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While
other wrestlers may have been more popular, Ric Flair is
nearly universally held up as the greatest pro wrestler of all
time.
Flair started
working in the AWA but his real fame came when he moved to the
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW)territory. There, Flair began as
a heel teaming up with Rip Hawk (who was billed as Flair's
uncle), Blackjack Mulligan, and Greg
Valentine.
The
infamous 1975 Wilmington plane crash nearly
ended Ric Flair’s career for good. Flair suffered a
broken back and according to reports, was told that he would
never wrestle again (Whether or not this is true or hyperbole,
the plane crash ended the career of Johnny Valentine,
sidelined Tim Woods and Bob Bruggers and took the life of the
plane’s pilot).
After his
recovery, Flair teamed up with Greg Valentine to win the NWA
World Tag Team Titles. They wrestled in heel vs. heel
matches against the rugged team of Gene and Ole
Anderson. The matches were brutal and during one match,
Valentine and Flair hospitalized Gene
Anderson.
After
years as a hated heel, Flair eventually won the cheers of the
fans and he turned babyface. When former NWA World
Heavyweight Champion Buddy Rogers came to MACW, Flair
challenged Rogers and defeated him, establishing
himself as the new "Nature Boy" of professional
wrestling.
When Flair's former partner Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
returned to MACW from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he
found that his former partner was now being cheered by the
fans. However Valentine didn't seem to have a problem
with this and he asked Flair to team with him against
the Iron
Sheik and Jimmy "Superfly"
Snuka. Valentine told
Flair that he had changed his ways and played on their old
friendship. Flair agreed only to find Valentine refusing
to tag him during their match against Snuka and the
Sheik. After the match, Valentine broke manager Gene
Anderson's cane over Flair's nose, breaking the cane as well
as the nose.
Flair appeared on Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling with his nose in a cast and told the fans how it
felt to be betrayed by Valentine. As highlights of the
match played on television, Flair commented on how Valentine
refused to tag in despite the vicious beating administered to
Flair by Snuka and the Iron Sheik. After a terrible
beating, Snuka powerslammed Flair and pinned him. The
beating wasn't over though. Valentine entered the ring
and took the cane of Snuka and the Iron Sheik's manager, Gene
Anderson. As the Sheik and Snuka held Flair, Valentine
dropped the cane across Flair's nose twice, the second cane
shot breaking the cane and Flair's nose as well.
An angry Flair then told the television
audience that he was going to make Valentine pay for making
fun of him and taking liberties with him. To offset the
vulnerability of a broken nose, Flair had a special mask made
to protect his nose and he vowed that revenge would be
his.
The two former
partners became bitter rivals with Valentine defeating Flair
for the United States Heavyweight Title. When Valentine
appeared on television with two female companions, he bragged
about his win over Flair. It didn't take Flair long
to confront Valentine and he beat Valentine senseless, tearing
off his clothes and stripping him down to his underwear.
Only the timely intervention of Bobby Duncum saved Valentine
from a severe beating. The two continued feuding until
Flair regained the U.S. title from Valentine on November 24,
1980 in Greenville, South Carolina.
As U.S.
champion, Flair defended the belt against all
challengers. When a brash newcomer known as Roddy Piper entered MACW, Flair underestimated his foe and soon
found himself without his U.S. title. A giddy
Piper appeared on Mid-Atlantic television and told announcers
Bob Caudle and David Crockett that he had a present for Ric
Flair. Flair came out and learned that the present was
Piper's MACW Television Title. Piper was giving up the
belt because he had just won the U.S. strap but Flair refused,
telling Piper that he didn't want anything unless he had
earned it. Piper's celebration turned sour when Flair
showed the fans how Piper had won the belt- by using a foreign
object to knock Flair out when the referee Stu Schwartz'
attention was elsewhere.
Kansas
City was the site where Flair
reached the pinnacle of his sport by defeating "The American
Dream" Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Heavyweight Title on
September 17, 1981.
Flair’s first title win occurred in St.
