Ric Flair

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Richard Morgan Fleihr (born February 25 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee), better known by his ring name "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler currently with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its RAW brand. He has been one of the leading personalities in professional wrestling since the mid 1970s. For much of the run of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) he was considered their flagship wrestler. While he may not have had the influence on the business that Hulk Hogan had, Flair inspired many of todays top professional wrestlers such as Kurt Angle and Triple H. Flair was also the first person to hold the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He is recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion, even though he has won a total of 22 World titles; 10 of those in the NWA and 2 in the WWF/WWE.

Career

National Wrestling Alliance

Ric Flair trained under Verne Gagne in Minnesota and spent his first three years with Gagne's American Wrestling Association Afterwards, he joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliated Jim Crockett Promotions. On the rise as a promising young brawler, he suffered a severe back injury in an October 4, 1975 plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina. Doctors told Flair that he would never wrestle again, but Flair would return to active wrestling the next year. The crash did force Flair to change his wrestling style, which led him to create the "Nature Boy" style he would use throughout his career.

Flair won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship five times, then won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time by defeating Dusty Rhodes on September 17, 1981. Harley Race won the title from Flair in 1983. Flair regained the title at in Greensboro, North Carolina in a steel cage match. Flair would go on to win the NWA title six 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, 1986 at The Great American Bash. Flair regained the title two weeks later. He lost the title in Detroit to Ron Garvin on September 25, 1987. Garvin would hold the title for over two months before losing in what was advertised as his only title defense to Flair on November 26, 1987 at in Chicago (in reality, Garvin had actually defended the title at numerous house shows). Flair held on to the title for a little over a year until losing it to Ricky Steamboat on February 20, 1989, only to regain it from Steamboat on May 7 of the same year. In July, 1990, Flair dropped the title to Sting in what the wrestling world at the time believed was a changing of the guard. Flair wasn't finished winning NWA World Titles, however. He beat Sting for the gold in January 1991. During this reign, WCW split from the NWA and Flair was recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion, while simultaneously 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 the summer of 1991, Flair had a contract dispute with WCW president Jim Herd, who wanted him to take a 50% pay cut and relinquish his booking control. While still NWA/WCW champion, Flair left WCW, a group run by Ted Turner which had just separated from the NWA, in July. Herd wanted to make Lex Luger the top star and wanted to make Ric Flair a midcard star despite the fact that he was still a huge draw. Flair disagreed, and a week before the 1991 Great American Bash, Herd fired him. According to Flair, Herd also wanted him to change his appearance (i.e. by cutting his hair and wearing a diamond earring) as well as his in-ring name in order to "change with the times," a move that Kevin Sullivan equated with "changing Babe Ruth's number" as an example of unnecessarily altering a legend.

World Wrestling Federation

Flair debuted with the WWF in September 1991, and for a time appeared at WWF shows with the WCW World Title belt (the "Big Gold Belt") around his waist, calling himself "the Real World Heavyweight Champion." NWA sued Flair in an attempt to reclaim the belt, but Flair cited the $25,000 deposit paid by NWA champions upon winning the title. The deposit had not been repaid, so Flair kept the belt until the NWA paid it back plus $13,000 interest.

Led by his "Financial Advisor" Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and his "Executive Consultant" Mr. Perfect, Flair repeatedly issued challenges to WWF notables like Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan, and at the 1992 Royal Rumble, 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.

Randy Savage challenged Flair for the WWF title at WrestleMania VIII. Flair taunted Savage by claiming that he had a prior relationship with Savage's wife, Elizabeth, and that he had the (faked) pictures to prove it. Savage defeated Flair for the title at WrestleMania, but it was not the last the two men saw of each other. In July 1992, as Savage prepared to defend his 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, injuring Savage's knee sufficiently that Flair exploited it to regain the title in a match on September 1. However, 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 1992 Survivor Series and appeared in the 1993 Royal Rumble before departing the WWF on good terms.

World Championship Wrestling

Flair returned to WCW in February 1993, and hosted a short-lived talk show in WCW called A Flair for the Gold as a compromise to work around a no-compete clause in his previous WWF contract. He could appear on TV but not wrestle. Arn Anderson usually appeared at the bar, and Flair's maid Fifi cleaned or bore gifts. Flair briefly held the NWA World title once again before WCW finally left the NWA in September 1993.

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. He used a chop block and rollup on the gigantic Vader to win the title.

