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Ric Flair (Wrestling)
- 626 statements
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The Man. Slick Ric. Dirtiest Player in the Game. The Nature Boy. Naitch. The sixteen-time World Heavyweight Champion... AND A LIMOUSINE-RIDIN', JET-FLYIN', WHEELIN', DEALIN', KISS-STEALIN' — WOOOOO! — SON-OF-A-GUN!In the world of pro wrestling, there are superstars, there are legends...and then there's Ric Flair (known since infancy as Richard Morgan Fliehr; born February 25, 1949note Flair was adopted in infancy through an agency that, unknown to its clients, obtained children by means ranging from shady to outright illegal. He does not know his actual birth name.). With a career spanning five decades, 22 World Heavyweight Title reigns across three companies, legendary matches and feuds with some of the biggest names in the business, a retirement sendoff which will never be duplicated in scope or emotional impact on fans, and another retirement sendoff that saw involvement from every significant promotion running shows in the US, Flair is one of the most famous wrestlers who has ever lived, the NWA equivalent of The Rock or Hulk Hogan, and a routine pick for the single greatest wrestler of all time.Flair was the leader of The Four Horsemen, and the voice of Evolution. He put Dusty Rhodes and his family through "hard times, daddy!" He worked in the AWA, NWA, and WCW, then joined WWE, all following a miraculous survival of what should have been a career-ending plane crash. He is the first man to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame not once, but twice. He is the last surviving star of the old school era, and has stayed relevant in the modern era. He's the reason behind the "Wooo!" chants every time a wrestler chops someone. He has truly done it all.Flair has four children — two sons and two daughters — that are or were all involved in wrestling to some capacity. His eldest son Davidnote b. March 6, 1979 worked for WCW from 1999 to 2001, and made several televised appearances for WWE during the 2002 run-up to WrestleMania 18. His eldest daughter Megannote b. 1980s; DOB still unknown has worked as an actress, appearing in numerous wrestling TV shows and, during the mid-1990s, in WCW Monday Nitro. His youngest son Reidnote February 26, 1988 — March 29, 2013 was an accomplished wrestler in high school and continued his craft by working for a number of promotions, debuting for All Japan Pro Wrestling two months before he tragically died at 25 from a drug overdose. His youngest daughter Ashleynote b. April 5, 1986 has gone on to garner the most success in the industry of all of Ric's kids, becoming one of the biggest names in WWE's women's division since the mid-to-late 2010s as Charlotte Flair. | |
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I Was Quite a Looker | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_126ce03c | comment |
I Was Quite a Looker: Flair was pretty jacked in the eighties. | |
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Amazingly Embarrassing Parents | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_1434e55c | comment |
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Ric dancing to Charlotte's music was consistently the highlight of Raw. Even when Charlotte is injured, and Ric is walking with her to the back, he's trying to dance to her theme. | |
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Ripped from the Headlines | |
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Ripped from the Headlines: Of a sports variety. His classic rivalry with Dusty Rhodes was designed to mirror the Lakers-Celtics rivalry that was huge at the time, pitting the flashy, stylish and flamboyant (Flair/Lakers) against the no-nonsense, workmanlike, determined style (Rhodes/Celtics). As history can tell, it achieved massive success for both the NWA and the NBA. | |
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Your Mom | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_1649e053 | comment |
In his younger days, Flair's trash talk would invariably end in promises to "take your momma for a ride on Space Mountain, fat boy! WOOOOOOOOO!" | |
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Cool Old Guy | |
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Cool Old Guy: As AJ Styles intimated, Ric Flair may be older than him but acts younger: Past 70 with admitted alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and still getting tossed out of bars, going to bed later than AJ, getting up earlier, doing the same stuff he was doing 30-40 years ago, and still finding time for the gym... while on the road. After he broke his back at age 26, he started working a much safer style; one would imagine it helped keep him much lower on the concussion count than many of his peers. It's hard to remember (what with his leaps from the top rope always failing), but one of Flair's quirks when he was NWA Champion was to flip over the top rope to the apron after being Irish Whipped. In some ways he displayed more agility when he was older, namely by adding a roll to his jumping knee drop after connecting. | |
