Ric Flair

Ric Flair
Born	(1949-02-25) February 25, 1949 Memphis, Tennessee
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Ric Flair
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight	243 lb (110 kg)
Billed from	Charlotte, North Carolina
Trained by	Verne Gagne
Debut	1972

Ric Flair (real name:Richard Morgan Fliehr, born on February 25, 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee), is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown! brand. Also known as "The Nature Boy," Flair is considered by many as the best all-around pro wrestler ever, as he combined superlative ring skills with unparalleled showmanship while crafting the model for the ideal champion in the modern era. Flair is recognized by WWE as a 16-time World Champion, though his actual tally of World Championship reigns varies by source. In WCW, he also had two stints as a booker—from 1989-1990 and again in 1994.

Early Life

Born on February 25, 1949 in Memphis, his birth name was Fred Phillips, Fred Demaree, or Fred Stewart (depending on various documents) before he was placed in the custody of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, which was later revealed to have fraudulently tricked mothers to give up their babies for adoption. At less than a month old, his adoptive parents renamed him Richard Fliehr, and he moved to the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, Minnesota. As a teen, Fliehr took a job as a lifeguard at a local pool, where he received his first exposure to the wrestling business when he met the legendary Vachon brothers. In both 1966 and 1967, Fliehr won the state private school wrestling championship; and he was then recruited to the University of Minnesota on a football scholarship, where he played alongside Greg Gagne, the son of AWA kingpin Verne Gagne. Fliehr dropped out of college before receiving his degree, and he then worked as a bouncer at a nearby club, where he met Olympic weightlifter Ken Patera, who was preparing for a ring career at Verne Gagne’s wrestling school. Patera introduced Fliehr to Gagne, who agreed to take him on as a member of what would be perhaps the single greatest training class in wrestling history (in addition to Ric Flair and Ken Patera, the group also included Greg Gagne, the Iron Sheik, Jim Brunzell, and Bob Bruggers).

Career

Early career

Under the tutelage of Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson, Fliehr made fast progress; and in 1972, he made his debut, battling George Gadaski to a 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name “Ric Flair.” Then weighing nearly 300 pounds with short brown hair, Flair scarcely resembled his future “Nature Boy” image; but he drew attention with his charismatic personality and ring endurance. In 1975, Flair left the AWA for Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic region in the National Wrestling Alliance; and he soon captured his first title when, on February 8, 1975, he beat Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic TV Championship. However, on October 4 1975, Flair’s career nearly ended when he was in a serious plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina that took the life of the pilot and paralyzed Johnny Valentine (also on board were “Mr. Wrestling I” Tim Woods, Bob Bruggers, and promoter David Crockett). Flair broke his back in 3 places; and at age 26, he was told by doctors that he would never wrestle again. However, Flair conducted a rigorous physical therapy schedule; and he triumphantly returned to the ring just 6 months later, where he resumed his now-legendary feud with Wahoo McDaniel in early 1976. The crash did force Flair to change his wrestling technique away from the power brawling style he had used early on, which led him to adopt the "Nature Boy" style he would use throughout his career.

Groomed by Jim Crockett Jr. as his future top star, Ric Flair won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Bobo Brazil on July 29, 1977; and during the next three years, he held five reigns as U.S. Champion while feuding with Rick Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Mr. Wrestling II, Jimmy Snuka, and Greg Valentine (with whom he also formed a championship tag team). However, Flair would reach elite status when he began referring to himself as “the Nature Boy,” which incited a notorious 1978 feud with the original “Nature Boy,” Buddy Rogers, who put Flair over in a now-famous encounter. Then on September 17, 1981, Flair reached the top of the mountain when he beat Dusty Rhodes for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship.  In the following years, Flair would eventually establish himself as the promotion’s main franchise in the midst of emerging competition from Vince McMahon Jr.’s World Wrestling Federation. With his outlandish wit and entertaining interview style, Flair embodied the role of the World Champion- sporting bleached blonde hair, elegant jewelry, designer suits, and elaborate custom robes while dishing out his trademark chops and feared figure four leglock. All the while, Flair taunted his opponents with his famous “Whoo!” shout while boasting, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man; and whether you like it or not, learn to love it, ‘cause it’s the best thing going today!” 

