On This Day in History, February 25, 1949, Richard Morgan Fliehr, better known as Ric Flair, was born and the world would never be the same.
There are a few names that are synonymous with professional wrestling, and Ric Flair is one of the few at the top of the list. A world champion in various promotions, Flair’s rivalries with Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, and Harley Race are among the best in wrestling history and helped the NWA remain a force while the WWE was building.
It all started when…
After being adopted as a young boy and settling into Edina, Minnesota, he developed into a three-sport athlete (wrestling, football, and track) in high school, where he won the state private high school championship and received a football scholarship to the University of Minnesota.
He eventually decided it wasn’t for him and dropped out of college, taking up a job as a bouncer at a local club. There he met Olympic weightlifter Ken Patera, and through him Verne Gagne, the legendary professional wrestler.
He began training under Josh Klemme and Billy Robinson, and in the same class as other greats Jim Brunzell (of Killer B fame in WWE), Iron Sheik, and Ken Pantera, where he began forging bonds and growing in size and ability. By the time he appeared in the AWA, he weighed close to 300 pounds and competed with Dusty Rhodes, Andre the Giant, and Larry Hennig (Father of Hall of Famer Curt Hennig).
NWA and injury
Flair joined Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and through its affiliation, the NWA. He didn’t waste any time climbing the ladder, winning the Mid-Atlantic TV Championship in his second year, but he nearly lost everything following the infamous plane crash.
Eerily similar to the Day the Music died plane crash, this one left wrestler Johnny Valentine paralyzed and killed the pilot. Flair suffered a broken back in three places, and doctors said he would never wrestle again. In true Ric Flair style, he refused to give in and worked his tail off so he could return to the ring eight months later.
Most likely because of this, he lost some weight and shifted his style from a bruising, brawler type of wrestling to a technical style that took pressure off his injuries and allowed him to move around better.
During this time, he won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship from Bobo Brazil in 1977. This began a series of championship runs that saw him win the US title five more times over the next three years. During this time, his path crossed with the original “Nature Boy,” Buddy Rogers. Rogers put him over and inspired him, leading to Flair adopting the “Nature Boy” name as an homage to Rogers.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship and persona shift
In 1981, Flair began what it arguably his greatest feud as he challenged Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, winning it for the first time in September of that year.
As world champion and with professional wrestling beginning to become larger than ever, Flair ramped up his in-ring persona. His interviews and promos became energetic and must see as he bleached his hair blond, wore expensive jewelry, and designer suits and robes. During this time, he started saying what became his tag line for the rest of his career: “To be the man, you gotta beat the man! Woooo!”
In the next few years, he would team with Ole and Arn Anderson, and later Tully Blanchard to form the legendary Four Horsemen. Blanchard’s manager, the legendary JJ Dillion guiding them, the Four Horsemen took off as the first and most powerful wresting faction at the time. It would continue to be a force to the end of WCW in 2001 (then known as the Magnificent Seven), and its blueprint would be copied in nearly every faction since.
A changing of the guards began to take place a Flair faced the fresh-faced Sting in what would be some of their best matches. The NWA also brought Ricky Steamboat in from the WWE, and their clashes only added to Flair’s legacy and the lineage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. They would join Dusty Rhodes as some of Flair’s best matches and feuds that would go down among the best ever.
Going to the WWE
In 1991, Ric Flair was in a year-long pay dispute with WCW’s president Jim Herd. Herd had tried to reduce Flair’s role as well as wanting to change his look despite Flair being one of the top performers in the promotion. At odds with one another, Flair was fired; or quit depending on whose story we’re listening to.
This vacated the WCW title, but Flair remained NWA World Heavyweight Champion until he debuted with WWE.
Flair arrived in the WWE wearing the Big Gold Belt that was recognized as both WCW and NWA as the world championship. This led to his storyline as “the real world heavyweight champion” and would cause some waves for him legally.
At the time, Flair claimed he was owed his $25,000 deposit for the belt and interest for his last run as champion — roughly $38,000 according to Flair. He said the belt was his until he got the money he felt he was owed. A settlement was eventually reached and he returned the belt to WCW, but claimed in a 2008 interview that he was still owed that money.
1992 Royal Rumble
In what is widely considered the best Royal Rumble match in history, Ric Flair entered the match as the third spot, and went on to have his best WWE match and arguably his best ever. He became the first wrestler to last an hour in the Rumble, and won the WWE championship, which also made him the fastest man to win a WWE championship in history.
After feuding mainly with Randy Savage, Flair would go back to WCW (where he had a pair of world title runs) after a few years before rejoining the WWE following Vince McMahon’s purchase of the rival promotion.
There, he had another memorable run as Triple H’s mentor and they formed the stable Evolution with Batista and Randy Orton.
Following being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame (2008), the remaining years of his career saw Flair moved form the WWE to Ring of Honor and TNA. The last of which he was still under contract to when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame once again as a member of the Four Horsemen in 2012. He was then fired by TNA after he tried to quit, and it ignited a lawsuit between the TNA and WWE for contract tampering. Something the WWE is currently being accused of by another promotion.
Accomplishments
Ric Flair is one of the most decorated and beloved professional wrestler in history, and his list of accomplishments show is beyond impressive. Special thanks to cagesideseats.com for this list and some of the information shared above.
WWE Hall of Fame (2008)
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2006)
NWA Hall of Fame (2008)
International Wrestling Hall of Fame (2013)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame 1996
St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame (2007)
9-time NWA world champion (more than anyone in NWA history)
8-time WCW world champion (more than anyone in company history)
6-time WCW United States Champion
3-time NWA World Tag Team Champion
2-time NWA Television Champion
2-time WCW International Champion
2-time WWF Champion
WWE Intercontinental Champion
3-time WWE World Tag Team Champion
1992 Royal Rumble winner
2-time WWE Hall of Famer
2008 Slammy Award winner for Match of the Year (vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XXIV)
4-time Wrestling Observer Newsletter Match of the Year winner (1983, 1986, 1988, 1989)
5 5-star matches from Wrestling Observer Newsletter
1989 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Feud of the Year
11-time Wrestling Observer Newsletter Readers’ Favorite Wrestler (including ten consecutive wins from 1984 to 1993)
3-time Wrestling Observer Newsletter Most Outstanding Wrestler (1986, 1987, 1989)
9-time Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestler of the Year (including 6 straight wins from 1981 to 1986) (Side note: this award has been co-named after Flair since 2002)
4-time Pro Wrestling Illustrated Feud of the Year winner
5-time PWI Match of the Year winner
Pro Wrestling Illustrated Match of the Decade of the 2000s (Flair vs. Michaels, Wrestlemania XXIV)
6-time PWI Wrestler of the Year (the most by anyone in the publication’s history)
#2 singles wrestler of the PWI Years in 2003
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of 2008
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