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Full-Frontal Assault | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_18ce8f1d | comment |
Full-Frontal Assault: Threatened Eric Bischoff at the end of his "You're the man!" promo (the one where he stripped himself down to his boxers, discarded a whole bunch of his fully customized items of clothing, and handcuffed himself to the ring ropes).note General consensus from everyone watching, past, present, and future, is that Ric wasn't bluffing. Just before the cut to commercial, Ric Flair practically rips the mic out of Mean Gene's hands: | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_1c3d047e | type |
The Rival | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_1c3d047e | comment |
The Rival: Quite a few, but his most memorable opponents were Dusty Rhodes (the common man to his "Golden Spoon"), Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Sting, Lex Luger, Mick Foley, and, of course, Hulk Hogan. Flair sparked the little "war" between himself and Foley by taking a potshot at garbage wrestlers; Mick let him have it in his bestselling book, The Hardcore Diaries. This went back and forth for a while, and they are now friends. Flair loved him some authority feuds. He gave Vince McMahon a legitimate black eye, and defeated Bischoff and shaved his head on-camera to win the job of WCW President (after being sent to an asylum). The pair reunited on Impact as the heads of Immortal and Fortune, and time had not healed all wounds. ECW's mainstay champion was Shane Douglas, a man who, for no discernible reason, publicly blasted Flair every chance he got. (Shane claims that one time he asked Ric what he thought of his match, and Ric said "keep doing what you're doing", and it turned out Ric hadn't actually watched the match). | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_1f7b2d59 | type |
Law of Chromatic Superiority | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_1f7b2d59 | comment |
Law of Chromatic Superiority: Inverted. Ric Flair's win-loss record when wearing red trunks is famously bad. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_22cfbf14 | type |
Answers to the Name of God | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_22cfbf14 | comment |
Answers to the Name of God: In TNA, he literally thinks that he is a wrestling form of God. Not a god. God. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_251bbe0e | type |
Genre Blindness | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_251bbe0e | comment |
Genre Blindness/Horrible Judge of Character crossed with an inversion and literalization of Heel–Face Door-Slam: Spent much of July and August 1997 trying to recruit Curt Hennig for the Four Horsemen, with Hennig finally agreeing after Arn Anderson's "I'll give you my spot" promo on the August 25 Nitro. At WCW Fall Brawl 97 on September 14, the nWo (Kevin Nash/Syxx/Buff Bagwell/Konnan) defeated the Horsemen (Flair/Hennig/Chris Benoit/Steve "Mongo" McMichael) in War Games when Mongo submitted after Hennig had turned heel, handcuffed Benoit and Mongo to the cage and finished the job by literally slamming the cage door on Flair's head. What makes this utterly blind judgment is that Hennig had already proven two months earlier that he couldn't be trusted when he turned on Diamond Dallas Page in their match against nWo members Scott Hall and Randy Savage at Bash at the Beach. On top of that, earlier at Fall Brawl, the nWo had attacked Hennig, and he had shown up for the match with a cast on his arm. This was a recycling of the angle from the October 21, 1996 Raw, where Triple H (one of Hall and Nash's Kliq partners!) had "injured" Mr. Perfect prior to what was supposed to be Perfect's return to the ring after a three-year absence, leading to Perfect essentially suckering in WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion "Wildman" Marc Mero into defending his title, since Helmsley had said that he wouldn't wrestle Mero unless the title was on the line. Helmsley won the match and the title after Perfect turned on Mero and hit him with a chair. | |
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Captain Ersatz | |
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Captain Ersatz: On the handheld console additions of Fire Pro Wrestling. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_267ce120 | type |
Dirty Old Man | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_267ce120 | comment |
Dirty Old Man: Due to playing the "ladykiller" gimmick well into his sixties he comes across as this. According to insider information, he's this in Real Life too; apparently flashing women is a backstage trademark of his. On the infamous Plane Ride from Hell, Ric Flair drunkenly stumbled around in nothing but his robe, WOO-ing at stewardesses. In a shoot interview with Missy Hyatt, she said Flair has the manners of a subway flasher, but has the ability to get "uptight women dancing on tables with their skirts above their heads." One particularly memorable example was Edge and Lita's infamous "Live on Air Sex Celebration" on Raw 2006. The two were just starting to get it on when along came Ric, waltzing down the ramp with a bold offer to teach Edge "how to pump the lady" and making it clear he wasn't gonna take no for an answer. This enraged Edge, who then proceeded to beat the interloping Flair to a pulp before he could even enter the ring, much to Lita's relief (and everyone else's). | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2a44899 | type |