Flair later feuded with Hulk Hogan upon Hogan's arrival in WCW in June 1994 and lost a retirement match to Hogan at Halloween Havoc 1994. This feud was partially Flair's idea, as he wanted to feud with Hogan in the WWF, but Hogan rejected the idea in favor of a feud with Sid Vicious (Then known as Sid Justice). 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. Flair assaulted Savage's father Angelo Poffo, defeated Savage in a steel cage at SuperBrawl VI to win the WCW World title, and took a large amount of his money when Savage was betrayed by Elizabeth.

In April 1998, Flair became embroiled in a dispute with WCW president Eric Bischoff when he failed to appear at a television 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 wrestle in a Greco-Roman wrestling tournament. Bischoff filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Flair, and kept him off television for over 5 months. He returned in September 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 didn't care about the fans and kept shouting the words "abuse of power". Flair eventually feuded with Bischoff for several months afterward. Eventually, he won the "Presidency of WCW" from Bischoff and used his power to make a WCW title match with Hulk Hogan at 1999's Uncensored, which he won. However, during this time, WCW gave Flair an unusual gimmick afterwords that played on Flair's tendency to ramble incoherently during his interviews, with the explanation that Flair was going insane and that his reign as "President of WCW" really meant that he was, in his own mind, the President of the United States of America. Flair would be sent to a mental institution and his status as WCW President was dissolved, although Flair would return later with the gimmick seemingly scrapped.

When WCW was purchased by the WWF, 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

After a brief hiatus from pro wrestling, Flair returned to the WWF in November 2001 as the on-camera co-owner of the company. He turned face by joining forces with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Flair reappeared on the Monday Night RAW following the end of the "WCW/ECW Invasion" that culminated in a "Winner Take All" match at Survivor Series 2001 that the WWF won. Flair's new on-screen role was that of the co-owner of the WWF, after Shane and Stephanie McMahon had sold him their stocks prior to purchasing WCW and ECW. On his RAW debut, Vince McMahon had been playing the role of the face; when Flair made his appearance at the end of the show, McMahon turned heel and Flair became the dominant face. As co-owner of the WWF, he sought to make right all the wrongs that the evil Mr. McMahon was up to. Culminating with Flair being responsible for McMahon kissing The Rock's rear end on an episode of SmackDown!, Mr. McMahon apparently snapped and refused to share the WWF with Flair anymore. He proposed to "kill the WWF" and he planned to do it with the help of the nWo. However, the nWo storyline failed to captivate audiences and Flair was soon thrust into a feud with The Undertaker, culminating in a match at WrestleMania X8. The WWF board of directors refused to sanction the match and gave full control of the WWF back to Vince McMahon. In actuality, it was a prelude to the WWF Brand Extension; which split the WWF into two separate entities, with Vince McMahon in control of all things SmackDown! and Flair in control of all things Monday Night RAW. Flair however made a heel turn by turning on Austin and siding with the nWo During that time when that happened Ric Flair planned a six man tag team match. It was three then members of the nWo (X Pac, Big Show, who turned on Austin and Kevin Nash) going against Flair, Austin and then babyface, Bradshaw. In the middle of the match Bradshaw was knocked out and later Flair shocked the fans by attacking Austin and giving him a figure four leg lock. He then made a handicap match at a pay per view event. It was him and the Big Show against Austin. After that he continued the figure four leg lock while the Big Show was laughing. Later during that time McMahon challenged Flair to a match for exclusive ownership of, now re-named, WWE. This made Flair turn face for the second to latest time. Flair lost the match when Brock Lesnar charged the ring, gave Flair an F-5 and allowed McMahon to make the cover. Flair remained on RAW as an occasional wrestler and eventually turned heel by betraying Rob Van Dam and joining forces with World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, with whom he later formed the stable Evolution.

2003

During 2003, Flair had a short-lived feud with Shawn Michaels which began when Michaels took Kevin Nash's side against Triple H, his archrival. The two would go at it whenever they were accompanying their friends to the ring, and this led to a confrontation at Bad Blood 2003, which led to Flair winning thanks to Randy Orton's interference, though Flair would lose to Michaels in more than one match in the future. Ric Flair would win the World Tag Team Championship with Batista later that year.

