In the book, “To Be The Man,” Ric Flair talks about being a broken man in the wrestling business.
As arguably the greatest wrestler of all time, Flair also spoke candidly of how he was at a crossroads toward the end of his career in WCW and came to the WWE with an opportunity to make a difference, but those “demons” and the crossroads he traveled down became wider and affected him on so many levels.
As part of Flair’s “recovery,” he turned to few in the company for reassurances, one of those being Triple H, who at the time had come up with the concept of Evolution, a four-man wrestling clique in the mold of The Horsemen.
The rest as we know, is history.
I bring this up because after hearing Triple H the other night (and, yes, I know this will lead to him getting back into the ring with Brock Lesnar at some point), it sounded like the “Cerebral Assassin” was facing some of the same issues the “Nature Boy” was dealing with.
It was Triple H who helped Flair find his way back to wrestling. Could Flair help his “friend” find his way through his crossroads and the illusion of not being able to beat Lesnar?
Usually, when it comes down to it, anytime there is an issue with the COO of the WWE, we see Shawn Michaels, Stephanie McMahon or Vince McMahon in the angle. Why not build off an older scenario that has worked for decades in the business and should do a few things to build the Lesnar/Triple H storyline?
Triple H doesn’t need help with mic work or in ring performance. He does fine on his own. Flair reinforces the concept of confidence. He is also still a decent enough mouthpiece to counterbalance Paul Heyman.
I did not like the Lesnar/Triple H angle and I am still not a fan, but getting Ric Flair back involved in the WWE is paramount right now in terms of this storyline. Heyman is nothing without Lesnar, unless he manages other wrestlers (Big Show, Tensai, maybe Randy Orton), which is possible, but highly unlikely. Heyman and Lesnar just returned to the WWE landscape. They are not going anywhere anytime soon.
You don’t take down an icon like Triple H and then decide to take your ball and go home.
And it would also do something the WWE has been doing recently, meaning using old storylines or veterans from the past to create buzz.
This certainly does that.
So, before you all read this and dismiss it and tell me how crazy I am, think about the possibility and the reality. It works. It’s a great angle. It gets Ric Flair back in the ring.
And most of all, it keeps Triple H in the game.