Harley Race won the title from Flair in 1983, but Flair regained the title at StarrCade 1983 in Greensboro, North Carolina in a steel cage match; afterwards, Race and Flair would fight in many different matches in early 1984. Flair would go on to win the NWA title, officially, seven more times. As the NWA champion, he defended his belt around the world. Flair lost the title to Race and won it back in the span of three days in New Zealand in March 1984. At the first David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions at Texas Stadium, Flair was pinned by Kerry Von Erich. Flair regained the title 18 days later in Japan. He then reigned for two years, two months, and two days, losing his title to Dusty Rhodes on July 26 at The Great American Bash 1986; Dusty had been a notable foe in Flair's career, and both men began a famous feud with one another after Flair helped break Dusty's leg on September 29 1985. Flair regained the title two weeks later. Flair would engage in many different matches throughout his title reigns, and face many opponents like Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Kerry von Erich, Jay Youngblood, Sting, and Dusty Rhodes throughout his career as well.

The Four Horsemen

In the spring of 1985, the tag team of Ole Anderson & Arn Anderson began aiding Ric Flair (whom they claimed as a “cousin”) in attacks against Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A., and Sam Houston . A few weeks later, the Anderson’s interrupted Houston’s match against Tully Blanchard, and the three heels combined to rough up the youngster while sending a message to the rest of the NWA. Shortly thereafter, Flair, Blanchard, and the Anderson’s formalized their alliance, calling themselves the Four Horsemen, with Blanchard’s manager J.J. Dillon also coming on board. Upon the group’s inception, it was clear that the Horsemen were unlike any heel faction that had ever existed. The four rulebreakers immediately used their strength in numbers to decimate the NWA’s top fan favorites while controlling the majority of the championship titles; and over the years, there would be various incarnations of the group, including Lex Luger, Barry Windham, and even Sting.

World Championship Wrestling (1986-1991)

By 1986, wrestling promoter Jim Crockett had consolidated the various NWA member promotions he owned into a single entity, running under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance. Controlling much of the traditional NWA territories in the southeast and midwestern United States, Crockett looked to expand nationally, and built his promotion around Flair as champion. During this time, Flair's bookings as champion were tightly controlled by Crockett, and a custom championship belt was created for Flair.

Flair lost the NWA World Championship due to his flamboyant ways in Detroit to Ron Garvin on September 25 1987. Garvin would hold the title for two months before losing to Flair on November 26 1987 at WCW's first pay-per-vew event, StarrCade in Chicago, Illinois.

In late 1988, booker Dusty Rhodes proposed that Flair lose the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Rick Steiner in a short match at StarrCade '88 when no agreement could be met regarding the finish to the scheduled main event between him and Lex Luger. Feeling that Rhodes had always conspired to make him look weak as champion, Flair refused, and threatened to leave WCW if Rhodes was not removed as booker. Rhodes was fired for various issues within the company, and former JCP booker George Scott was given his role as booker.

Scott immediately negotiated to bring in Ricky Steamboat for a series of matches. On February 20 1989 in Chicago, Steamboat pinned Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This prompted a series of rematches, where Steamboat was presented as a "family man" (often accompanied by his wife and young son), while Flair opposed him as an immoral, fast-living "ladies man." Following a best-of-three falls match with Steamboat that lasted just short of the sixty-minute time limit (and ended with a disputed finish where Steamboat retained the title) at Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun on April 2 1989, Flair regained the title from Steamboat on May 7 at WrestleWar '89. This match has been cited by many as one of the greatest wrestling matches in history and was voted 1989's "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Flair was attacked by Terry Funk (serving as a judge for the match, as per its stipulations) after the match when Flair refused to grant Funk a title match, telling Funk that he had spent too much time in Hollywood and out of wrestling, and was not a listed title contender. The attack reached its conclusion when Funk gave Flair a piledriver through the judges' table.

Months later, a "recovered" Flair returned to competition in an emotional match against Funk at The Great American Bash. The two continued feuding through the summer and eventually Flair reformed the Four Horsemen, with the surprise addition of longtime rival Sting, to combat Funk's J-Tex Corporation. This led to an "I Quit" match at Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout. Before the match, Funk stated that he would shake Flair's hand if he lost, a promise he kept when he shouted "Yes, I Quit!" after being in Flair's figure-four leglock.

