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LIVE NOTES FROM RIC FLAIR'S LAST MATCH IN NASHVILLE

Looks like the place is set up for about 8,000. As the preshow got underway, I’d guess there are about 5,000 here.

Nashville definitely sees Ren Narita as a star. It goes without saying that you can’t go 30 seconds without a big WOOOOOOOOO breaking out.

Jay Lethal came out to Flairs music to cut a promo. Karen Jarrett is with him. Nashville wants to kill him after what transpired at the press conference.

Karen Jarrett has nuclear heat here.

Nashville does not, in fact, like Frank the Clown. Mick Foley got a HUGE superstar reaction coming out to throw him to Jacob Fatu.

The merchandise lines are PACKED. Everything from turnbuckle pads to shotglasses to posters and t shirts. Everything is dedicated to the man of honor tonight.

Nick Gage coming out for the bunkhouse stampede was a surprise. His quick elimination was an even bigger one. Crowd loves Effy, he’s playing up to the crowd to the hilt. I’d say they got the right final 4 with Bully Ray, Janes Storm, Mance Warner and Joey Janela.  Ol Mancer with the win. I think Nashville was expecting Bully.

We’re about 10 minutes to the main card and I think the crowd has peaked at around 5,500-6,000.

I was way too enthralled to be typing during the first 2 matches. Killer Kross & Davey Boy Smith Jr and the MCMGs v the Wolves were a fantastic way to kick things off. Greta pure wrestling matches where no one was trying to outshine the main event.

Fatal 4 way is going on right now. Jonathan Gresham got the W out of nowhere. You can clearly tell they’re going through this undercard to get to the main attraction.

Time for the Rock n Roll Express of Ricky & Kerry Morton vs the Horsemen of Brock Anderson and Brian Pillman Jr. surreal seeing Ricky and Robert live in 2022 (Gibson is in the corner)

No one works a crowd like Ricky Morton. He’s making sure Nashville is into this.

This is the first time I’ve seen Pillman Jr come off like his dad. He is FURIOUS about the crowd chanting ROCK AND ROLL

THIS IS MAGIC live but dammit the Rock n Roll Express fell short. Great showing by both teams. Live, this is awesome.

The crowd is here for one thing and one thing only, RIC FLAIR. Nashville will come uNglued when the moment happens.

Time for the Rock n Roll Express of Ricky & Kerry Morton vs the Horsemen of Brock Anderson and Brian Pillman Jr. surreal seeing Ricky and Robert live in 2022 (Gibson is in the corner)

No one works a crowd like Ricky Morton. He’s making sure Nashville is into this.

This is the first time I’ve seen Pillman Jr come off like his dad. He is FURIOUS about the crowd chanting ROCK AND ROLL.

THIS IS MAGIC live but dammit the Rock n Roll Express fell short. Great showing by both teams. Live, this is awesome.

Confession: this is my first time seeing Jacob Fatu and Josh Alexander. These guys are heavy hitters holding nothing back. That backbreaker from Alexander got a huge “OHHHHHH” from the crowd.

I think Impact just earned my viewership with this one. Damn this wasn’t pretty but hard hitting. Oh damn we are not happy this ended in DQ with Matt Cardona and Brian Myers causing the DDQ. But, oh wait, here’s DDP with a Diamond Cutter on Myers to cheer us up.

It was surreal for me to see the sons of Kevin Von Erich and, to be honest, I’m really surprised they didn’t get more of a reaction from this crowd. This is an old school wrestling crowd that clearly knows who the Von Erichs are and what they meant to the early years of Flair’s Championship run. I don’t think the crowd thought for a second that they were beating the Briscoes. Briscoes with the win.  The pacing of this show is great.

After a good womens showcase match it was time!  There are a lot of people down on this match taking place but I’ll tell you this. Every single fan had a smile of their face and a few had tears in the eyes. Did Ric look every bit of 73? Absolutely, yes. Did anyone watching care? Absolutely not! 

For 25 minutes or so, Nashville put aside any preconceived notions of what their hero could and couldn’t do. We wanted to see The Man and we got The Man. Whatever Ric needed to get out of his system, I hope he did and finds a little more peace with the end of his career.

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