/T Post Wrestling