Flair then kicked Sting out of the Horsemen upon his challenge for the NWA Championship, resulting in a revived feud between the two which had to be delayed due to Sting injuring his knee, forcing WCW to slot Lex Luger as Flair's main challenger until Sting returned. On July 7 1990, Flair dropped the title to Sting in what the wrestling world at the time believed was a changing of the guard. Flair was not finished winning NWA World Titles, however. After being unmasked as the Black Scorpion at StarrCade 1990, he regained the title from Sting on January 11 1991 in front of a near empty house due to the blizzard conditions in the New York City area. Prior to this reign, WCW split their recognition of a world heavyweight champion from the NWA, and Flair was subsequently recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion, while still being recognized as NWA World Champion. On March 21 1991, Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Flair in a controversial match in Tokyo. While the NWA recognized Fujinami as their new champion, WCW did not because Fujinami had backdropped Flair over the top rope in a violation of WCW rules. On May 19 1991, Flair defeated Fujinami at SuperBrawl in St. Petersburg, Florida to reclaim the NWA title and retain the WCW title. In doing so, he became an eight time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, breaking Harley Race's record.

In the summer of 1991, Flair had a contract dispute with WCW president Jim Herd, who wanted him to take a substantial pay cut. Herd had removed Flair as head booker in February 1990, and wanted to reduce Flair's role in the promotion even further, despite the fact that Flair was still a top draw. According to Flair, Herd also proposed changes in his appearance (i.e. by shaving his hair, wearing a diamond earring and going by the name "Spartacus") as well as his in-ring name in order to "change with the times", a move that Kevin Sullivan equated with "changing Mickey Mantle's (uniform) number" as an example of unnecessarily altering a legend. Flair disagreed with the proposals, and two weeks before the 1991 Great American Bash, Herd fired him. Flair's popularity in WCW would be proven during his absence, as broadcasts were often punctuated by unignorable chants of "We Want Flair!" While Flair had left for the WWF he was still recognized as the WCW World Champion until July 1 1991, when the title was officially vacated. Though, the NWA does not recognize this entire run as a whole as Flair had lost an NWA title bout against Tatsumi Fujinami on March 21 1991 in Japan (in a non-WCW matchup). Flair then regained the NWA title from Fujinami on May 19, 1991 on SuperBrawl I (in a title fight according to NWA, but non-title fight according to WCW), but since Fujinami was never recognized by WCW to have beaten Flair before for the Championship title and thus he was never recognized as a WCW Champion, the title was then stripped from Flair on July 1, 1991.

World Wrestling Federation (1991-1993)

Flair signed with the WWF in August 1991, and began appearing on television the next month. Initially, he appeared on WWF shows with the "Big Gold Belt", calling himself "The Real World Heavyweight Champion." WCW sued Flair in an attempt to reclaim the belt, but Flair claimed that he owned the belt in lieu of the $25,000 deposit paid by NWA champions upon winning the title, which had not been returned to him when he was fired from WCW. The matter was settled later that year, with Flair's deposit being returned to him along with interest.

Led by his "financial advisor" Bobby Heenan and his "executive consultant" Mr. Perfect, Flair repeatedly issued challenges to WWF notables like Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan, wrestling a team led by Piper at Survivor Series 1991 and helping The Undertaker defeat Hogan for his WWF Title that same night. At the Royal Rumble 1992, he won the Rumble Match to claim the vacant WWF Championship. Flair drew number three in the Rumble match, and lasted a then-record 59 minutes, last eliminating Sid Justice with help from Hulk Hogan, who had been eliminated by Justice seconds earlier. In so doing, Flair joined Buddy Rogers as the only men to win the WWF and NWA World Championships in their careers. He also became the fifteenth man to hold the WWF Championship.

After a planned program with Hogan was scrapped due to Hogan's hiatus following the WWF's steroid scandal, Randy Savage challenged Flair for the WWF title at WrestleMania VIII. Flair taunted Savage (Kayfabe) by claiming that he had a prior relationship with Savage's wife, Elizabeth, and that he had the pictures to prove it (which were later revealed to be doctored photos). Savage defeated Flair for the title at WrestleMania. In July 1992, as Savage prepared to defend the title against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam, Flair and Mr. Perfect sowed distrust between the two by suggesting that they would back one or the other during their match. They actually attacked both Savage and Warrior and injured Savage's knee sufficiently, an injury that Flair exploited to regain the title in a match on September 1. Due to an inner ear injury that affected his equilibrium, his second reign would be short-lived, as he lost the title to Bret Hart on October 12.

Flair teamed with Razor Ramon to take on Savage and Perfect at the Survivor Series 1992 and appeared in the Royal Rumble 1993. After losing a Loser Leaves Town Match to Mr. Perfect on an episode of Monday Night Raw, Flair returned to WCW. On The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD, Flair described his first stint with the WWF as "the greatest year and a half of my career, outside the time I spent with Arn and the Four Horsemen."

