Ric Flair on why Vince McMahon wanted him to face WWE Hall of Famer before WCW went out of business

Ric Flair recently recalled the time when Vince McMahon apparently insisted that he had to face fellow WWE Hall of Famer Sting before WCW went out of business.

Flair and Sting were legendary adversaries spanning their tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW, and TNA. Among them are 35 world titles and nine Hall of Fame inductions across major promotions in the world of wrestling.

In fact, as the Nature Boy pointed out recently during To Be The Man podcast, Vince McMahon insisted they were the main event of Nitro the night his acquisition of WCW was announced.

Flair used the fact as food-for-thought for whenever a suggestion was made that there were bigger stars in WCW at the time.

"If all these other guys made WCW, all the others that lived, right, that were better than me. Why did Vince insist beyond- agured for three days that me and Sting would be the last [match]. All these other guys made WCW what they are, why did he insist on the purchase that me and Sting wrestle? Ric Flair said. [From 23:55 to 24:22]

Flair had what was billed as his retirement match earlier this year - albeit first retiring in WWE against Shawn Michaels in 2008.

He teamed up with AEW star and son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to face Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. Sting has also wrestled this year, appearing alongside Darby Allin in seven contests throughout 2022.

If you use the quotes, please credit To Be The Man podcast and give H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

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WWE Hall of Famer has been absent from AEW due to a knee injury

The Icon last wrestled at the AEW Full Gear event, also facing Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett alongside Darby Allin. He has yet to taste defeat in the promotion, and his last outing continued in that vein with another win.

However, he has been away from the company for some time. It was explained recently in a report that his reason for absence was arthroscopic surgery some time ago.

"The reason Sting hasn’t been in the ring of late is because he had arthroscopic surgery on one of his knees about seven weeks ago." [H/T WrestleTalk]

Despite being 63 years old and previously forced to retire through injury, Sting has not been one to take the slow approach in AEW. The WWE Hall of Famer makes a habit of taking sick bumps and daredevil jumps, so it's understandable he needs his rest.

Would you have liked to see Sting vs Ric Flair in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.