By all rights, Ric Flair should be allowed to retire with his dignity intact. To go out in the blaze of glory he referred to Monday night in talking with Shawn Michaels. To go out with his head held high, his place in wrestling history secure for all eternity, his post-wrestling life already in place.

On Monday night, he led us to believe that he was making that retirement speech, but then said he would never retire. This was vintage, modern-era Flair, throwing the black pinstriped jacket down and doing his spastic dance. He at 58 still wants to party, and who could blame him? In reality, however, Flair knows he is nearing the end of the road, and he doesn't want to further disgrace his legacy, unlike old nemesis Hulk Hogan, whose public image is taking major hits these days.

Unfortunately, along comes the puppet master himself, Vince McMahon, to throw cold water on it all. Not that much older than Flair himself at 62, McMahon wants to end Flair's career on his terms, not those of the 16-time champion. So it is, then, that Flair has to win every match or face the abrupt end of a glorious career that extends all the way back to the early 70's. That's the way the insane chairman operates. Even though he has gotten his share of accolades for what he has contributed to the industry since the mid-80's, McMahon isn't going to be satisfied until he is in a position to manipulate every last shred of wrestling history. Well, at least that's the way he wants people to think of him.

However, the years have not been kind to McMahon, either. Fans have long since gotten tired of his evil boss act. In fact, I'd say the expiration date on the gimmick came & went some 4 years ago. But, as Vince has proven time and again, much to our consternation as fans and journalists, that he doesn't care what we want or think. He'll give us the show he wants us to see. He'll put the players on the chessboard as he sees fit. If he really cares about what we think, then he'll do the one thing that would be beneficial to everyone, and that is go into retirement with Ric Flair. Yes, that's right. It's time for Vincent K. McMahon to say goodbye.

Let's face it. Vince's act isn't just stale, it's beyond moldy. I think he has to wear a No-Pest Strip under his clothes to keep the flies from circling around him. When he books himself into matches, McMahon follows a predictable pattern. He rebooks the match as a No-DQ bout the night of the show, to avoid taking so many bumps. Well, if he's that concerned about his physical well-being, why try to wrestle when it's obvious that he can't? This is not about an insane 62-year-old executive being a cowardly heel. This is about a prematurely senile businessman feeding an already overfed ego. He needs to be a player on PPV, when he has several younger athletes starving for PPV opportunities. Take note of the remarks Ken Kennedy made Monday night in reference to Shawn Michaels. Redirect those remarks toward McMahon, because it fits him, too, except that Vince has never lost his smile. He just misplaces it in his medicine cabinet 364 days a year, bringing it out only on Halloween, if at all.

We all know how Ric Flair's story will end. Like Trish Stratus a year ago, Flair is going to go out a winner. However, unlike so many of you, assuming Flair is going to cap this with a title victory at Wrestlemania, I don't see it. There is only one solution to this problem, and that is for Vince McMahon to swallow his pride, suppress his ego, and just wrestle one last match. Against Ric Flair. You know it's going to come down to this. Crazy Vinnie sends everyone and a kitchen sink against Flair, and he keeps winning. Let's say Flair does win #17 at the expense of Randy Orton. At Wrestlemania 24 in Orlando, it won't be Orton or Triple H challenging Flair for the title. It will be Vincent K. McMahon in a loser-must-retire match. Vince taps out to the figure four, and Flair retains, only to retire himself the next night on Raw.

In one fell swoop, two legends in this business walk out, opening the doors wide open for today's generation to seize the biggest opportunity presented to them. That's the way I think it's going to be, and, for all of our sakes, that's the way it should be.