2004

Flair and Batsita would lose the titles to Rob Van Dam and Booker T but would regain them eventually. Flair lost to Shelton Benjamin at Backlash 2004, in an effort to avenge several losses by Triple H to Benjamin. He would also lose the World Tag Team Championship to Edge and Chris Benoit. Later that year, Flair lost to Randy Orton, who had been kicked out of Evolution, in a steel cage match at the first Taboo Tuesday [link]

2005

Several months after Batista left Evolution, Flair returned to RAW on August 22, 2005. He was interviewed on "Carlito's Cabana" and turned face by attacking the host Carlito. Flair would align himself with Shawn Michaels in a feud with Carlito and Michaels's new rival Chris Masters. After Flair was brutally attacked by Carlito backstage, the two had a match at the 2005 WWE Unforgiven event for Carlito’s Intercontinental Championship, a belt Flair had never won. Ric Flair made Carlito submit to the Figure Four and won his first Intercontinental Championship. After the match, Flair grabbed a microphone and gave a short speech. He said that winning the Intercontintal title meant as much to him as his 16 world title wins and said that he wished that Triple H was there to share the moment with him. He then said that he was going to party and went to the front row to pick out several women to take with him. Throughout the night a camera would show a limo that had Flair and the women inside. Before entering the limo Flair took several Viagra pills. Toward the end of the show the camera cut to a shot of Flair with his trunks slightly down with his buttocks showing. As he sipped champaign, he tried to utter a WHOOO! but could barely get it out because he had too much to drink. He then collapsed to the ground using his "Flair Flop."

The feud with Carlito culminated at WWE Homecoming where Ric Flair teamed with Triple H to take on Carlito and The Masterpiece. Flair and Triple H won the match but afterwards, Triple H attacked Flair.

At Taboo Tuesday the fans were given a choice of three matches for Triple H and Ric Flair to do battle in. The cage match was chosen and Flair clawed his way to a successful title defense.

The innevitable re-match took place at Survivor Series in a Last Man Standing match. Despite another gutsy performance, in which he took 3 consecutive Pedigrees and was still standing, a sledgehammer shot from Triple H was enough to win.

2006

On the January 16, 2006 episode of RAW, Flair lost a TLC match to WWE Champion Edge. So far it is the only one on one TLC match in WWE history as well as the only TLC match to have the WWE championship on the line. Also of note is the fact that despite being involved in wrestling for over 30 years, Flair had never been involved in a ladder match prior to this one.

On February 20, 2006, Flair lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin after being hit twice with an oxygen tank and a T-bone suplex.

On February 27, 2006, Flair defeated Carlito in a qualifying match for the "Money in the Bank" ladder match at WrestleMania 22. Carlito was the one who suggested the "Money in the Bank" contest, but was pinned by Flair after choking on an apple due to a kick to the face by the Nature Boy. Flair used the ropes and got the pin. The Money in the Bank match consisted of Flair, Rob Van Dam and Shelton Benjamin from the RAW brand along with Matt Hardy, Bobby Lashley and Finlay from the SmackDown! brand. During the match Ric Flair was (kayfabe) injured and forced to the back, however he did make a return before the end. Rob Van Dam won the match by grabbing the briefcase with the guaranteed WWE championship title shot, within the next year.

On the RAW following WrestleMania, Flair was assaulted by Umaga and entered into a short program with him that ended at the WWE Backlash pay-per-view with Flair losing his match with Umaga.

After this program Flair took some time off, during which he got married, and wasn't seen on WWE television until the June 12, 2006 edition of RAW. Flair returned interrupting a promo about the just held ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view by Mick Foley and confronted Mick about the comments Flair made in his book and the resulting bad blood between the two. After, again, calling Mick a "glorified stuntman" Mick challenged Flair to a Two out of Three Falls Match at Vengeance. Flair defeated Mick Foley in their match by two straight falls (pinfall - disqualification). He later showed how hardcore he could be when he challenged Big Show for his ECW championship. He pulled out all the hardcore weaponry Foley would: barbed wire bat and a bag full of thumbtacks. Despite this change in offense, Big Show retained his title.

Legacy

Despite his age and his less-than-chiseled physique, Ric Flair can still take on wrestlers half his age. Even though he is long past his prime as a "main-eventer," he is still able to get in the ring and make younger wrestlers look good. 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 "Wooo!"

In a tradition started by the vocal fans of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during a time when the WCW management was thought to be unjustly holding Flair down, anytime a wrestler delivers a hard back hand chop to the chest of his opponent, fans yell "Wooo!" in tribute to Flair, whose stiff chops often made his opponent's chest raw or even bloody. This tradition long outlived any controversy 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 instead of the original condintation of being a mockery of Flair.