World Championship Wrestling (1993-2001)

Flair returned to WCW in February 1993, and hosted a short-lived talk show in WCW called A Flair For The Gold. Arn Anderson usually appeared at the bar on the show's set, and Flair's maid Fifi (portrayed by Wendy Barlow) cleaned or bore gifts. Flair briefly held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for a tenth time before WCW finally left the NWA in September 1993. After WCW's withdrawal, however, the NWA dropped recognition of Flair's tenth reign, leaving him with nine official NWA World Heavyweight Title reigns.

WCW planned to have Sid Vicious win the WCW World title at StarrCade 1993, but Sid was fired after a violent real-life altercation with Arn Anderson in London. Flair was placed in the match, which was held in his adopted hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. The match was billed that if Flair lost, he would retire from wrestling. The match would end with Flair using a chop block and roll-up on the gigantic Vader to win the title. The match was a huge success and used to draw in Hulk Hogan, who in Flair's book admitted he cried while watching the match, into WCW. In June 1994, Flair defeated Sting in a unification match, merging the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship with the WCW World Championship.

Flair later feuded with Hulk Hogan upon Hogan's arrival in WCW in June 1994, losing the WCW World Championship to him in July. Flair lost a retirement match to Hogan at Halloween Havoc 1994. Flair took a few months off before returning as a wrestler and part-time manager in 1995. He and Randy Savage renewed hostilities when Savage arrived in WCW late in 1994, and their feud continued off-and-on for almost two years with each wrestler winning the WCW World Championship from each other at different times. Flair defeated Savage in a steel cage at SuperBrawl VI to win the WCW World title, which saw Savage betrayed by Elizabeth in favor of Flair. Flair even defeated Konnan on July 7 at Bash at the Beach 1996 to win the United States Championship. He vacated it in November of that year due to an arm injury.

Flair would play a major role in the New World Order storyline in late 1996 and throughout 1997. He and the Horsemen often took the lead in the war against Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan. Flair would feud with Roddy Piper, Syxx, and his old nemesis, Curt Hennig, in 1997 after Hennig was offered a spot in the Four Horsemen only to see Hennig turn on Flair and the Horsemen at Fall Brawl 1997, with Hennig punctuating the act by slamming the cage door onto Flair's head.

In April 1998, Flair became embroiled in a dispute with WCW president Eric Bischoff when he failed to appear at a televised event. Bischoff had placed Flair on the show only three days prior, and Flair had earlier requested time off on the same night to see his son Reid wrestle in a Greco-Roman wrestling tournament. He returned on September 14 1998 to reform the Four Horsemen (along with Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit) in Greenville, South Carolina. During his return speech, Flair would shoot on Bischoff, saying that Bischoff did not care about the fans and kept shouting the words "abuse of power" and "Fire me! I'm already fired!" Flair feuded with Bischoff for several months afterward, eventually winning the "Presidency of WCW" from Bischoff. He used his power to make a WCW title match with Hulk Hogan at Uncensored 1999, which he won. Flair would win the WCW World Championship twice during 2000, WCW's last full year of operation.

When WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, Flair was the leader of the heel group called the Magnificent Seven. Flair lost the final match in Nitro history to Sting on March 26 2001.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2001-present)

After a hiatus from pro wrestling, Flair returned to the WWF in November 2001 as the on-camera co-owner of the company. Flair reappeared on RAW following the end of the "WCW/ECW Invasion" that culminated in a "Winner Take All" match at Survivor Series 2001 won by the WWF.

RAW brand (2001-2007)

Flair's new on-screen role was that of the co-owner of the WWF, with the explanation that Shane and Stephanie McMahon had sold him their stock in the company to a consortium (namely Flair) prior to purchasing WCW and ECW. This led Ric Flair and Vince McMahon to a match at the Royal Rumble 2002 in a Street Fight, where Flair defeated McMahon. That match was Ric Flair's first match since his return to the WWF. Flair would also wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania X8 (2002) where Flair would lose a bloody brawl. From then, the "co-owner" angle would culminate in early 2002, when the WWF was split into competing "brands," with Flair taking control of the RAW brand, while Vince controlled SmackDown! After Steve Austin abruptly left WWE while in a program with Flair, a match was hotshotted between Flair and Vince for sole ownership of WWE, which McMahon won, thanks to interference by Brock Lesnar.

