Ric Flair Will Take Batista to the Top
Ric Flair Will Bring Batista To The Top
If He Doesn’t Get Killed First!
by Will Welsh
Visit Demon’s Dreaming to see the aritcle photos.
The demon sat in the corner of a dark, dreary room. The masterful white-haired wizard, who claimed the wayward demon as his ward when no one else would even approach him, sat nearby. Their relationship was not one borne of friendship, but of necessity. Looking at them, it was easy to wonder what they were doing together. It was obvious that the demon didn’t trust the wizard, if only because the demon didn’t trust anyone. He was a being built to spill blood, and he refused to turn his back to the aging yet legendary mage, who at one time was the ruler of the known world. One wrong move on the mage’s part, and the demon was prepared to make him a memory.
For his part, the wizard remained far enough away from the demon to prevent attack, but close enough to offer guidance. It had been this way ever since their alliance took root. The wizard would whipser into the demon’s ear and then watch as the demon savagely struck down everyone who stood in his path. The only one who was safe from the assault was the wizard, and the wizard’s hold on the demon was only as strong as a tethered piece of rope — tenuous at best. Despite his best efforts, the wizard had been unable to earn the demon’s complete loyalty. Despite this, the wizard remained confident that the demon would eventually understand his wisdom. He needed him to come around, if only because the wizard’s master was demanding it of him, and failing the master was not an option.
To fail the master would have been akin to failing himself.
****
What you just read was not a scene from Lord Of The Rings, nor was it an excerpt from a medieval fantasy novel. No, what you just read was a rather fantastical description of the relationship between Raw’s newest behemoth, Batista, and his manager Ric Flair. We’ll get to Flair’s master a little later.
Before we do that, however, let’s take a look at the tenuous relationship that exists between Batista and Flair. The alliance began shortly after Batista jumped to Raw from Smackdown. Flair took one look at the former body-builder and decided that he was going to do everything within his power to gain Batista’s trust…and his services. Flair saddled up to Batista time and time again in the backstage area, filling his head with a few reverent words each time, and even though it seemed like Batista was only putting up with Flair most of the time, the "Nature Boy" finally ingratiated himself to such a degree that Batista relented and accepted the legendary Flair as his manager.
Flair, however, didn’t really do all that much managing. It’s not like he was acting as an agent in the Paul Heyman sense, securing his wrestler title shots and finagling the system in order to swing things his wrestler’s way. Flair stood at ringside or stood in the back and simply watched as Batista systematically dismantled opponent after opponent. Sure, he’d offer advice every now and then, but Flair’s role was more of an observer than anything else. Of course, with Batista winning the way he was winning, Flair didn’t have to involve himself all that much. Batista was doing fine on his own. As 2002 was turning to 2003 Batista was in the midst of a Bill Goldberg-esque winning streak, and Flair deserved little — if any — credit for his charge’s success.
"I watched Flair those couple of months," said WWE commentator Jonathan Coachman, "and all he did was stand there and offer support. Batista did all of the work, and Flair didn’t have to interject himself into many of Batista’s matches. It was almost like he was there to simply glory hog."
That might or might not be true, but we have to look at other possibilities, too. Flair’s a crafty veteren of so many wars. He’s been the very best in the world on many different occasions, and it’s arguable that he’s the sport’s all-time greatest in-ring performer. He’s also 54 years old, and his time in the ring is slowly coming to an end. Perhaps managing a wrestler like Batista who in so many ways resembles the future of the sport, will allow him to extend his stay in the limelight by a couple of more years.
If only that were believeable. It’s a much nicer thought than what’s probably at the base of Flair’s scheme to add Batista to his fold.
Of what do we write? What deviousness lies behind Flair’s crystal blue eyes? Well, of you remember we ended our short little fairy tale by alluding to the white mage’s master. As we now know, the master of whom we spoke was Flair’s master, and looking at Flair’s agenda today, Flair only has one master, and he goes by the name of Triple-H.
Sir Hemsley is the man who orchestrated Flair’s courtship of Batista. Triple-H is the man who demanded that Flair secure Batista’s trust and loyalty. Triple-H is the man who told Flair to go out and get him the best henchman available.
Triple-H is the man who told Flair to go out and get him an insurance policy.
The fact that Triple-H wants a security blanket should shock no one. Back when Flair was winning NWA/WCW World championships hand over fist, he had safe-guards, too, and if you haven’t noticed how much Triple-H is now molding himself after Flair, you haven’t been paying very close attention. He might not be talking about being a "limousine-riding, jet-flying son of a gun," but he has forsaken leather for Armani and in-your-face rulebreaking for clandestine deception. He’s even thrown out the old "In order to be the best, you have to beat the best," tag line that Flair made famous. And like Flair, who almost always had some form of protection in the form of The Four Horsemen, Helmsley now wants protection for himself, and Batista is his first recruit.
Like Flair, Triple-H is smart. One of the things that Flair always did was pick the best and brightest to join the Horsemen. Sting, Sid vicious, and Lex Luger were all Horsemen at one point in their illustrious careers, and they were chosen to join the Horesmen because they were the men Flair respected — and feared — the most. By inviting them into his camp, Flair could rest easy knowing that he wouldn’t have to face them — at least not in the immediate future, anyway.
That being the case, we’ll be surprised if Batista isn’t standing guard during Helmsley’s matches by the time you’re reading this. Not only does Batista provide Triple-H with some serious muscle, but by recruiting him, he eliminates a younger, stronger opponent with whom "The Game" might have trouble.
Subtraction by addition.
A funny thing happened with Flair and his Horsemen, however. They almsost always turned against him — or, at the very least he turned against them before they could do any serious damage to the Horsemen from the inside. Batista… well, he’s no different from any of the prior Horsemen except for one minor detail: He’s angrier than any of the men Flair recruited way back when. Before long, Triple-H or Flair is going to tick the newcomer off. When that happens, instead of acting as their guardian angel, Batista is going to transform himself into their worst nightmare, and somebody is going to have to pay for that. It might take a while, but mark our words….
Hell knows no fury like a demon scorned.
Reprinted from ProWrestling Illustrated, May 2003.