Louis with wrestling legend Lou Thesz serving as special
referee. After torturing Rhodes’ leg with the figure four
leglock, Flair won the match after Rhodes attempted a suplex
on Flair and his leg gave out, enabling Flair to cover him
for the pin.
While Flair was incredibly popular as
a babyface in the Mid-Atlantic area, he played the cocky heel
champion in just about every NWA territory he wrestled
in. Flair became famous for being able to keep his title
by hook or by crook (but leaving fans with the impression that
the challenger was the better wrestler). One of the
biggest flukes in Flair's storied career was when he defended
the title against the Midnight Rider in Miami, Florida and
lost the match. However when NWA President Bob Giegel
asked the Midnight Rider to unmask and identify himself (per
NWA rules), the Rider refused and was forced to give the
belt back to Flair (at the time the Midnight Rider was widely
suspected to be Dusty Rhodes who was suspended from the
Florida area after losing a loser leaves town match to Kevin
Sullivan).
After
holding the belt for two years, Flair lost the belt on
June 10, 1983 to Harley Race in St. Louis. The
match ended after both Race and Flair had their shoulders down
for the pin but Race lifted his shoulder before the three
count, regaining the belt. For the next few months,
Flair chased Race across the country for the belt. After several close
calls with Flair, Race placed a bounty on Flair's
head and "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater collected by breaking Flair’s neck
during a match with Race. There was serious doubt as to
whether or not Flair would return from the injury and Flair
confirmed the fans' worst fears when he announced his
retirement. Unbeknownest to Slater and Orton, this
was all a ruse by Flair who returned to the Mid-Atlantic area
with a baseball bat and caused Slater and Orton to run for
their lives. Flair announced that he was back and he was
gunning for Race's title. Flair's chase for the belt led
to the historic Starcade card
(wrestling’s first PPV) where he defeated Race in a cage match
(refereed by former NWA Champion Gene
Kiniski).
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The April 1984 issue of Pro Wrestling
Illustrated reported on Ric Flair's amazing
win over Harley Race at Starcade The story noted
that Ric Flair would now have another chance to
establish his legacy as one of the sport's all-time
greats. Little did the reporters know that Ric
Flair would go on to become widely recognized as the
greatest wrestler of all time, winning 16 World
Championships and more importantly (to Flair),
the respect of his
peers.
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The Nature Boy
continued to make appearances in MACW. At one point his
old friend Wahoo McDaniel confronted the world champion about
the lack of title shots that had come his way. When
Tully Blanchard attacked Flair, McDaniel stood by and did
nothing. Flair confronted McDaniel and soon found
himself fighting against both McDaniel and Blanchard.
One of Slick Ric's toughest opponents was a
newcomer to the sport by the name of Nikita
Koloff. Under the
direction of his uncle Ivan Koloff, Nikita began appearing at ringside during
Flair's matches. It was obvious that Ivan had
Nikita's sights trained on the world champion. Just as
Ivan had won the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF)
Heavyweight Championship from Bruno Sammartino, Nikita would
win a World Championship for mother Russia and bring the belt
to the USSR for good.
After weeks of
stalking Flair, Ivan and Nikita appeared on television with
Ivan asking JCP announcer David Crockett why Flair had not given Nikita a title shot.
Crockett pointed out that Nikita had to earn his title shot
like any other contender and soon found himself on the
receiving end of a Russian Sickle from Nikita. Later on
during the program, Ric Flair attacked Nikita during his
match. Flair had been close friends with David Crockett
for many years and put his title up against Nikita so he could
avenge his fallen friend.
The wrestling
world waited for July 6, 1985, the date for the Great American
Bash, the wrestling event at which Flair would defend his
world championship against Koloff. Despite the
Nature Boy's considerable experience and skill, fans wondered
if Flair would be any match for Nikita's raw power. With
Uncle Ivan standing in Nikita's corner for the match, Flair
was at a distinct disadvantage, despite David Crockett being
appointed as special referee. Nikita used his tremendous
power to wear down Flair but in the end, Flair's incredible
stamina and tremendous experience allowed him to defeat
Nikita. After the match, Ivan and Nikita attacked
Flair.