Flair would later turn heel (then face, then heel again) over the next two months, before joining Triple H's "Evolution" stable. Flair won the World Tag Team Championship with Batista twice in 2003-04. At Unforgiven 2005, Flair defeated Carlito for Carlito’s Intercontinental Championship, a belt Flair had never won. With the win, he became the thirteenth Triple Crown Champion in WWE history, as well as the first man to win the Intercontinental Title after a reign as WWE Champion since Chris Jericho (in 2004).

After Evolution dissolved, Flair began a feud with Triple H, with Flair defeating him at Taboo Tuesday 2005 to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Triple H received a non-title rematch against Flair in a Last Man Standing match at Survivor Series, which Triple H won.

On February 20 2006, Flair lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin. Flair took some time off in mid-2006 to rest and marry for the third time and returned in June to work a program with Mick Foley that has played off their legitimate past animosity. Flair defeated Foley at SummerSlam in a "I Quit" match.

Subsequently, he was involved in a rivalry with the Spirit Squad on RAW. On November 5 2006 at Cyber Sunday, he captured the World Tag Team Championship from the Squad with Roddy Piper. On the November 13 edition of RAW, Flair and Piper lost the Tag Titles to Rated-RKO, due to a disc problem with Piper and had to be flown immediately back to the USA as soon as RAW was off the air. On November 26 2006 at Survivor Series, Flair was the sole survivor of a match that featured himself, Ron Simmons (replacing an injured Piper), Dusty Rhodes and Sgt. Slaughter versus the Spirit Squad. He would become a victim of a conchairto by Rated-RKO and (kayfabe) was just sent to the hospital on the November 27 2006 edition of RAW. Flair then left television due to his divorce hearings. On the December 11 2006 edition of RAW, Flair returned to team up with DX again. They defeated Rated-RKO and Kenny Dykstra.

Ric Flair would then become a team with Carlito after Ric Flair said that Carlito had no heart. Ric Flair defeated Carlito in a match after which Carlito realized that Flair was right. Flair then became a mentor of Carlito. The two faced off in a Money In the Bank qualifying match which ended in a no contest after The Great Khali attacked both men. Flair and Carlito got a second chance in a Money In the Bank Triple Threat qualifying match against Randy Orton, who won. Flair and Carlito got yet another chance when they both competed in a battle royal for Edge's spot, and Flair appeared to have won the battle royal when Edge, who had faked a knee injury earlier in the match, ran into the ring and eliminated Flair. Flair and Carlito faced off against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a #1 contender's match for the World Tag Team Championship but were defeated. After weeks of conflict between Flair and Carlito, the team split up when Carlito attacked Flair during a match. At Judgment Day 2007, Ric Flair defeated Carlito with the Figure 4 leglock. His career was put at risk following a match with Randy Orton on June 4 2007.

SmackDown! brand (2007-)

On the June 11 edition of RAW, Flair was drafted from RAW to SmackDown! as part of the 2007 WWE Draft. On June 15, Flair won his debut match on SmackDown! against Edge by disqualification. Flair would then start his first feud on SmackDown! against MVP, who would go on to defeat Flair at WWE Vengeance 2007. On the July 6th, 2007 edition of Smackdown!, he was defeated by Fit Finlay after assistance from Hornswaggle in their very first match-up.

Legacy

"Woooooo!"

Despite his age, less-than-chiseled physique, and being past his prime as a "main-eventer," Flair is still a capable performer. Flair became over with the crowd, often due to his in-ring antics, including cheating ways (earning him the distinction of being "the dirtiest player in the game"), his trademark strut and his shouting of "Woooooo!" While his charisma has never been in question. Moroever, neither has his in ring wrestling ability. He is a practioner of the sweet science of wrestling. Flair's matches against Ric Steamboat have been call scientific masterpieces. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050627.html | title = RAW - 27 June 2005 Results |accessdate= April 30, 2007 | author = Online World of Wrestling}}</ref> an Intercontinental championship match at Unforgiven 2005, and a Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22.

In a tradition started by the vocal fans of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and Shane Douglas during a time when the WCW management and Flair was thought to be unjustly holding a large amount of wrestlers down, anytime a wrestler delivered a hard back hand chop to the chest of his opponent, fans yelled "Woooooo!" to mock Flair, whose knife edge chops often made his opponent's chest raw or even bloody. This tradition long outlived any controversy, as it was meant to protest and has carried over to WWE and almost all other North American promotions. The chant has since become a tribute to Flair.

