Ric Flair is set to have his last wrestling match ever in July, and after Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat revealed that he turned down an opportunity to be a part of the match, rumors swirled about who Flair will square off against on the big night. Shortly after, rumors began circulating and alleged that Hulk Hogan might be his opponent. While that sounds great, what does the Nature Boy have to say about that rumor?
It didn’t take long at all for Ric Flair to respond to rumors about Hulk Hogan’s purported involvement in Starrcast V, the event at which Flair will wrestle at in Nashville this summer. The 73-year-old spoke discussed the matter on his podcast, To Be The Man (via Fightful), and revealed what’s going on with his friend:
He's invited, I've talked to him personally, to come to the roast and to come to the match. He hasn't confirmed for sure, but I'm pretty sure he'll be there. Without Eric Bischoff booking it, he doesn't want anything to do with me [laughs].
So according to the star himself, there are seemingly no plans for the polarizing superstar Hulk Hogan (who's had some very wild wrestling moments over the years) to participate in a match against Ric Flair when he has his last match ever on July 31st. That seems easy to believe, especially since the rumor about Hogan having a match originated from a conversation with Brian Blair of The Killer Bees tag-team (via Wrestling Shoot Interviews), who seemingly has no ties to the event. Blair even admitted during the chat that he read a rumor on the Internet regarding a Hogan and Flair face-off, but fans wondered if perhaps he was doing so to save face after accidentally revealing some inside information.
Though Hollywood Hogan is only attending the match as a spectator at the moment, I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes in some way. After all, it wouldn’t take much for a plan to materialize on the day of the event. Hogan could leave his seat to participate in the match briefly when Slick Ric is most in need. Those things happen in wrestling all the time, so I would rule out any surprises if the actor/wrestler does indeed show up to Starrcast V.
One thing to note, however, is that Hulk Hogan himself said earlier this year that he wasn’t considering having a farewell match of any sort. Hogan told TMZ Sports that he’s had 23 surgeries in the past decade and wouldn’t step into a ring unless he were absolutely healthy. Hogan did post a picture showing that he was in shape around the time that Ric Flair indicated earlier this year that Hogan was in bad health, though, so who knows what to believe? If nothing else, at least a Peacock premium subscription will provide you with no shortage of great Hogan matches to revisit should he never have another match.
Ultimately, the speculation regarding Ric Flair will only continue for now. Previous rumors stated that Flair would participate in a six-man tag match with tag-teams FTR and the Rock 'n’ Roll Express and an unnamed sixth person. I don't know about you, but I'm eager to get more details on the final match, including Flair's mysterious opponent.
Tickets for Starrcast V will go on sale Friday, May 27th at 12 pm ET at a website dedicated to the event, and pre-orders for the pay-per-view will be available at the same time on FITE. We’ll see if The Nature Boy's opponent for the match is announced before that, or if fans will just go in blind and hope that the wrestler will deliver another great moment regardless of who his in-ring foe is.