Since the late 1970s, he has worn ornate, fur lined robes of many colors with sequins, and since the mid 80s, his approach to the ring was often heralded by the playing of the "Dawn" section of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra (famous for being used in the motion picture ). The look and sound complements his cocky in-ring persona.

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 19th 2003, Flair lost his World Heavyweight Championship match to Triple H. Following the match, most people that were backstage came out to honor Flair including Vince, Shane, and Stephanie McMahon. Triple H then came out. After a stare down, he placed the World Heavyweight title on Flair's shoulder and embraced him. Flair then gave a speech thanking everyone for the tribute and closed with the words "I'll never forget this!" The entire match and post match tribute can be found as an extra on disc 3 of The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection.

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!" Flair is an icon in the Carolinas on a par with Michael Jordan and Richard Petty, and he has made the Charlotte area his home since the days of the Crockett promotion. His name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor of North Carolina.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

WWE promotes Flair as a 16-time world champion, but many records show that he has held 20 world titles. Although a little controversy still surrounds this, Ric Flair still holds the record of the most world titles held by an individual in professional wrestling. This is the case regardless of whether your accept the 16 officially recognized by the WWE or the full list of 20 reigns.

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 overexploiting the death of his brother, Owen Hart and the controversy surrounding the Montreal Screwjob. Hart responded that Flair had spent the majority of his career in the NWA/WCW which he stated "is and always has been second rate to the WWF."

Hart stated in an interview with Sports Illustrated's website that, if he had to, he could spend time in the same room with Flair.

Shane Douglas

Flair has had a long running feud with "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. Douglas accused Flair of sabotaging his push in the NWA/WCW after getting a solid push and a rub from both his tag team partner Ricky Steamboat and Flair. 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 an 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, but there is still no love lost between the two men.

Mick Foley

Flair has also had issues with Mick Foley, whom he attacked in his autobiography, writing "I don't 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'll always be known as a glorified stuntman." He also took shots at Foley's physique.

This was in response to what Foley said about Flair in his autobiography : "Flair was every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it."

The bad blood between Flair and Foley continued when backstage during the production of WWE Raw, Flair extended his hand to Foley to let bygones be bygones. Foley responded in kind, saying that he wouldn't shake his hand, but wanted Flair to sign a copy of his book ,To Be the Man, for charity, which further angered Flair. It should be noted that in More than Just Hardcore, Terry Funk's memoir of his life in the ring for several promotions, that he strongly disagreed with Flair's perspective, citing Foley's years of developing his craft and his commitment to selling his opponent's moves no matter how importantly placed Foley was in any promotion's roster, significant because of Funk's impeccable credentials as a wrestler and legitimately tough guy who does not hesitate to "put over" his opponents.

In 2004, on a tour of the UK to promote the upcoming WWE Backlash pay-per-view, Flair was involved in a radio interview in which he bashed Mick Foley and his abilities. This move was widely criticized by the British wrestling press as Foley had a match with Flair's associate Randy Orton at Backlash and many felt that he should have built up the match more.

As of June 2006, both Foley and Flair are involved in a feud surrounding their real life turmoil on WWE television.

Hulk Hogan

Many have debated as to whether Hogan or Flair is the greatest professional wrestler of all-time. Many point to Hogan's ability to draw sell-out crowds throughout his career, but they also point out to the fact that he had little actual wrestling ability. Flair, on the other hand, was the NWA's flagship to the WWF's Hogan, and that he actually was considered one of, if not the, best catch wrestlers of his era. He won Match of the Year honors versus Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat based on actual wrestling, whereas Hogan won Match of the Year honors against Andre the Giant, The Ultimate Warrior, and (with Mr. T) Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff based on hype and atmosphere. Many insiders state that, in an actual wrestling match, Flair would be able to defeat Hogan in terms of ability. These and many more questions were raised every time the two feuded in both the WWF and WCW.

In Flair's autobiography, Flair was enraged after an angle that involved both men. While Flair was held back by members of the nWo, Hogan would attack his son, David Flair. However, Hogan legitimately injured him as he nailed David with very stiff shots.