File:Flair.jpg

The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD cover.

Since the late 1970s, he has worn ornate fur-lined robes of many colors with sequins, and since the early 1980s, his approach to the ring was usually heralded by the playing of the "Dawn" section of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra (famous for being used in the motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Late in 2003, WWE released a three-DVD retrospective of Flair's career (focusing mainly on his career prior to 1993), The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection. It became WWE's fastest-selling video package up to that time.

On May 19 2003, Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship in a match against Flair. After RAW went off the air, most of the people who were backstage came out to honor Flair, including Vince, Shane, and Stephanie McMahon. Triple H then appeared, and after a stare down, he placed the World Heavyweight Championship belt on Flair's shoulder and embraced him. Flair then gave a speech thanking everyone for the tribute.

Flair released his autobiography, To Be the Man, in July 2004. The title is taken from one of his catchphrases, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!"

Controversy

Bret Hart

In 2004, Flair engaged in an off-screen rivalry with Bret Hart, in which both claimed to be the best wrestler of all time and accused each other of performing the same routines in most of their matches. In Flair's autobiography, Flair criticizes Hart over exploiting the death of his brother, Owen Hart, and the controversy surrounding the Montreal Screwjob. Flair also makes mention in his biography that he personally "never saw dollar signs" on Bret Hart in reference to what he claims as Bret being a poor draw in the U.S.

Shane Douglas

Flair has had a long running feud with Shane Douglas. Douglas accused Flair of sabotaging his push in the NWA/WCW after getting a solid push and a rub from his tag team partner Ricky Steamboat. Flair, in turn, would respond that Douglas was always the guy that would blame his shortcomings on others. He called Douglas out as well as accused him of steroid abuse during a broadcast of the Internet radio show WCW Live! in which he said that he would meet him anytime and anywhere if he "took the needle out of his ass." They were able to come to a working relationship during Douglas' last stint with WCW.

Mick Foley

Flair has also had issues with Mick Foley, whom he attacked in his autobiography, writing, "I do not care how many thumbtacks Mick Foley has fallen on, how many ladders he's fallen off, how many continents he's supposedly bled on, he will always be known as a glorified stuntman."

This was in response to what Foley said about Flair in his autobiography Have a Nice Day!: "Flair was every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it." This was in reference to how poorly Foley thought he was booked during his WCW career when Flair was on the booking committee.

In 2006, the two men would get involved in an on-screen feud on WWE television regarding their past, despite the fact that Foley has stated on his blog on WWE.com that the two have come to an understanding in real life and are on good terms with each other now.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Figure four leglock
  • Belly to back suplex
  • Chop block
  • Flying double axe handle - Used very rarely
  • Elbow drop to the knee
  • Inverted atomic drop
  • Knee drop
  • Knife edge chop
  • Shin breaker (Used normally to set up for the Figure Four)
  • Stalling double arm suplex
  • Standing Vertical Suplex

• Signature illegal moves
  • Eye poke
  • Low blow
  • Thumb to the eye
  • Testicular claw

• Other signatures
  • Throwing an object down (such as his suit jacket or Mick Foley's autobiography, due to their rivalry) and subsequently dropping an elbow onto it.
  • The "Flair Flop", where after being pummeled in a corner, he will stagger out, presumably regain his composure, and flop flat on his face.
  • After being floored to the mat, holds his hands up whilst kneeling down submissively and begs his opponent not to strike him (often yelling "Nooo!" in the process); thus catching them off-guard, and usually then resulting in a low blow or a thumb to the eyes.
  • Being thrown towards the turnbuckle, flipping over the top rope and landing on the apron, followed by one of two things: 1. Flair runs along the apron to the next available corner, climbs to the top rope where, 99 times out of 100, he will be grabbed by his opponent and body slammed back into the ring; or 2. Flair runs along the apron towards the next corner, but is clotheslined before he gets to the corner.

