After WCW closed down, the WWF went ahead with their horrible Invasion angle, but lacked any true big WCW names. Guys like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg had all decided to stay home and wait for their lucrative contacts to run up rather than immediately join the WWF. However right after the conclusion of the angle, the “Nature Boy” would make his WWF return. He debuted on Monday Night Raw the night after Survivor Series 2001, revealing to be the new co-owner of the WWF. It was a compelling story line that would lead to a match between him and Vince McMahon at the 2002 Royal Rumble, and to the eventual splitting of the Raw and Smackdown brands. Monday Night Raw would originally be under the control of Ric Flair, but he would eventually lose a match to Mr. McMahon to give him back full control of the company after interference by Brock Lesnar. Flair’s return to the company would also give him the opportunity to once again compete at WrestleMania, and by the time WrestleMania X8 rolled around, he would have a date with “The Deadman” at the “Show of Shows,” and the two absolutely delivered. From the masterful build up in which Flair initially refuses to wrestle ‘Taker, only to be eventually accept after attacks on his son and best friend, Arn Anderson by “Big Evil.” All the way to their bloody brutal encounter at ‘Mania, it proved Flair still had it in and out of the ring, even if he was starting not to believe it himself.