Plot Armor | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2a44899 | comment |
Plot Armor: You can tell the difference between Face! and Heel!Flair because the figure four actually works. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2a6bf668 | type |
Inadequate Inheritor | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2a6bf668 | comment |
Inadequate Inheritor: Flair as the eccentric mentor/soccer mom is great, as long as they don't have them pull an AJ Styles and try to make his pupil look/behave like Flair. (His robe came with a hood, you see.) There's the "Real" Nature Boy Buddy Landel. His claim to fame is being drafted by Shane Douglas to be his training dummy. (Ric Flair once said he would lend him a robe but that Buddy would get lost in the arms.) It was even parodied by the late "Playboy" Buddy Rose, whose big Buddha belly and silk robes were part of his gimmick. (In fact, when Flair would boast of some "blonde waiting for him" in a limousine, Hogan and Nash would chirp, "Buddy Rose?") And who can forget Paul Lee, an indie wrestler who paid a cash-strapped Flair to endorse him, and then claimed they went back years together? Since his earliest days in the NWA, Lex Luger was seen as the heir to Flair’s throne. He was actually an honorary member of the Horsemen for a year. Flair thought differently; he believed that Sting most deserved to be champion. (Note that Sting didn't even win their title match, it was a draw.) In the 90s, the Flair kids made a one-shot appearance on Nitro. It moved the needle, so the company decided to hire David on full-time. But WCW being WCW, they never bothered to send him to the Power Plant (their training facility) in Georgia, they just threw a shag robe on him and blared Also sprach Zarathustra. At the Georgia Dome in July 1999, they literally handed the U.S. Title to David Flair, still so untrained that he couldn't even run the ropes yet. (It's like when they add a new child to a family sitcom to spice things up. Beginning of the end.) His incompetence became a joke, with even Ric expressing "disappointment" in him in kayfabe. David in the WCW Hardcore division was alright: his team-up with Crowbar (Kayfabe sucky guys taking beatings for our amusement) and Daffney was a highlight of the crumbling WCW. David was awful, but he was honestly presented as awful. The random passing of the Figure Four from Flair... to The Miz. Made worse after it was rumored that the original plan, which Flair had been lobbying towards for awhile, was for Flair to be managing Dolph Ziggler. Don't forget that Ric also pitched himself as Cesaro's manager. With Landel and Rose now gone, it seems Ric Flair is... the last surviving Nature Boy? Seems fitting. And oddly surprising. That is unless Charles Robinson is training for his debut as the Nature Kid. (They are pushing his daughter to the moon, though, and Charlotte inherited all of his gimmicks but the name. She eventually got the Flair name in the ring as well.) | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2b7d29e1 | type |
Artifact Title | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2b7d29e1 | comment |
Artifact Title: Buddy Rogers was nicknamed "Nature Boy" by a colorful promoter named Jack Pfefer. It didn't really "mean" anything: Pfefer liked the idea of combining theater with pro wrestling to make it more entertaining; hence Jack's habit of giving his performers weird gimmicks and names. Rogers bore a resemblance to Johnny Weissmuller who played Tarzan in the films at that time. Long story short, Pfefer heard the song "Nature Boy" on the radio in the late 1940's, liked the name and gave it to Buddy Rogers. Tarzan being a "Nature Boy", Rogers adopted the name and it took off from there. | |
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Awesome, but Impractical | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2bdae2ae | comment |
Awesome, but Impractical: The Figure Four. It usually got broken and often reversed. Of course, the reality is that it was a fantastic move for building tension, and the old-school "psychology" of damaging a limb and then returning to it later. | |
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Just You and Me and My GUARDS! | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2c83fef0 | comment |
Just You and Me and My GUARDS!: Usually when you wrestled Flair he’d drag things out and the Horsemen would get involved, or Nancy Benoit would throw coffee in your face or Miss Elizabeth would take off her shoe and use it like a machete. It became more and more complex and difficult the longer it goes, and if you didn’t have magical Hulk Hogan powers you can’t win. Even Hogan lost to it sometimes. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2d266580 | type |