Under
the growing pressure of defending the NWA Title, Flair turned
to his cousins Ole and Arn Anderson (Ole had reformed the
Minnesota Wrecking crew with Arn) for help. Ole and Arn
were more than happy to interfere on Flair's behalf,
especially since they shared many of the same foes such as
Dusty Rhodes. This alliance was the beginning of the
formation of the Four Horsemen, perhaps the greatest faction
ever assembled in professional wrestling. One of the key
moments in the formation of the Horsemen was a cage match
between Ric Flair and Nikita Koloff. After the match
ended, Ivan and Nikita double-teamed Flair, beating him
senseless. Fans rejoiced when Dusty Rhodes came to
Flair's aid. When Ole and Arn Anderson entered the cage,
the fans were astonished to see Flair repay Rhodes by attacking him! Flair and
the Minnesota Wrecking Crew then locked the cage and
annihilated Rhodes, breaking his ankle.
Flair and the Andersons fought off an army
of babyfaces from within the cage until they had taken their
fill.
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By the mid 80's Ric Flair had cemented his
reputation as one of the all-time greats. Flair
was at the peak of his career and he had the ability to
work consistently top rated matches with just about
anybody. During this period, Flair was magical and
he earned a reputation as being able to carry a
broomstick to a five star match. While Flair
carried his share of stiffs, he also worked with some
great workers.
In the November 1985 issue of Pro Wrestling
Illustrated (left), Ric Flair's was interviewed
about his third reign as NWA World Heavyweight
Champion. A cocky Flair made it clear that he
thought he was the greatest in the world. Looking
back at Flair's career, it's hard to argue with
him. |
Over the
next few months, Tully Blanchard and his manager James J.
Dillon entered the mix and the group became known as the
Four
Horsemen. The Horsemen became famous
for their wild interviews where they talked about their
real-life partying and extravagant lifestyle as well as for
their brutal attacks on their opponents. They were also known for
being tremendously successful in the ring and it was a rare
moment when the Horsemen were without championship
gold.
Fans soon learned that whenever Flair's
title was in jeopardy, it was only a matter of time before one
of the Horsemen (or all of them) became involved. One
such instance was when Ricky Morton of the Rock-n-Roll Express
pinned Flair during a non-title match. After the match,
the Horsemen destroyed Morton's tag team partner Robert Gibson
while Flair rubbed Morton's face into the concrete. In a
subsequent encounter with Morton, Flair was aided by the
Horsemen who proceeded to break Morton's nose to send a
message to Morton and any other challenger- jump on one of us
and you jump on all of us.
The Horsemen's gang mentality knew no
boundaries. At one point when Ric Flair was battling
Road Warrior Hawk,
the Horsemen jumped in and helped beat down both Hawk and his
powerful tag team partner Animal. After
dispatching of Animal, the Horsemen held Hawk while Flair
slapped Hawk repeatedly, giving his face the paintbrush
treatment.
With all of the enemies he was making, it
seemed only a matter of time before Flair's luck ran out,
Horsemen or no Horsemen. In 1986. Jim Crockett
Promotions announced the Great American Bash, a summer tour of
some of the hottest cities in the NWA. During the
Bash, Ric Flair was signed to defend his belt against
fourteen of the sport's toughest competitors including Road
Warrior Animal, Road Warrior Hawk, Wahoo McDaniel, Nikita
Koloff, and Ricky Morton. Flair astonished fans and
opponents by defeating the first twelve challengers but
opponent number thirteen proved how unlucky that number can be
when Flair lost the belt to Dusty
Rhodes.
The
following year saw one of the biggest upsets in Flair's career
when he lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Ron
Garvin, the man with the "Hands of Stone". Garvin defeated Flair
with a Sunset Flip from the top rope, winning the world
title. Flair was
not given a rematch until three months later at Starcade and
the time without the belt made him hungry for the
championship.
