(ABOVE: Fig. 1, Carlito recoils in disgust at Flair’s bosom. Inset, FlairBoob in HD.)

The PW Torch reports (subscription required) that Smackdown and RAW are going to be going to HD starting early next year.

Ric Flair’s retirement could not be more perfectly timed for this announcement. I love the Naytch as much as the next guy, but the thought of his radioactive orange-tanned man-boobs jiggling with super-pixelization does not make me tingle with anticipation. And extended closeups of the squirmy veins in his forehead are bad enough in low-definition.

Some other people who might want to consider a graceful retirement before the new wave of technology sweeps over the WWE:

Mae Young

Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Big Daddy V., formerly Mabel