Backstage News On The Gate For Ric Flair's Last Match

When you have Ric Flair competing in his latest swan song – regardless if it divides opinion whether the 73-year-old should be competing or not – you know that it is going to draw, and that's exactly what happened this past weekend at Jim Crockett Promotions Presents: Ric Flair's Last Match in Nashville, TN.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ric Flair's Last Match was a "big success," with the show receiving between 20,000 to 25,000 pay-per-view streaming buys and 4,200 purchases through cable TV buys, without any kind of promotion through television. The Wrestling Observer even described it as "the second-biggest independent pro wrestling show in the U.S. of modern times." Of course, the top spot belongs to the All In pay-per-view that took place in August 2018, put together by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks – who were signed to Ring of Honor at the same – in which 11,263 descended on the Sears Center Arena in Chicago, Illinois, to witness a plethora of major independent talent come together to put egg Dave Meltzer's face after he initially said that ROH would not draw 10,000 "any time soon."

Circling back to Ric Flair's Last Match, it was reported that 6,800 fans – although not a sell-out – attended the event at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, which ultimately drew a gate of $448,502. The Observer noted it was the "second-largest indie gate ever in North America" with, of course, All In once again occupying top spot on the major indie events leaderboard with a gate of $458,525, which the Observer said could have potentially been higher after the event sold out in the first 30 minutes that tickets were put on general sale. Nevertheless, aside from All In, and major promotions such as WWE, WCW, and AEW, no other independent event hit Ric Flair's Last Match gate number in pro wrestling history in the United States.

Ric Flair's Last Match was headlined by Flair teaming up with his son-in-law Andrade El Idolo taking on Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in a tag team bout. The match concluded when Flair knocked out Jarrett with a pair of brass knuckles before pinning him on the canvas while applying a figure-four leglock.