When the rematch came, a determined Flair defeated
Garvin and regained his world
championship.
One
of Flair's most persistent challengers in WCW was the man they
call Sting. The Stinger and
Flair met at the first ever Clash of Champions on March
27, 1988 where they wrestled to a draw. The forty
five minute match was an instant classic and just one of many
battles the two ring warriors would have with each
other.
While
Flair reigned as NWA Champion, World Wrestling Federation
(WWF) promoter Vince McMahon continued to tap into top talent
from rival promotions.
Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson would leave World
Championship Wrestling and the Horsemen were suddenly no
more. Flair
continued to keep things interesting though as he renewed his
feud with Ricky Steamboat (this time over the NWA
Championshop) and fought against former NWA Champion Terry
Funk.
However
time was seemingly beginning to catch up with Ric Flair. New management in WCW
felt that Flair was too old to be champion and that it was
time for new blood.
Unfortunately the fans didn’t think so and neither did
Flair. After
repeated demands to change, Flair left WCW for arch-rival
World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
In one
of the biggest angles of all time, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
announced that the “real world’s champion” was coming to the
WWF. Fans were
shocked when Heenan brought out the NWA World
Championship.
Even more
shocking was the fact that Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair didn’t wrestle except for a few house
shows. The WWF
missed out on one of the biggest money making feuds of all
time and instead put Hogan into a program against Sid Justice
and Flair against Randy Savage. Flair won
the WWF title at the Royal Rumble and Hulk Hogan got sidelined
in a feud with Sid Justice. Flair's performance in the
Royal Rumble showcased his demonstrated the incredible
endurance and recuperative powers (as well as his world class
wrestling ability).
Flair
then began a short but memorable feud with Randy Savage. The ever crafty Flair
began playing mind games with the Macho Man by claiming that
Elizabeth had been with him
before Savage.
Flair (managed by Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig) began
producing evidence that Elizabeth was damaged
goods. The feud
hit its peak at Wrestlemania where Savage captured the WWF
Title.
Flair
chased Savage for the title and regained it after assistance
from Razor Ramon.
However Flair did not hold the title for long before
dropping it to Bret “The Hitman” Hart. After losing the
title, Flair soon learned that the WWF had decided to lower
Flair to the mid-card where he would be used to help elevate
other talent.
After years in the main event, Flair wasn’t ready to
step down and he let Vince McMahon know that he wanted to be
released from his contract. McMahon consented and
Flair left the WWF after losing a “Loser Leave Town” match to
Hennig on Monday Night
Raw.
It
wasn’t long before Flair resurfaced in his old stomping
grounds in WCW.
He quickly gained a title shot against the WCW Champion
Barry Windham and won the belt in a steel cage match. It wasn’t long before
the Four Horsemen reformed but this version was considered one
of the weakest consisting of Ric, Arn Anderson, Paul Roma, and
As WCW
underwent changes in management, Flair was often set aside as
past his prime, only to be brought in to help WCW when it
experienced downturns in business. Flair engaged in a
brief feud with Rick Rude and Vader. Flair then unified the
WCW Title and International Title by defeating
Sting.
Once
again history was about to be made when Hulk Hogan entered
WCW. He
immediately began a program with Ric Flair, winning the WCW
Title, and defeating Flair in a retirement match. Like most retirement
matches, the stipulation did not last for long. Flair
disappeared for a short time beore reappearing as a manager
for Vader and antagonizing Hogan to the point where Hogan
asked for Flair to be reinstated.
When the
Monday Night War began, Flair was still an important part of
WCW and often in the WCW Title picture. The Four Horsemen
reformed and Flair renewed his feud with Randy
Savage, winning the
WCW Title before losing it to the Giant. Flair and the Horsemen
then feuded with Kevin Sullivan and the Dungeon of Doom. However when the New World
Order (NWO) invaded WCW, the Horsemen found themselves in
the unusual role of babyfaces as they defended WCW
against the NWO.
