I think if you're a fan who isn't 'smart' to the inner workings of the business(or as much as we all think we are  ) then you would likely see Flair as a washed up bum who is desperately trying to reclaim his past glories. Those who know how the business works, or those with a sense of history realize that Flair is just playing his part, whatever it may be and he has nothing left to prove because he's done it all.  One of the real reasons Flair never 'walked away' is because we the fans never wanted him to.  Heck, he's been written off more times than I can recall, but JCP/Turner/WCW would always give him the helm to right the ship in rough waters. However, with this retirement angle going on now, perhaps both Flair and his many fans are starting to see that it may be time to hang up the boots, at least full-time anyways.
 
   The other side of the coin is, the majority of fans who witnessed some of Flair's greatest years are no longer fans, and most that are fans today never truly saw what Flair had achieved so they don't in a sense know what they're missing.  Flair's final match will be a very emotional moment for those who have truly invested in following his career.  For the rest, it will wear off by the next PPV. Fans of the current product(most who came aboard during the boon of 1996) are not emotionally invested in Flair. He's 'just another wrestler' and those of us who post here, I'd say the vast majority know that simply isn't the case. Maybe it's a generational thing, I guess.
 
     So I guess my answer is, no.  Ric Flair's legacy IMHO is not tarnished by the fact that he didn't walk away. He stayed because he felt he owes his lifestyle and successes to us, the fans( which obviously to a point we do) and just wants to keep entertaining us.  We never let him leave  because no matter what he does, true wrestling fans cannot stop cheering or booing or reacting to Ric Flair. I've said this before in another thread, but as long as Ric goes out on his own terms, I'm OK with that.  He's entertained me for more years than I could ever hope to reasonably expect.  He'll always be the 'Champ'.  He's earned some relaxation....Though we know we'll be seeing 'Slick Ric' in some form or another no matter what happens in Orlando.

To me it's just been bad since 1992 when he went back to WCW that is when the "kill Flair" stuff really started he was seen as this weakling who couldn't overcome Hulk Hogan in the first 2 bigg ppvs Hogan and he headlined. Had he stayed retired after Halloween Havoc I think he could have been a very valueable person for the Monday Night Wars in 1996 , instead Hogan destroyed him as a face and as a heel , by the time he was jobbing to Uncle Eric and Vince Russo to me he was on the ropes , the knock out blow was him jobbing to Rico , Rosey , and all the other scrubs just to give them a win now and then.
That man had the best matches in the US in 1989!!!!

Ric Flair is the greatest wrestler ever to step into the ring - bar none !!!
 
Nothing could ever tarnish that in my opinion.
 
He can still keep up with any of today's wrestlers - we've seen that in the last couple of years with his matches against Triple H and Mick Foley.
 
For the life of me, I can't understand why McMahon doesn't let Flair go out as a full-time wrestler with a final title run - I would love personally to see a Cena vs Flair main event at WM - to me, they should have went with something like that instead.  Michaels vs Flair is a great match, but it's still just another match.
 
Personally, I still hold out some hope he'll go to TNA......

Quote from JBLCENAFAN on Feb 8^th, 2008, 11:01pm:

 
 
I don't blame him for 'taking his ball and going home'.  The man has given everything to entertain us. The least he deserves is a proper send-off.  Even what he's getting now is half-assed.  Flair must still have some stroke(being tight w/ Hunter helps) for this to be happening at all.

I have been waiting for Flair to have a heart attack or something in the ring, because everytime he talked he got really red in the face, like his bloof pressure was skyrocketing.  Good thing he went out in a high kick off, because one of these days..........