Face Fault | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2d266580 | comment |
Face Fault: The "Flair Flop", in which Flair would get hit a few times, stagger forward, then fall flat on his face while his legs went back and up in the air a bit. The joke being, one minute he's the toughest son of a bitch in the room, and the next he's flopping around like a fish. As time went on his opponents would often back off to watch the inevitable flop. Some would even visibly geek out over the spectacle! Whenever you play as Ric Flair in the WWE games, one of your "taunts" is the flop which puts you at a disadvantage. He's even Flair Flopped onto a board covered in barbed wire. As compiled by WWE itself, it can sometimes be prompted by a kiss rather than a punch. His daughter Charlotte would also start using it in her own wrestling carrer. Ah, the Circle of Life. Triple H actually beat her to it, though he took it Up to Eleven. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2d4fa515 | type |
Ax-Crazy | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2d4fa515 | comment |
Ax-Crazy: Nowadays he's better known as a hilarious Cloudcuckoolander, but his old school promos would have him screaming like a lunatic and threatening to beat his opponents within an inch of their lives, and you'd believe him. | |
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Vocal Evolution | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_2ef005ab | comment |
Vocal Evolution: He has always had a lisp, but it has become more pronounced over the last few years. | |
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I Call Him "Mister Happy" | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_31c87ac | comment |
I Call Him "Mister Happy": Space Mountain. It may be the oldest ride in the park, but it still has the longest line. | |
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Tuxedo and Martini | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_31d55275 | comment |
Tuxedo and Martini: Late-phase WCW Flair wore tuxedos to the ring. This happened around 1998 when the Horseman reunited. This didn't oblige Ric to keep his jacket on, of course. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_32da91b8 | type |
Out of Focus | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_32da91b8 | comment |
Out of Focus: Both he and Sting would be consigned to jobber hell for the nWo years. Eric Bischoff spent a lot of money bringing in high-priced, aging stars like Hogan and Savage and building the entire place around the nWo. In contrast, Flair was beaten up, marginalized and left to rot in the midcard. There was a point in time where it seemed like every new signing's first action was to beat Flair on their first PPV. Flair asked for his release several times but Bischoff wouldn't grant it, either out of spite or because he was afraid Vince McMahon would get some value out of him. (Case in point, Vince got quite a lot out of him in his last WWE run 2001-2008 and Ric was 52 when that started!) Ric has often compared the final Nitro to the rain scene in The Shawshank Redemption, because he felt like he was finally out of prison. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_339f6950 | type |
Paid Harem | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_339f6950 | comment |
Paid Harem: Baby Doll (Nickla Ann Roberts), Sherri, Fifi (Wendy Barlow), Asya (Christi Wolf), Woman (Nancy Benoit), and Miss Elizabeth to name a few. The latter added new tricks to Flair's arsenal: The coffee cup of doom and the shoe shuriken. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_339f6950 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_339f6950 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_339f6950 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_362bdb30 | type |
Out-Gambitted | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_362bdb30 | comment |
Out-Gambitted: The Perfect Plan was one thing, but Randy Savage had the last laugh; he convinced Mr. Perfect to split from him and Flair chose Razor Ramon to be his partner at Survivor Series 1992. That decision would lead up to a Loser Leaves Town match on Raw between Flair and Mr. Perfect. Perfect won. Years later, Naitch exacted revenge in the best way he knew how: he bought Raw. This put him on equal footing with Vince for a while. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_362bdb30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_362bdb30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_362bdb30 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3636fa00 | type |
Unrelated Brothers | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3636fa00 | comment |
Unrelated Brothers: He originally introduced in the NWA as the "nephew" of veteran wrestler Rip Hawk, and later as a distant cousin of the Anderson wrestling family, which also consisted entirely of unrelated relatives. The cousin aspect was eventually dropped as Flair became closely associated with Ole and Arn Anderson. He also spent time in 1972 as Ramblin' Ricky Rhodes, a cousin of Dusty Rhodes. When that didn't work, he became Ric Flair, the wealthier cousin of Arn Anderson and leader of The Four Horsemen. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3636fa00 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3636fa00 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3636fa00 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_36e63b81 | type |
