By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Ric Flair has once again become a hot topic. The iconic wrestler underwent major surgery this week. The exact nature of that surgery is unknown. But Flair was reportedly placed in a medically-induced coma. As we’re all too familiar with heartbreak and tragedy in situations like this, many of us feared the worst.

While the situation is still very serious, it seems like the real-life Richard Fliehr has a good amount of stylin’ and profilin’ left to do. That’s cause for celebration. The wrestling business has seen far more than its share of tragedy.

No one will ever be able to say with any certainty who the greatest professional wrestler of all time is. So much of this industry is subjective when it comes to the good and the bad. But as I scanned through the various well-wishes and tributes to Flair that popped up in my Twitter feed, it occurred to me that he may indeed be the closest we ever get to a definitive answer. For no other reason than if you ask any given wrestler, or even a knowledgable fan who the greatest of all time is, more often than not they’ll say Ric Flair. He’s synonymous with excellence and prestige in the wrestling industry. That’s not an accident. He inspired a generation of wrestlers with his incomparable promos and nearly unparalleled athleticism. Flair has given us so many memories. He’s a man who’s earned his place of honor in not only the wrestling industry, but popular culture itself.

So thank you, good sir. Have a speedy recovery.

Ponderings From Raw:

Dean Ambrose calls out Seth Rollins. The two come to blows. Sheamus and Cesaro come out to attack, but the former Shield members fight them off. Ambrose and Rollins finally do their trademark fist bump and reunite. The two duos to clash for the Raw Tag belts at Summerslam. Have you ever seen a more milked fist bump? Jeez. Just make out, already.

Though I will say this: It worked. The crowd wanted to see them get back together, and WWE effectively built it up over several weeks. Now the question is, will they be as enthusiastic to see Roman Reigns rejoin the group?

Spoiler alert: No.

Sasha Banks def. Nia Jax to earn a Raw Women’s Title Match against Alexa Bliss at Summerslam. Alexa’s silver lifeguard chair was an interesting touch to all this. Brings certain Baywatch-esque imagery to mind…

As time has gone on, Sasha has come to grate on me in more ways than one. But I’ll never deny how hellacious some of her bumps are. That swing she took into the barricade? Ouch. No way to protect your head on that one.

After a promo from Big Cass erupts into a fight, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson help Cass injure Big Show’s punching hand. What a difference a hot crowd makes. A different town would have given Cass the “What?” treatment. The fans in Boston made him look like a star. Cass even got to ad-lib a little bit. While he’s still not an awesome talker, this was his best segment thus far as a villain.

Akira Tozawa def. Neville to win the WWE Cruiserweight Title. I saw someone on Twitter say that Neville “legitimized” the Cruiserweight Division. While I wouldn’t go that far at all, it’s tough to understate what he’s meant to the 205 Live crew. He’s been the only one in this division with any kind of heat. He’s literally been an island. While this Cruiserweight Division has been an albatross for some (Austin Aries comes to mind), it’s been arguably the highlight of Neville’s entire WWE run. He made it work, and deserves a lot of credit for that. He deserves to graduate and move on to bigger things. But I imagine he’ll get his rematch in the near future.

One thing that has been legitimized? Akira Tozawa. He stood out from he moment he first appeared on Raw. And taking the belt off Neville after all this time is a huge deal.

Bray Wyatt def. Finn Balor. Wyatt dumps red paint on Balor afterward. This was the second of two matches on this show that were originally pencilled in for Summerslam. We later learned that it will now be Bray against Finn’s Demon personality at the pay per view. That’s pretty cheap, given how they got there. But at least Finn is getting on the show. I was worried this meant they were pulling the match. Not that it was all that amazing…

Mickie James def. Emma. Well, in Emma’s case I suppose a losing streak story is better than no story at all. Or worse yet, no TV time. Prior to last week, when was the last time we’d even seen Mickie on television? She deserves so much better.

After a match between Jason Jordan and the Miz ends in a disqualification, Jordan and the Hardy Boyz beat Miz and the Miztourage in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. This Jason Jordan thing had better end in a heel turn. Because right now he’s about as milk-toast as can be. Ironically enough, this is what they did with Kurt Angle in 1999 to make him a bad guy.

By the way, stellar job last week guys. Putting Jordan against a job guy from Canada, in Canada. Oye. I don’t claim to be an expert in wrestling psychology. But that’s pretty basic, isn’t it?

A brawl erupts between Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, and Braun Strowman. Lesnar and Strowman need to be pulled apart. This main event is pretty damn strong. And they can get some mileage out of putting Brock with all three of these guys in singles matches down the road. As we saw here’s there’s obviously some fun, unexplored territory between Brock and Braun. Brock is reportedly going to be around as we move into Autumn. Seems like a damn good way to hold fan interest coming out of Summerslam.

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