Ric Flair and Vince McMahon mutually agreed over a year ago that Flair would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and then retire the next day at WrestleMania 24, according to a story in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The decision was made before Steve Austin made the story line pitch regarding Flair's winning streak and the stipulation that he would retire if he lost another match.

-Click here to read the first part of a three-part Dot Net story on The idea Steve Austin pitched to Vince McMahon for Ric Flair's retirement.

-Click here to read the second part of a three-part Dot Net story on What went wrong with the idea Steve Austin pitched to Vince McMahon for Ric Flair's retirement.

-Click here to read the third part of the three-part Dot Net story on Some of the ideas, including a Four Horsemen reunion, that were pitched for Ric Flair's retirement that were never used.

Powell’s POV: Flair stated during a press conference on Saturday that he would never wrestle again if he lost to Michaels on Sunday. However, he has stated that he'd be interested in working as a manager. It wouldn't shock me to see Flair return for a one-off match at some point, but his career as an active wrestler appears to be over based on the way he's approached this weekend.

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