When AEW signed Ric Flair, the reaction was mixed to put it mildly.

Some loved the addition, wooing along with the “Nature Boy,” while others questioned the call, siting his age, past behavior, and general lack of connection with the audience AEW had cultivated.

Though his appearances on television were limited from that point on, doing more mainstream promotional work than actual on-screen activities at Full Gear, that would have change in a big way.

Would Flair rise to the occasion, or would fans boo him out of the building? Well, fortunately for Flair, boo sounds a whole lot like “wooo,” so in the arena, it sounded a whole lot like Flair was as over as he was back in Jim Crockett, a situation made all the more clear when the match he was managing, Sting, Darby Allin, and Adam Copeland versus The Patriarchy began to heat up.

After starting the match with a relatively laissez faire attitude, reacting here and there but largely doing his own thing, Flair actually got into the action when he threw down his purple jacket to confront Christian Cage, landing a few jabs before being taken out by “Captain Charisma” with a well-placed shot between the legs.

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Ric Flair, Lakers' LeBron James

Alex House ·

Ric Flair with a text bubble reading “You’re one of the best in the world!” next to Will Ospreay with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Ric Flair and the Young Bucks on the left, Sting on the right with a text bubble reading “Why Ric?” with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

The crowd cheered, for Ric Flair, not Christian, and in the end, the distraction proved enough to allow Copeland to secure the pin, and Sting to win his final match in the state of California. If this Full Gear strategy is how AEW plans to use Flair moving forward, maybe there's hope after all for this final run.