Rule of Cool | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_36e63b81 | comment |
Rule of Cool: Okay, those chops really do hurt but why bother when you can just punch a guy instead? note Because punching is actually illegal in wrestling, and back in the days when Flair broke in, you would actually be disqualified if you didn't watch the "knuckle blows" Hence throwing chops, forearms and elbows. In many older matches you can actually see the ref smack at a wrestlers hand if he clenches his fist. Because the chop makes a louder noise, WOOO! To that matter, why keep using the figure four leglock when it has an obvious counter and only won you one of your sixteen titles?note As noted above, Randy Savage "passed out" while "trapped" in the hold when Flair challenged him for the WWE title in September 1992. Because it looks cool, WOOO! | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_36e63b81 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_36e63b81 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_36e63b81 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_399b3dbe | type |
Money to Throw Away | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_399b3dbe | comment |
Money to Throw Away: Firing a Gucci shoe at the audience. (Ric was angry and started elbow-dropping his own clothes. What more context do you need?) | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_399b3dbe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_399b3dbe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_399b3dbe | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3d69ac4b | type |
Flung Clothing | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3d69ac4b | comment |
Flung Clothing: Some of his promos towards the end of WCW would see him rip off his suit until he was down to his underwear... and to add salt to the would, he would drop elbows on his suit jacket. According to pretty much everyone, Flair was fond of doing this while partying too. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3d69ac4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3d69ac4b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3d69ac4b | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3e29ac83 | type |
The Fighting Narcissist | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3e29ac83 | comment |
The Fighting Narcissist: The original Narcissist of wrestling might have been "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, which, at the time was not so much its own gimmick as it was a subversion of the original Gorgeous George, real name George Wagner. Buddy looked and acted similarly, but instead of any suggestions toward homosexuality, he outraged audiences with his obliviously inflated ego, such as his insistence his bleached head was naturally that way. 30 years later, Rogers was succeeded by a rubber-faced blond who dressed like Elton John, but added on claims of having a ludicrous fortune and lady-killing record, paying tribute to both Gorgeous George and the more recent narcissist gimmick. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3e29ac83 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3e29ac83 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3e29ac83 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3f09e59b | type |
Power Stable | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3f09e59b | comment |
Power Stable: There is definitely money in a Flair-managed stable, each wearing expensive clothes, partying, and kicking people's asses. (Flair shows up drunk half the time he appears on TV, already.) The Four Horsemen in the NWA/WCW. Evolution in WWE. Following the Madness of Ric Flair segments, Ric finally turned up in the arena — still wearing his underwear — along with his 'stable': some mental patients and a 'roided up nurse (Asya). Millionaires' Club, with Brian Adams, Bryan Clarke, Diamond Dallas Page, Horace Hogan, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Lex Luger, Miss Elizabeth, Scott Steiner and Terry Funk. During Nitro's final lap in 2001, Flair put together another, less notable heel stable, The Magnificent Seven (formerly known as The Elite), comprised of Buff Bagwell, Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, the Steiners, and Road Warrior Animal. In addition to Bischoff, the Seven also feuded with the Rhodes family, which ended up being Flair's final run-in with the Dream. In TNA, he started Fourtune, basically a new-generation Four Horsemen of TNA Originals who for a while were the top heels in the company, delivering Horsemen-style beatdowns to everyone on the roster. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3f09e59b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3f09e59b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_3f09e59b | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_402b438d | type |
