Jarrett, Andrade, and Lethal talk about pressure of performing in Flair’s last match

Aug 1, 2022 - by Colin Vassallo

Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and Andrade all spoke to ESPN following their main event match last night with Ric Flair and all of them had one thing in common: pressure.

While the years of experience between all four tops 100, participating in a match with a 73-year-old man who just a few years ago was on his deathbed and also has a pacemaker probably isn’t the best idea. But for the Nature Boy, there was no other way.

“It’s his last one. If anything goes wrong, it’s on me. It’s on others,” Jeff Jarrett told Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “I’m so damn happy for Ric, I don’t know what to say,” he continued, adding that this match had a whole other level of pressure that he’s never been under in his entire career.

Lethal, who was in charge of training Ric Flair for the past couple of months, didn’t look forward to Flair bleeding because it was out of their hands on how much Naitch was going to bleed. Flair did bleed, but wasn’t the crimson mask of the past, and thankfully, he was okay.

After the match, Lethal met Flair at the top of the ramp and the two embraced, all caught on camera.

“I said, ‘I f*cking love you, you’re the f*cking man, I’m trying to be like you when I grow up, because you’re f*cking great. You’re the greatest wrestler in the f*cking world’,” Lethal said. “He starts crying and says, ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’”

Flair’s son-in-law Andrade El Idolo also had that pressure, after all, it’s family for him.

“This match is the most important of my career,” Andrade said. “This is unbelievable. I don’t even have words for this,” he continued, adding that Flair is an inspiration for him.

At the end of the day, Flair survived, and was immediately checked by two doctors as soon as he stepped foot backstage. He looked tired, gassed out, and at times barely able to walk, but Flair did what he set out to do: entertain the crowd for one last time.

The main event was truly a “forbidden door” moment. Jarrett, a WWE Senior Vice President, tagged with Lethal, an AEW star, and took on another AEW star, Andrade, and Flair. The ring announcer, Dave Penzer, was a former WCW guy who now works for Impact Wrestling, the commentary was headed by AEW’s Tony Schiavone, and the referee was former WWE senior ref Mike Chioda. The event was produced by Impact Wrestling crew and directed by former WWE producer and current Impact producer David Sahadi.

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