Ric Flair Back in the Ring

On Raw last night, Ric Flair made his much rumored return to the wrestling ring - well, sort of.

Ric Flair Back in the Ring

For much of the past few weeks, the debate has raged on as to whether or not Ric Flair should return to the wrestling ring after such a heralded exit at Wrestlemania 24.

Some wrestling fans would love to see the Nature Boy back in the ring because he's still one of the most entertaining guys around. Others, though, don't want to tarnish the retirement ceremony.

On this week's episode of Raw, Ric Flair finally returned to the wrestling ring. Of course, it was done in a way that won't stop wrestling fans from continuing the debate on his full time return.

Instead of being involved in an actual wrestling match, WWE and Ric Flair circumvented things by having him involved in an "unsanctioned" brawl with Randy Orton.

To be totally honest, that was a pretty clever way to make the return happen without being an official return.

Success? Success!

Quite frankly, WWE hit a home run by having Ric Flair and Randy Orton engaging in a brawl to end the final episode of Raw before the Extreme Rules pay per view.

It accomplished quite a bit of things.

• Test The Waters
  Even the people that don't want to see Ric Flair return to the wrestling ring are curious to see just how it would be. Since this wasn't an "official" return to the ring, it provides fans with a taste of what could possibly happen in a few weeks.
  
  
• Establishes Heel Heat For Randy Orton
  With Ric Flair being such a historic figure in the business, having him being viciously assaulted by Randy Orton is a smart business move to do before a pay per view. Randy Orton enters Extreme Rules with a lot more heel heat. People are going to pay money to see him lose.
  
  
• Establishes Support For Batista
  WWE put the spotlight on the real life relationship between Batista and Ric Flair. They used that to generate some emotion with the fans. There's going to be more support for Batista now to tear apart Randy Orton at Extreme Rules.

Will He Return?

On Tuesday morning, wrestling fans are still going to be debating whether or not Ric Flair will actually return to the wrestling ring.

Things are changing by the day, but here's what we all know as of today.

Ric Flair has recently started leaning against returning to WWE as an active performer. The change in tone could stem from the fact that others may be against him tarnishing the retirement ceremony that he was given.

However, that doesn't mean that Ric Flair is done as an active competitor.

Word has it that Ric Flair has decided that he's going to be working matches overseas as opposed to doing so in the United States.

Personally, I don't think that it's all that much different from working matches in the United States. However, if the man wants to work matches, then he's earned the right to do so.

Closing Thoughts

This saga isn't going to be ending anytime soon. Ric Flair obviously does not want to stay away from the ring. Those that are waiting to criticize him for doing so are just sharpening their knives right now.