1998

In 1998, Flair was sued by WCW for no-showing an event. Flair had been working without a contract since February of that year and had refused to sign a new one, citing differences between the document and the terms he had previously agreed to work under. Thinking that he wasn't needed for any WCW television tapings at the time, Flair did not show up at the April 9, 1998 WCW Thunder taping. He instead watched his son Reid's amateur wrestling tournament. That night, WCW's booking committee decided to reform the Four Horsemen, and announcers repeatedly stated that he would be on the show with a "big surprise." When Flair failed to show up, WCW management (led by Eric Bischoff) filed a $2 million lawsuit against him for damages, saying he signed a letter of intent to re-sign with WCW. He later filed a suit of his own in response, but the matter was settled out of court. Ric Flair returned to WCW television in September 1998.

2002

On May 5, 2002, a number of WWE wrestlers and management members flew from Great Britain to the United States following the end of a European tour, which concluded with the Insurrextion pay-per-view event in the United Kingdom. World Wrestling Entertainment was hit with a sexual harassment suit by Sportjet flight attendants stemming from the alleged actions of Ric Flair, Dustin Runnels, and Scott Hall among others. The lawsuit alleged that Flair, wearing only his robe, flashed everyone and forced an attendant to touch his "Little Nature Boy". The charges were dropped.

2003

On March 17th, 2003, Flair confronted Eric Bischoff about Bischoff's poor treatment of him while they were in WCW and angrily challenged him to a fight while in Bischoff's office before an episode of RAW. The altercation was broken up by backstage officials who then told Vince McMahon about the incident. McMahon was not happy with Flair's conduct and told him that it was unprofessional. Flair talked about the incident in his autobiography To Be The Man, and wrote that when Vince asked him if he had planned to do it to anybody else, Flair replied "Yeah, Hogan." Hogan had been a little too rough with his son David during an incident in WCW, and he stated in his book that he can never forgive Hogan. When Vince heard this he told Flair "Please don't do that!" For his part, Bischoff has tried multiple times to apologize to Flair for the past, but Flair has refused to forgive him.

Personal information

Flair does not know his full birth name. In the opening chapter of his autobiography 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),Dr. Reid Fliehr 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.

The pilot of the private aircraft (a Cessna 310) involved in Flair's 1975 plane crash languished in a coma for a year before dying. It was discovered after the accident that the pilot was flying on a suspended license. Flair later sued the pilot's estate for damages and won.

Flair is sometimes seen attending the Carolina Hurricanes NHL ice hockey games at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. At home games when the Hurricanes score a goal, a short video appears on the arena's Jumbotron monitors, with Ric Flair saying: "That's a Carolina Hurricanes Goal! Wooo! Wooo Wooo!"

Flair has been active in North Carolina Republican politics, supporting Jesse Helms. He has recently expressed an interest in running for the position of Governor of North Carolina, although he previously stated in his autobiography that his sordid past would preclude any involvement in politics.Flair in an interview with WWE magazine said he would run for Governor in "2008. My platform will be education, crime, healthcare for the elderly, and highway tolls.".

Flair has appeared in three motion pictures: The Wrestler (1974), Body Slam (1987), and (2004).

Flair's son David is also a professional wrestler. Flair's younger son Reid 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 wife Beth filed for divorce, citing alleged steroid and alcohol abuse, in addition to incidents where he allegedly slapped, kicked, choked, and bit her. Flair has been ordered to pay Beth $20,000 a month until the divorce is finalized. The judge overseeing the divorce is considering freezing Flair's assets because he spent $92,000 for a ring for his new girlfriend. Flair contends that he and his wife lived well beyond their means and racked up substantial debt to the IRS and other creditors. Flair owed the government more than $1 million in 1997, and the IRS is now seizing more than $200,000 of his salary in 2005 to cover the owed taxes. It's highly believed that Flair refuses to retire at this point due to having to pay these costs in order to live a day to day life.

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. That allegedly left the motorist with bruises and a dent in his Toyota 4Runner. Flair was charged with injury to personal property and simple assault and battery, both misdemeanors. This incident has been ridiculed on WWE programming, most notably by the wrestler Edge. In May 2006, the charges were dropped after the witnesses failed to show for a scheduled court appearance.

Flair was married for the third time to his girlfriend, fitness trainer and model Tiffany VanDemark, on May 27 2006 at Grand Cayman. The wedding was attended by WWE stars Triple H, Batista, Gregory Helms, and The Big Show. Before departing on his honeymoon, Flair signed a reported three-year contract extension with WWE.

