Considered
by many as being the overall greatest Professional Wrestling
star of the 1980's, Richard Fliehr combined his superior
wrestling skill with unmatched desire and unparralelled
arrogance to create the greatest show on earth - the
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
Hailing
from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Flair trained for a while under
the great Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson and began his pro
wrestling career in 1972. His career took off in the
Mid-Atlantic region where he won that regions title, the
regions Tag Team title, the U.S. Title and the World Tag Team
title. In the midst of this success, his career and his life
almost ended.
While
on an airplane flight with Johnny Valentine and promoter David
Crockett, Flair suffered a broken back (and supposedly a
broken neck) when the plane crashed. Although it would not
have been hard to speculate that this would have ended his
career, Flair returned to the ring within 6 months and a short
time later teamed up with Greg "the Hammer"
Valentine to win the NWA Tag Team title. He went on to win the
NWA World Title when he defeated Dusty Rhodes in 1981. He
later won the same belt by defeating the legendary Harley Race
in 1983. After losing the belt to Kerry Von Erich in Texas,
Flair travelled to Japan a month later where he recaptured the
World Title from Von Erich.
Flair
then returned to the United States where he wrestled in some
of the finest matches in the 1980's, including two against
Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, first losing and then
regaining the title belt. Eventually Flair left the NWA/WCW
and moved to the WWF taking the WCW belt with him. After
returning the belt to WCW (after a monterary settlement,) he
defeated Randy Savage for the WWF Heavyweight championship,
after which he returned to the WCW where he has once again
recaptured the title as World's Heavyweight champion.
Ric
Flair has been able to thrive and survive for over 25 years in
the sport of Professional Wrestling. He has never been the
biggest wrestler and probably not even the most talented - but
no one has been able to duplicate his showmanlike ability to
play the role of the Jet-setting, wheeling dealing woman
stealing playboy, a role which has caused him to be despised
by many but loved by most. His "styling and
profiling" has given him the ability to do what few
villians have been able to over their career - being the crowd
favorite and the one whom the fans come to see. He has recited
the statement many times that "to be the man, you have to
beat the man" - a number of men have defeated him in the
ring over the years, but no one else has been able to be the
man like Ric Flair has. In his own words to wrestling viewers,
Flair advised "whether you like it, or you don't like it
- learn to love it 'cause it's the best thing going!"
