By Wade Keller, Torch editor

PWTorch senior columnist (since 1990) Bruce Mitchell wrote a feature column for the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter last week on Ric Flair's early years in the Carolinas. This week, he was the centerpiece of a newspaper article in the Charleston Post and Courier profiling Ric Flair's history in Greensboro at the historic Greensboro Coliseum. To read the article, a detailed walk through Flair's history in that town and a larger look at his career through the eyes of Mitchell, click the link below:

Article Link

ARTICLE EXCERPT:

...One performer stood head and shoulders above the rest. He was the brashest, the cockiest and the coolest, a limousine-riding, jet-flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin’ and dealin’ son of a gun and the dirtiest player in the game.

“He was the best,” says Mitchell. Pure and simple.

All those special feelings Mitchell had felt as a longtime wrestling fan resurfaced when Flair took to the ring for his match with Triple H on Dec. 29. The bout, the main event of a Raw taping that was nationally aired two nights later on New Year’s Eve, took Mitchell back more than a quarter of a century when he first saw Flair headline at the Coliseum. Now, all these years later, the Nature Boy was again in the spotlight, the emotional focus of a wrestling show.

“Everything else changes, and here he is, in the main event. And looking pretty darn good in the ring,” says Mitchell, an elementary school teacher by trade who also serves as senior columnist for the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter and Web site. “It brought back a lot of memories for me. I was really anxious to see if the crowd would pay him the respect he was due and there would be the emotion in it. I thought it came through, even though WWE now draws mostly kid crowds at its shows.”

Those kids, however, were just as vocal in displaying their affection for the performer who’s called North Carolina his home for the past 33 years. No doubt many, says Mitchell, heard the stories about the legendary Flair from their parents and grandparents.

“Greensboro had everything there. The emotion was there. To see him and the expressions on his face ... it was something,” Mitchell enthuses.

Flair’s final match at the Coliseum took on special meaning for Mitchell.

“It really closed a chapter in my life. He’s always been that connection. He’s literally the guy who made me a serious fan. He’s always been there, and he’s always putting on a great performance. Him not being around is going to be a big jump for me. There was a time in our lives when things just seemed better if Ric Flair was on a show.”

Mitchell says he was disappointed there wasn’t a bigger buildup for Flair’s last bout at the Coliseum.

“From 1974 to now ... it was an amazing accomplishment. I wish it would have been promoted here in the area as Flair’s last match at the Greensboro Coliseum because there have been so many signature points in his career.”

Flair won the match by disqualification due to outside interference.

“When Triple H broke the figure four, the fans booed. They wanted to see him pass out and get that happy ending. As much as I didn’t like that finish and some of the things with Triple H, I thought Triple H worked hard to give a Ric Flair match. That was nice.”

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