In Wrestling

Finishing and signature moves

• Figure four leg lock
• Backhand chop
• Chop block
• Elbow drop to the knee
• Inverted atomic drop
• Knee drop
• Shin breaker
• Stalling butterfly suplex

Signature illegal moves

• Low blow
• Thumb to the eye
• Testicular claw

Flair's \"failing\" moves

Flair has gained a measure of notoriety for his inability to successfully execute certain moves without being thwarted.

• His most notable "failing move" involves his repeated failed attempts to execute a move off the top turnbuckle. Whenever Flair scales the top turnbuckle, he is almost inevitably pushed off the top rope to the floor below, knocked off balance so he crotches himself on the turnbuckle, or, most commonly of all, bodily hurled from the top rope to the mat. Recently he has achieved these moves although for most of his professional career he had been unable to achieve these trademark moves.

A variation of this is the "Flair Flip," when he goes over the top rope and lands on his feet on the ring apron. He then invariably attempts to run along the apron to a turnbuckle. Almost invariably, he will either be clotheslined by his opponent before reaching the turnbuckle or will make it to the turnbuckle and climb up it, only to suffer the same "fate" (typically to be pushed off, crotched, or thrown down). Flair rarely has done this in recent years.

• The "Flair Flop": Flair, after attempting but failing a strenuous move or because he's "tired," will execute a face-first bump, often followed by a "begging-off" routine, followed by a low-blow or eye poke (maintaining his "dirtiest player in the game" reputation).

Nicknames

• The Nature Boy
• Slick Ric
• Space Mountain
• Naitch
• The Dirtiest Player in the Game
• The "Real" World Heavyweight Champion
• The 16 time World Heavyweight Champion (note: this nickname has changed throughout the years according to how many World Championships he had to his credit. WCW did not recognize Flair's two WWE title reigns, but since returning to WWE in 2001, his 2 WWE title reigns have been recognized.)
• Black Scorpion (masked)
• The 60 Minute Man
• The Man
• The People's champion (Mentioned in his autobiography "To be the man...")
• Wheelin'Dealing, Kiss stealin', Jet Flying, Limousine Ridin', Son of a gun

Manager(s)

• Debra

Championships and accomplishments

• National Wrestling Alliance

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (with Rip Hawk)

:Won from Paul Jones and Bob Bruggers on July 4 1974 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Paul Jones and Tiger Conway, Jr. on December 6 1974 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship

:Won from Paul Jones on February 8 1975 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Paul Jones on August 8 1975 in Richmond, Virginia, USA

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship

:Won from Wahoo McDaniel in July 1975

:Lost to Wahoo McDaniel on July 26 1975 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (2)

:Won from Wahoo McDaniel on October 20 1975 in Hampton, Virginia, USA

:Lost to Wahoo McDaniel on May 3 1976 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (3)

:Won from Wahoo McDaniel on May 24 1976 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Wahoo McDaniel on September 11 1976 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (4)

:Won from Wahoo McDaniel on October 16 1976 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Wahoo McDaniel on December 27 1976 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

*NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (with Greg Valentine)

:Won from Gene and Ole Anderson on December 26 1976 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Gene and Ole Anderson on May 8 1977 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

*NWA World Television Championship (2)

:Won from Rufus R. Jones on April 4 1977 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA

:Lost to Ricky Steamboat on June 15 1977 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (2) (with Greg Valentine)

:Won from Dino Bravo and Tiger Conway Jr. on June 30 1977 in Anderson, South Carolina, USA

:Lost to Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat on August 22 1977 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

*NWA United States Heavyweight Championship

:Won from Bobo Brazil on July 29 1977 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA

:Lost to Ricky Steamboat on October 21 1977 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA

*NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (2) (with Greg Valentine)

:Won from Gene and Ole Anderson on October 30 1977 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Stripped in April 1978

*NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (2)

:Won from Tim Woods on April 9 1978 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Ricky Steamboat on December 18 1978 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3) (with Big John Studd)

:Won on June 30 1978

:Lost to Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat on August 5 1978 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

*NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (4) (with Big John Studd)

:Won from Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat on October 30 1978 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA

:Lost to Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat on November 5 1978 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

*NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (3)

:Won from Ricky Steamboat on April 1 1979 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Flair vacated the title on August 12 1979 after winning the NWA World Tag Team Championship

*NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3) (with Blackjack Mulligan)

:Won from Baron Von Raschke and Paul Jones on August 8 1979 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Baron Von Raschke and Paul Jones on August 22 1979 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

*NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (4)