After being jumped by the NWO, Flair missed
several months of action in WCW. When he
returned, the Horsemen recruited Curt Hennig as their
latest member only to have Hennig turn heel during a War Games
match with the NWO. During the match, Flair was injured
again and was out for several months. Flair returned
briefly only to be suspended by Eric Bischoff for missing a tv
taping so he could attend his son Reid's championship
wrestling match.
Ever the company man, Flair found himself in
increasingly bizarre angles. First, he suffered a heart
attack in the ring after being poisoned. Then he was
left for dead in the desert. Another angle ran where
Flair went insane and was institutionalized by his own son and
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Then to add insult to injury, Flair
lost a hair match against non-wrestler Vince Russo.
Undaunted, Flair continued to wrestle for
WCW.
A semblance of relief to Flair's torture
came when WCW was bought out by Vince McMahon. McMahon
closed down WCW but several months later, Flair appeared as
part owner of the WWF. Apparently, Stephanie and Shane
McMahon had sold their stock in the WWF to Flair and Flair was
now co-owner with Vince McMahon. McMahon and Flair began
feuding with each other battling for control of the
company. Flair defeated McMahon in a brutal street fight
at the Royal Rumble.
Although he busy co-managing the WWF, Flair
found himself challenged to a match by the Undertaker.
Flair refused until the Undertaker brutalized Flair's son
David. Flair met the
Undertaker at Wrestlemania
and lost despite a solid effort.
Despite the fact that he was over 50 years
old, Flair announced that he was going for one last run.
Flair's success was limited though and he found himself losing
more and more matches. After a loss to Rico, Flair was
confronted by Triple H who mocked
him for turning soft and who told Flair that he had lost
it. Flair then turned heel by helping Triple H defeat
Rob Van Dam. Triple H, Flair, Randy Orton, and Dave
Batista would then form the
heel stable known as Evolution. Flair would go on to win
two WWE Tag Team Titles with Batista.
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By the time Ric Flair returned to
the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), his
self-confidence was at an all-time low. However
the adoration bestowed upon him by his fellow wrestlers
and the McMahon family caused Flair to reevaluate his
career and he realized how widely respected he
was. In the March 2002 issue of RAW
Magazine (left), Flair explained how much his run
in the WWF meant and talked about his extensive
career.
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In 2004, Ric Flair's autobiography Ric
Flair: To Be the Man was published. The book was a
tremendous success and Flair made some candid comments about
some of the opponents he faced, particularly Hulk Hogan and
Mick Foley. The comments created considerable
controversy.
Flair has remained at the side of Triple H,
even as Evolution self destructed. After Triple H's loss
to Batista in a Hell in the Cell match, Flair has wrestled by
himself while Triple H recovers from his loss, teaming with
Shawn Michaels. Recently, Flair challenged Carlito
Caribbean Cool for his Intercontinental
Championship. On September 18, 2005, Ric Flair
proved that he still has a flare for the gold by defeating
Carlito for the Intercontinental Championship at the
Unforgiven pay-per-view.
After a lengthy absence, Flair's friend
Triple H returned to the WWE where he teamed with Flair to
battle Carlito and Chris Masters. Flair and Hunter won
the match but after the match Triple H brutally attacked
Flair, laying him out with a sledgehammer and bloodying the
Nature Boy. Triple H explained to fans that he was
the only person who cared about the Nature Boy and that he was
going to preserve his memories of Ric Flair by ending Flair's
career. At Taboo Tuesday, Hunter and Flair met in a
steel cage match where Flair proved that while the old gray
mare may not be what he used to be, he is by no means ready
for the glue factory.
Flair continues to astound fans with his
longetivity and abilities in the ring. Despite losing the
Intercontinental Title to Shelton Benjamin, Flair has remained
a top contender and recently won a qualifying match to appear
in the "Money in the Bank" match at Wrestlemania XXII.
Flair has told fans that another championship is in his future
and given Flair's abilities and determination, it's not an
idle boast.
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