• Nicknames
  • "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair
  • Naitch (Short for "Nature Boy")
  • The Dirtiest Player in the Game
  • The Man
  • Limousine ridin', jet flying, kiss stealin', wheelin' dealing, son of a gun

• Quotes
  • "Mean WOOOO!!!! Gene"
  • "The Nature Boy is going to style and profile!"
  • "You want the limosine ridin', jet flying, kiss stealin', wheelin' dealing, son of a gun!"
  • "WOOOOOO!!!"
  • "To be the man, you have to beat the man"
  • "styling and profiling

• Managers
  • Debra
  • Sherri Martel
  • James J. Dillon
  • Hiro Matsuda
  • Woman
  • Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
  • Curt Hennig
  • Miss Elizabeth
  • Jimmy Hart

Championships and accomplishments

• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling

• NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
• NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Rip Hawk (1), Greg Valentine (1) and Big John Studd (1)
• NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship (2 times)⁴
• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (4 times)¹
• NWA World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3 times) - with Greg Valentine (2) and Blackjack Mulligan (1)³

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Inducted in 2006
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Rookie of the Year award in 1975
• PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 1978
• PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1981
• PWI Match of the Year award in 1983 - vs. Harley Race (June 10 1983)
• PWI Match of the Year award in 1984 - vs. Kerry Von Erich (May 6 1984)
• PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1984
• PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1985
• PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1986
• PWI Match of the Year award in 1986 - vs. Dusty Rhodes (The Great American Bash, July 26 1986)
• PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 1987
• PWI Feud of the Year award in 1987 (Four Horsemen vs. Super Powers and Road Warriors)
• PWI Feud of the Year award in 1988 - vs. Lex Luger
• PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1989
• PWI Match of the Year award in 1989 - vs. Ricky Steamboat (Wrestle War, May 7 1989)
• PWI Feud of the Year award in 1989 - vs. Terry Funk
• PWI Feud of the Year award in 1990 - vs. Lex Luger
• PWI ranked him # 3 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1991
• PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1992
• PWI ranked him # 2 out of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.

• World Championship Wrestling

• NWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)²
• WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship (8 times) (First)

• St. Louis Wrestling Club

• NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• World Wrestling Entertainment | World Wrestling Federation

• WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
• WWF Championship (2 times)
• World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Batista (2), and Roddy Piper (1)
• 1992 Royal Rumble Winner
• Thirteenth Triple Crown Champion

Note: Technically speaking, overall, Ric Flair has a total of 20 World Championship reigns as a singles wrestler split between, the now defunct, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, and the National Wrestling Alliance. WWE recognizes Flair as a 16-time World Champion for storyline purposes (8 NWA, 6 WCW, and 2 WWE). However, Ric Flair is recognized as a 10 time NWA World Heavyweight Champion by the National Wrestling Alliance and was recognized as a 8 time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. WWE considers his 8th NWA reign and 1st WCW reign to be a single reign so as his 2nd and 3rd WCW reigns. WWE also doesn't recognize Flair's 3rd and 9th NWA reigns. World Wrestling Entertainment, despite their storylines, have no control over the lineage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship since it is not property under their ownership. When World Championship Wrestling was purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001, all WCW championships and their lineages came under the control of WWE. As a result of the WWE's storylines of Flair being a 16-time World Champion, his two reigns with the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship are not recognized by the WWE.

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• Most Charismatic Wrestler award in 1980
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1982
• Most Charismatic Wrestler award in 1982 - tied with Dusty Rhodes
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1983
• Most Charismatic Wrestler award in 1983
• Match of the Year award in 1983 - vs Harley Race
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1984
• Most Charismatic Wrestler award in 1984
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1985
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1986
• Most Outstanding Wrestler award in 1986
• Match of the Year award in 1986 - vs Barry Windham
• 1Most Outstanding Wrestler award in 1987
• 5 Star Match: vs. Barry Windham (April 11 1987, NWA World Wide Wrestling)
• Match of the Year award in 1988 - vs Sting
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1989
• Most Outstanding Wrestler award in 1989
• Feud of the Year award in 1989 - vs Terry Funk
• Match of the Year award in 1989 - vs Ricky Steamboat
• 5 Star Match: vs. Ricky Steamboat (February 20 1989, NWA Chi-Town Rumble)
• 5 Star Match: vs. Ricky Steamboat (April 2 1989, NWA Clash of the Champions VI)
• 5 Star Match: vs. Ricky Steamboat (May 7 1989, NWA Wrestle War '89)
• 5 Star Match: vs. Terry Funk (November 15 1989, "I Quit" Match, NWA Clash of the Champions IX)
• Wrestler of the Decade- 1980s
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1990
• Best Heel award in 1990
• Best Interviews award in 1991
• 5 Star Match: with Larry Zbyszko, Barry Windham & Sid Vicious vs. Sting, Brian Pillman, Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner (February 24 1991, WarGames Match, WCW Wrestle War '91)
• Wrestler of the Year award in 1992
• Best Interviews award in 1992
• Most Charismatic Wrestler award in 1993
• Best Interviews award in 1994
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
• Wrestler of the Year award renamed the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award, partly in his honor

