Ric Flair’s final wrestling match nearly turned into a nightmare, and Andrade had a front-row seat to the whole thing. The former WWE star admitted he was scared something terrible could happen to his then-father-in-law during the match, but when Flair started struggling in the ring, Andrade thought the Nature Boy was just putting on an act.
During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Andrade opened up about teaming with Flair against Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett on July 31, 2022. Flair was 73 years old at the time, and Andrade wasn’t exactly thrilled about the possibility of something going wrong while Charlotte Flair’s father was wrestling alongside him.
Andrade explained that he had already discussed his concerns with Charlotte before the match. He knew Flair had been training hard, but that didn’t make the situation any less nerve-racking. Things got even scarier when Flair appeared to be struggling during the action, prompting Andrade to check on him.
“I was with him in the corner. I was a little scared. I heard a couple months later. At the time, I thought he was selling. I said, ‘Sir, are you okay?’ ‘Let’s go. Let’s go.’ Before the match, I was talking with my ex-wife and said, ‘I was scared.’ He’s strong and he trained, but I was scared because if something happened, what do I say to my ex-wife? If I was there, what do I do? I was a little scared.”
Andrade figured Flair was simply doing what he’d done for decades — selling to make the match more dramatic. After all, this was Ric Flair, a guy who had built an entire career around making people believe he was getting beaten half to death. But the situation took a much darker turn when Andrade eventually learned that Flair had suffered a heart attack.
The craziest part? Andrade said Flair seemed perfectly fine after the match. Instead of showing signs that something serious had happened, the Nature Boy was back in the locker room drinking and acting like everything was normal. Andrade didn’t learn about the heart attack until later.
“I’m happy nothing happened. He’s out there, he’s drinking, he’s fine in the locker room. Everything was fine. I think he went to the doctor later. ‘You had a heart attack.’ That’s when I knew. I was surprised. I was scared in the moment, but I thought he was selling.”
Andrade wasn’t the only one who had no idea how serious things were. As Ringside News previously covered, Flair revealed in 2024 that medical tests showed he had suffered a heart attack sometime within the previous two years. Flair believes it happened during his retirement match, when he became dehydrated and passed out multiple times.
And here’s where things get even stranger. Flair had actually planned a fake heart attack spot during the match. He later admitted the stunt was a terrible idea, especially considering what he eventually learned about his health. So Andrade was standing there watching his then-father-in-law struggle, thinking it was all part of the show, while having no idea that Flair may have been dealing with a genuine medical emergency.
Flair hasn’t wrestled another match since that night, and considering how close things may have come to ending badly, that might be for the best. Andrade went into the match worried about having to explain a disaster to Charlotte, only to find out months later that his concerns weren’t so far-fetched after all. What was supposed to be a celebration of Flair’s career turned into one hell of a scare.
Do you think Ric Flair pushed his luck too far by wrestling one final match at 73 years old, or was it worth the risk to give his career a proper sendoff? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