Clothes Make the Legend | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_402b438d | comment |
Clothes Make the Legend: Flair's ring attire is legendary; elaborate robe, usually with feathers, fur, and/or jewels, trunks, and boots typically the same color as his robe with "RF" monogrammed on them in a custom font, and kneepads. The hand-made robes were top of the line, costing several thousand dollars minimum. Out of the ring, Flair was committed to the gimmick of being the Nature Boy. He wore tailored suits, handmade shoes, custom sunglasses, rings and Rolex watches. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_402b438d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_402b438d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_402b438d | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_40cc0c7e | type |
Bittersweet Ending | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending Ric Flair vs. Sting closing out the final episode of Nitro. Flair's WrestleMania 24 match. He lost, but it's widely agreed that he gave his best performance in years, and it took a lot to put him down for the count. Shawn Michaels said it best before retiring Flair for good - "I'm sorry. I love you." | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_40cc0c7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_40cc0c7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_40cc0c7e | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_47d35854 | type |
Intergenerational Friendship | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_47d35854 | comment |
Intergenerational Friendship: With Shawn Michaels and Triple H, the former of which wrestled Flair in his WWE "retirement" match and the latter inducted him into the Hall of Fame. He briefly had this with Carlito, until... well, it's Carlito. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_47d35854 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_47d35854 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_47d35854 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4d272d11 | type |
Blood Is the New Black | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4d272d11 | comment |
Blood Is the New Black: Whole hospital refrigerators could be filled with the bags of blood Ric Flair has bled over the course of his career. One of the most common images of him is with his hair dyed solid red and his face a red mask. WWE had a "no-blading" policy by the time he joined up. He and Savage were both fined $500 (admittedly a drop in the bucket) for their brutal display at 'Mania VIII. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4d272d11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4d272d11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4d272d11 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4f4372e9 | type |
Early-Installment Weirdness | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4f4372e9 | comment |
Early-Installment Weirdness: He debuted in 1972 as "Ramblin' Ricky Rhodes", a 300-pound brawler billed as Dusty Rhodes' cousin. Even after he began bleaching his hair, he was noticeably bulkier than his leaner appearance as US and World champ. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4f4372e9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4f4372e9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_4f4372e9 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_50d2ca43 | type |
The Coats Are Off | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_50d2ca43 | comment |
The Coats Are Off: When Ric Flair whips his jacket off, that's when shit gets real. (Elbow drop optional.) If he rips off his pants like he did on the December 28, 1998 Nitro in a promo where he demanded a rematch against Bischoff after Bischoff beat him the night before at Starrcade, RUN! | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_50d2ca43 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_50d2ca43 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_50d2ca43 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_52c0c7cf | type |
Motive Decay | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_52c0c7cf | comment |
Motive Decay: Betraying Fortune for Immortal caused this big time for his role in TNA, both in-universe and out. In-universe he betrayed his own plans to both finally defeat Hogan once and for all and to remake the Horsemen with TNA homegrown talent and proved it was all about the power for him. Out-of-universe he seemed to float around with no purpose, as there wasn't exactly much potential to elevate amongst the Immortal ranks, what with the one young rising star in Gunner being lost in the shuffle up until 2012. He was such an ineffectual member with Immortal that people were speculating he was being a Reverse Mole to help either Fortune or Sting with taking out Hogan, but this never materialized. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_52c0c7cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_52c0c7cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_52c0c7cf | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_566f1565 | type |