:Won from Jimmy Snuka on April 19 1980 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Greg Valentine on July 26 1980 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

*NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (5)

:Won from Greg Valentine on November 24 1980 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA

:Lost to Roddy Piper on January 27 1981 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship

:Won from Dusty Rhodes on June 21 1981 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA

:Lost to Jack Veneno in 1982 in the Dominican Republic

::Title returned to Flair

:Lost to The Midnight Rider on February 9 1983 in Miami, Florida, USA

::Title returned to Flair after The Midnight Rider unmasked and was revealed to be Dusty Rhodes

:Lost to Carlos Colón on January 6 1983 in San Juan, Puerto Rico

::Flair won the title back soon after (title change not recognized by NWA)

:Lost to Harley Race on June 10 1983 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

*NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship

:Won on July 15 1983 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

:Lost to David Von Erich on September 16 1983 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (2)

:Won from Harley Race on November 24 1983 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

:Lost to Harley Race on March 21 1984 in Wellington, New Zealand

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (3)

:Won from Harley Race on March 23 1984 in Kallang, Singapore

:Lost to Kerry Von Erich on May 6 1984 in Irving, Texas, USA

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (4)

:Won from Kerry Von Erich on May 24 1984 in Yokosuka, Japan

:Lost to Dusty Rhodes on July 26 1986 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (5)

:Won from Dusty Rhodes on August 9 1986 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

:Lost to Ron Garvin on September 25 1987 in Detroit, Michigan, USA

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (6)

:Won from Ronnie Garvin on November 26 1987 in Chicago, Illinois, USA

:Lost to Ricky Steamboat on February 20 1989 in Chicago, Illinois, USA

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (7)

:Won from Ricky Steamboat on May 7 1989 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

:Lost to Sting on July 7 1990 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (8)

:Won from Sting on January 11 1991 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA

:Lost to Tatsumi Fujinami on March 21 1991 in Tokyo, Japan

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (9)

:Won from Tatsumi Fujinami on May 19 1991 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

:Stripped on September 8 1991 after Flair signs with the World Wrestling Federation

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (10)

:Won from Barry Windham on July 18 1993 in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA

:Recognition as champion dropped in September 1993 when World Championship Wrestling withdraws from the NWA

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

*1975 Rookie of the Year

*1978 Most Hated Wrestler

*1981 Wrestler of the Year

*1983 Match of the Year vs. Harley Race (June 10 1983)

*1984 Match of the Year vs. Kerry Von Erich (May 6 1984)

*1984 Wrestler of the Year

*1985 Wrestler of the Year

*1986 Wrestler of the Year

*1986 Match of the Year vs. Dusty Rhodes (The Great American Bash, July 26 1986)

*1987 Most Hated Wrestler

*1987 Feud of the Year (Four Horsemen vs. Super Powers and Road Warriors)

*1988 Feud of the Year (vs. Lex Luger)

*1989 Wrestler of the Year

*1989 Match of the Year vs. Ricky Steamboat (, May 7 1989)

*1989 Feud of the Year (vs. Terry Funk)

*1990 Feud of the Year (vs. Lex Luger)

*1992 Wrestler of the Year

*He was ranked # 2 out of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.

• World Championship Wrestling

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship

:Defeated Sting on January 11 1991 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA

:Stripped on July 1 1991 when Flair was fired from WCW

*WCW International World Heavyweight Championship

:Defeated Barry Windham on July 18 1993 in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA

:Lost to Rick Rude on September 19 1993 in Houston, Texas, USA

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship (2)

:Won from Vader on December 27 1993 in Charlotte, North Carolina

:Held up on April 17 1994 in Rosemont, Illinois, USA following a match between Flair and Ricky Steamboat ends in a double pin

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3)

:Defeated Ricky Steamboat in a rematch on April 24 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

:Lost to Hulk Hogan on July 17 1994 in Orlando, Florida, USA

*WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (2)

:Won from Sting on June 23 1994 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA

:Unified with WCW World Heavyweight Championship

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship (4)

:Won from Randy Savage on December 27 1995 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

:Lost to Randy Savage on January 22 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship (5)

:Won from Randy Savage on February 11 1996 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

:Lost to The Giant on April 22 1996 in Albany, Georgia, USA

*WCW United States Heavyweight Championship

:Won from Konnan on July 7 1996 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

:Vacated in November 1996

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship (6)

:Won from Hulk Hogan on March 14 1999 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