• Others

• WCW Magazine Wrestler of the 80's.
• He is a member of the Wrestling Informer Hall of Fame (inducted in 2002).
• Flair, along with Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Booker T, and Bret Hart are the only wrestlers to hold the WWE Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship and WCW United States Championship. It should be noted, however, that Hart's victories came while WCW and WWE were two separate entities. Angle's WCW victories (the WCW World Heavyweight and U. S. Championships) and Flair's Intercontinental reign came after WWE's purchase of WCW.
• Ric Flair is the only wrestler to ever hold the NWA, WCW and WWF Championships. He is also one of only two wrestlers to ever hold the NWA and WWF Championships, along with "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, which is how Flair derived his nickname.
• In North Korea, April 29, 1995, the largest audience to watch a wrestling match, 190,000 people were in attendance to see Antonio Inoki vs. Ric Flair.

¹Flair did win the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA United States Championships five times and the five reigns were recognized even after World Championship Wrestling took control over the championship and renamed it the WCW United States Championship in 1991. After WCW's purchase by the WWE, the lineage of the championships were kept and used to give the WWE United States Championship a prestigious history. However, the WWE does not recognize some of the reigns of some wrestlers when the title was still the Mid-Atlantic NWA United States Championship. As of now, only four of Flair's five reigns with the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) are officially recognized by the WWE.
²His last four reigns with the championship were after Jim Crockett, Jr. sold Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling to Ted Turner in November of 1988, which became World Championship Wrestling. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was defended exclusively in WCW until WCW's withdrawal from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1993.
³These Titles would eventually be known as the WCW World Tag Team Championships.
⁴This Title would eventually be known as the WCW World Television championship.

Personal information

Flair does not know his full birth name. In the opening chapter of his autobiography To Be the Man, titled "Black Market Baby," he notes that his birth name is given on different documents as Fred Phillips, Fred Demaree, and Fred Stewart. The chapter title is a reference to the fact that the Tennessee Children's Home Society, the agency with which he was placed for adoption, was revealed in 1950 to have fraudulently induced thousands of mothers to give up their children for adoption. The future Ric Flair was adopted when he was six weeks old by a physician (father) and a theater writer (mother). At the time of his adoption, his father was completing a residency in gynecology in Detroit. Shortly afterwards, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota, where the young Richard Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. He later attended Wayland Academy, a coeducational boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Flair's son David Flair was also a professional wrestler. Flair's younger son Reid Flair is an accomplished high school wrestler and made several appearances on WCW television along with his sister Ashley and half-sister Megan. Flair is not related to the Andersons, though he was billed as their cousin in the various NWA territories and WCW.

In May 2005, Flair's second wife Beth filed for divorce, citing alleged steroid use and alcohol abuse, in addition to incidents where he allegedly slapped, kicked, choked, and bit her. Flair contends that he and his wife lived well beyond their means and racked up substantial debt to the IRS and other creditors.

In December 2005, a magistrate issued arrest warrants for Flair after a road rage incident that took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which Flair allegedly got out of his car, grabbed a motorist by the neck, and kicked the door of the motorist's sport utility vehicle. Flair was charged with injury to personal property and simple assault and battery, both misdemeanors. This incident was ridiculed on WWE programming, most notably by the wrestler Edge. The charges were dropped after the witnesses failed to show for a scheduled court appearance.

Flair is sometimes seen attending the Carolina Hurricanes NHL ice hockey games at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Flair is also seen in the open segments of every Carolina Panthers home games. He ends his segment with his trademark "Woooooo" in which the crowd usually imitates.

Flair has been active in North Carolina Republican politics, supporting Jesse Helms.

Flair has appeared in several motion pictures including: The Wrestler (1974) and Sting: Moment of Truth (2004).

On May 27, 2006, Ric married his third wife, fitness competitor Tiffany VanDemark.[1]

References

• Falir, Ric (2005). Ric Flair: To Be the Man. World Wrestling Entertainment. ISBN 0743491815. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Mick Foley (2000). Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins. p. 511. ISBN 0061031011.
• Where Flair got the "Nature Boy" name
• Ric Flair at TheSmokingGun.com
• Ric Flair career bio at Wrestleinfo.com
• A record of Flair's title victories
• Iron Sheik "Shoots" on Ric Flair (video)

External links

• WWE Profile
• Ric Flair at IMDb