Imagine…One Last Reign For Ric Flair
The Nature Boy could have become a 17-time world champion in 2006.
Time to get into Doc Chestnut Brown’s copyright-safe, time-traveling Chevy Nova and head back to the year 2006, where I plan to change one big historical event forever! And since MITB was just last Sunday, it seemed apropos that the event I plan to retcon is the second Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22.
What’s my reason for this change? I believe there was an injustice that needs fixing. Namely, that “Nature Boy” Ric Flair never became WWE World Heavyweight Champion again after returning in 2001. (And side note – his WWE run is the only one that matters; his TNA run was awful and if you disagree, then come at me bro!) To be fair to Flair, he did become a two-time Tag Team Champion and Intercontinental Champion, but someone with his pedigree deserved to get one more chance to be the man.
I chose this match and moment in history because it wouldn’t significantly impact a lot of the great moments from the 06-07 season of WWE. Like Doc Brown said, “Don’t break time!” Or maybe it was Rick Sanchez who said that? Anyways, back to that fateful night.
After taking a nasty suplex off a ladder that nearly took him out of the match altogether, Flair bravely dragged his old bones back to the ring, climbed the ladder and came oh-so-close to grabbing that briefcase. But what if, instead of being stopped by Finlay, he actually fought him off, unhooked the briefcase and became Mr. Money in the Bank? The briefcase in Flair’s hands would have given him the credibility as a top contender once more and would have given the opportunity to sidestep the criticism that he was too old to be taken seriously as world champion. Cash-ins often happen when the champion is at his weakest, and the Dirtiest Player in the Game certainly would have taken full advantage of this now well-worn strategy.
I know what some of you are thinking: but wait, what about Rob Van Dam?! RVD could easily have won a simple number-one contender’s match to face John Cena at One Night Stand so that his epic WWE Championship victory could stay intact. The timeline is safe!
But how and when would Ric Flair cash in? I’m envisioning one scenario that involves Flair cashing in on Big Match John himself. By 2006, Cena was deep into his super long championship run, and it would have been cathartic for all the Cena haters to see him get bested by not just the Money in the Bank winner once again, but by a bonafide legend.
Picture this – it’s Unforgiven 2006, and Edge and Cena have just finished their knock-down, drag-out Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. Cena is having an emotional celebration when, suddenly, we hear the classic “Woo!”, followed by the iconic Also Sprach Zarathustra by my boy Richard Strauss. Ric Flair, dressed in one of his classic robes, struts his way down to the ring with briefcase in hand. As Cena looks on in bewilderment, he nevertheless stands up and gets ready for a fight because, as we know, he never backs down. Flair proceeds to use every dirty trick in the book to counter Cena. At least one eye gouge, a low blow and an illegal rollup later, Ric Flair becomes a 17-time world champion, and the Toronto crowd comes unglued.
This would be the perfect scenario, since Cena was really treading water as WWE Champion through the end of 2006. So, instead of all the random rivalry matches he had, Cena could chase Flair, leading to one final climactic battle at Survivor Series 2006, where Cena would eventually stand tall. Flair would graciously bow out and resume his last year and a half with the company. Everything else would play out the same in 2007, but this would have been a well-deserved “thank you” run for Flair and secured his spot as one of the all-time greats.
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