Ric Flair, 73, handles ‘pressure,’ authors classic performance in winning his

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ric Flair did his trademark strut. He led the crowd in chanting “Woo!” The legendary pro wrestler even bled, the color red drenching his face and recognizable white hair like it would have in the 1970s or 1980s.

And fittingly, Flair’s final wrestling match ended Sunday night here at a sold-out Municipal Auditorium with the figure-four leglock, the finishing move that is synonymous with “The Nature Boy.” Flair, 73, was the winner, of course, in a tag team match alongside partner and son-in-law Andrade against the team of Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett. The attendance was nearly 10,000, per broadcast provider Fite TV.

Flair was clearly exhausted by the end of his first match since 2011, but he was healthy enough by the end to walk out under his own power and do an interview with longtime wrestling broadcaster Tony Schiavone. After the match, Flair was helped out of the ring, and he greeted his family in the front row, as well as pro-wrestling luminaries The Undertaker, Bret Hart and Mick Foley.

“I had one of my best matches of my career here with Ricky Steamboat,” Flair said. “All my family is here. We made jokes about me being married five times. All the kids are here. One wife, but all my granddaughters. My friends are here. I swear to God, guys. If I didn’t have enough pressure on me tonight, f—ing Kid Rock walked into the locker room tonight.”

The grueling match was nearly 30 minutes long and, while it was clear Flair was not the same man who transcended pro wrestling in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s and Andrade, Lethal and Jarrett did the bulk of the hard-hitting moves, Flair was able to hold his own weight. He landed chops and punches, his donkey kick low blow and even took a vertical suplex from Lethal, with whom he trained for this match to get ring ready.

The finish came when Jarrett, a legend in his own right performing in his hometown, landed his signature guitar shot on Lethal accidentally when Andrade pulled Flair away. Flair’s other son-in-law and the card’s promoter, Conrad Thompson, threw Andrade a pair of brass knuckles from the front row, which Andrade passed to Flair. Flair landed a brass-knuckles shot on Jarrett and then put him in the figure-four leglock to end the match.

“This match is the most important of my career,” said Andrade, an AEW star who is married to Flair’s daughter and WWE standout Charlotte. “… This is unbelievable. I don’t even have words for this. [Flair] feels better than guys 20 years old. He’s an inspiration to me.”

Flair is a former 16-time world champion and a two-time WWE Hall of Famer. He’s one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of the business and his stardom has crossed over into the mainstream, even in the current day. Flair has been featured in several music videos by top hip-hop artists, including a song written about him called “Ric Flair Drip” by Offset in 2017. He was the leader of the influential Four Horsemen faction in wrestling, and his matches and work on the microphone are iconic. Many of his catchphrases — and of course, the classic “woo!” — are still repeated today.

Flair’s style and swagger — complete with expensive suits, diamond-encrusted robes,…