:Lost to Diamond Dallas Page on April 11 1999 in Tacoma, Washington, USA

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship (7)

:Won from Jeff Jarrett on May 15 2000 in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA

:Stripped on May 22 2000

*WCW World Heavyweight Championship (8)

:Awarded by Kevin Nash on May 29 2000 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

:Lost to Jeff Jarrett on May 29 2000 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

• World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

*1992 Royal Rumble winner

:Won by last eliminating Sid Justice on January 19 1992 in Albany, New York, USA

*WWF Championship

:Won by winning the Royal Rumble match on January 19 1992 in Albany, New York, USA

:Lost to Randy Savage on April 5 1992 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

*WWF Championship (2)

:Won from Randy Savage on September 1 1992 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA

:Lost to Bret Hart on October 10 1992 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

*World Tag Team Championship (with Batista)

:Won from the Dudley Boyz on December 14 2003 in Orlando, Florida, USA

:Lost to Booker T and Rob Van Dam on February 16 2004 in Bakersfield, California, USA

*World Tag Team Championship (2) (with Batista)

:Won from Booker T and Rob Van Dam on March 22 2004 in Detroit, Michigan, USA

:Lost to Chris Benoit and Edge on April 19 2004 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

*WWE Intercontinental Championship

:Won from Carlito on September 18 2005 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

:Lost to Shelton Benjamin on February 20 2006 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA

*14^th Triple Crown Champion

:Acheived on September 18 2005 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)

*Wrestler of the Year award renamed the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award, partly in his honor

*1980 Most Charismatic Wrestler

*1982 Wrestler of the Year

*1982 Most Charismatic Wrestler (tied with Dusty Rhodes)

*1983 Wrestler of the Year

*1983 Most Charismatic Wrestler

*1983 Match of the Year (vs Harley Race)

*1984 Wrestler of the Year

*1984 Most Charismatic Wrestler

*1985 Wrestler of the Year

*1986 Wrestler of the Year

*1986 Most Outstanding Wrestler

*1986 Match of the Year (vs Barry Windham)

*1987 Most Outstanding Wrestler

*5 Star Match: vs. Barry Windham (April 11 1987, NWA World Wide Wrestling)

*1988 Match of the Year (vs Sting)

*1989 Wrestler of the Year

*1989 Most Outstanding Wrestler

*1989 Feud of the Year (vs Terry Funk)

*1989 Match of the Year (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, )

*5 Star Match: vs. Ricky Steamboat (May 7 1989, )

*5 Star Match: vs. Terry Funk (November 15 1989, "I Quit" Match, )

*Wrestler of the Decade - 1980's

*1990 Wrestler of the Year

*1990 Best Heel

*1991 Best Interviews

*5 Star Match: with Larry Zbyszko, Barry Windham & Sid Vicious vs. Sting, Brian Pillman, Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner (February 24 1991, WarGames Match, )

*1992 Wrestler of the Year

*1992 Best Interviews

*1993 Most Charismatic Wrestler

*1994 Best Interviews

• 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 and Bret Hart are the only wrestlers to hold the WWE Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WCW Championship and WCW United States Championship (though he and Bret Hart are the only two to do this under two separate companies, as Kurt's US and WCW world win came after the merger.)

*Officially is a 22 time World champion NWA officially recognizes him as a 10 times NWA World Champion, WWE Officially recognizes him as a 2 time WWF/E champion. WCW Officially recognized him as a 8 times WCW World champion, and 2 time WCW World International Heavyweight Champion.

* Ric Flair is the only wrestler to ever hold the NWA, WCW and WWF/E World Chamionships. He is also one of only two wrestlers to ever hold the NWA and WWF/E World Championships, along with "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers.

* When counting NWA championships along with WCW championships, Ric Flair is one of only ten wrestlers to achieve WCW's version of the Grand Slam, an unofficial designation for wrestlers who have held the NWA/WCW World Heavyweight Championship, the NWA/WCW World Tag Team Championship, the NWA/WCW United States Championship, and the NWA/WCW World Television Championship. Of those ten, Flair is one of only three to achieve the Grand Slam solely in the NWA, although he went on to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW United States Championship in WCW. In addition, Flair was the very first wrestler to achieve the NWA/WCW Grand Slam.

References

• [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]

External links

• [Official NWA World Heavyweight Title history]
• [Unofficial Website]
• [WWE Profile]
• [Media Profile]
• ["The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection" DVD Review]

 

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