The Best Feud Of The Nature Boy's WWE Career
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The WWE stints of Ric Flair’s career rarely get the same appreciation as WCW and prior despite many younger fans only knowing him for WWE. Flair had way more legendary feuds and matches outside of WWE with names like Sting, Ricky Steamboat, and Terry Funk. WWE often placed Flair in programs with big names, but something was usually missing.
Triple H working a personal rivalry with Flair later in the latter’s career ended up being the best of his run. The duo had real stories involved of their former friendship and mentor/protégé relationship heading into the feud. Flair was able to turn back the clock and deliver some special performances in a WWE career-defining feud vs Triple H.
Triple H Losing To Batista Set Up His Story With Ric Flair
The official end of Evolution came when Batista realized that Triple H was manipulating him. Batista challenging Triple H led to Ric Flair remaining heel as the loyal sidekick and manager. WWE even doubled down on Flair’s loyalty to Triple H by having him fake a face turn for a few weeks only to betray Batista and set up a vicious attack for The Game.
RELATED: 5 Things Ric Flair Did Better Than Triple H (& 5 Triple H Did Better)
However, a legitimate face turn for Flair played out when Triple H left television for a few months after losing his third straight match to Batista inside of the Hell in a Cell structure. Flair no longer had Evolution nor Triple H, so he moved forward on his own and leaned into his legendary legacy. WWE even booked Flair to win the Intercontinental Championship and become a feel-good story.
Raw’s Homecoming show going back to the USA Network in 2005 was hyped as one of the most important free television programs in WWE history. Triple H returned from his absence to team with Flair and defeat his enemies Carlito and Chris Masters in a tag match. Things escalated quickly after the win when Triple H attacked Flair and delivered a bloody beat down to start the feud.
Triple H And Ric Flair Had Some Great Matches Together
WWE instantly created strong interest in the matches of Triple H vs Ric Flair with Triple H’s betrayal. Even though their characters were on opposite sides of the face/heel dynamic, Flair loved Triple H too much to doubt him. Fans were even forgiving of Flair for all his previous misdeeds due to understanding how much his character genuinely cared about Triple H for better or worse.
The first match between the two was booked for Taboo Tuesday 2005 in the second event of its kind. Fans were able to vote on the stipulation when selecting a cage match over a submission match or a traditional bout. WWE clearly made sure the cage match would win by having lesser alternatives. The instant classic gave Flair one of his biggest WWE wins, defeating the top heel to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
Another match was booked for Survivor Series 2005 when Flair faced Triple H in a Last Man Standing match. The polarizing stipulation usually completely connects or misfires with the audience. WWE gave them nearly a half-hour to tell the story with Triple H coming out on top. Both men were in rare form, perfectly capturing what each character felt in the violent brawl.
The Feud With Triple H Was A Rare Successful One For Ric Flair In WWE
An argument can be made that Ric Flair’s first WWE run was as disappointing as Bret Hart’s WCW run when looking at how one promotion can not understand what makes a legend special. Flair did win the WWE Championship, but his only strong program came against Randy Savage. Despite having a strong feud, it felt disappointing losing the WrestleMania 8 main event spot and being treated like a secondary part of the main event scene.
Flair had some hit or miss rivalries with Vince McMahon, Chris Jericho, and Eddie Guerrero in the years before this program. Most of his best work in Evolution came as extensions of issues that wrestlers had with the other members. Mick Foley had a great rivalry with Flair in the following years, but it was more captivating to hear real life gossip than see the in-ring action.
Even the legendary final match of Flair’s WWE career against Shawn Michaels didn’t have a blood feud or intense rivalry, despite arguably being the best match. Triple H added the personal drama and deeper story that resonated with the audience. Flair spent the rest of his active career in WWE as a beloved face with this program making sure that would stick. The rivalry with Triple H is Flair’s WWE peak feud that showed why he was a brilliant performer.