10-Minute Retirement | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_566f1565 | comment |
10-Minute Retirement: The retirement match with Shawn Michaels. While he obeyed the letter of the law by declining another match in America, he wrestled Hogan during the latter's 2009 tour of Australia. (He claims he was bored, but it more likely has to do with his outstanding debts.) Then he signed with TNA. While this naturally put a damper on his sendoff at WrestleMania 24 (considered by many to be the most perfect sendoff ever given to a wrestler), he showed everyone that he's still got what it takes to work the crowd, if not the match. He retired for real as of 2012, citing Jerry Lawler's heart attack as a warning against even a physically-fit man of his age subjecting himself to the rigors of the ring. These days, Flair is settling into the role of statesman—and manager for his daughter. (He's mostly stayed off TV, though, even though he got a decent reaction from the fans.) But wait... in 2022, he announced he was training for what he claims will be his last match ever. The Ric Flair's Last Match event was part of Starrcast, a fan convention in Nashville organized in part by his son-in-law Conrad Thompson and scheduled during WWE's SummerSlam weekend (the Last Match card was the night after SummerSlam). In that match, Ric teamed up with another son-in-law, Andrade El Ídolo, and defeated Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. The event as a whole was also notable for being the first time in more than 20 years that talent from practically every major promotion running shows in the US appeared at a single event.note The complete list of promotions represented: AAA, AEW, Black Label Pro, DDT, Future Stars of Wrestling, GCW, Impact, MLW, NJPW, NWA, Ohio Valley Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Revolver, Progress Wrestling, ROH, Terminus, and WWE. The last previous show to feature talent from all major promotions was the third Brian Pillman Memorial Show in 2000. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_566f1565 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_566f1565 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_566f1565 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5989e3b6 | type |
Enemy Mine | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5989e3b6 | comment |
Enemy Mine Flair and Dusty teamed up in the 1980s against Dick Slater and a heel-turned Chief Wahoo McDaniel. Flair and Hulk Hogan's characters being friends for the Immortal scam. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5989e3b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5989e3b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5989e3b6 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_59b9f4df | type |
You Are Fat | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_59b9f4df | comment |
"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, FAT BOY." | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_59b9f4df | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_59b9f4df | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_59b9f4df | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5d6710a | type |
Pixellation | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5d6710a | comment |
Pixellation: When Flair brought the NWA/WCW Championship to the WWE, after two months it ended up being shown as a mess of pixels due to legal reasons, and it was explained that Flair's NWA Title was not sanctioned by the WWE. The full story here is that Flair, like every NWA champion, had put down a $25,000 deposit on the belt. Since he kept winning, his deposit was never returned. When he was fired/resigned from WCW (without having been made to drop the title), the deposit was never returned, so Ric kept the belt and took it with him to WWE. WCW filed a lawsuit which led to the censoring of the belt and Ric at first wearing a belt that resembled one of the tag titles, then a "Big Gold" knockoff. In the end, WWF simply put their own world title on him. WCW later reacquired the belt from Flair for a hefty $38,000. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5d6710a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5d6710a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5d6710a | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5e2e55e4 | type |
The Casanova | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5e2e55e4 | comment |
The Casanova: Part of his kayfabe character, his entourage. He's been famous for decades for his ability to draw women. In his younger days, Flair's trash talk would invariably end in promises to "take your momma for a ride on Space Mountain, fat boy! WOOOOOOOOO!" At Halloween Havoc '99, Kimberly Page, then wife of DDP, mentioned that she invited David Flair to a hotel room, and Ric showed up to get touchy with her again part of the show which both DDP and Kim agreed to play along. Later that evening, as Ric is beating the crap out of Eddie Guerrero with the crowbar, Torrie Wilson tries to stop Flair and gets forcibly kissed for her efforts. But she smiles afterward so it's okay! | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5e2e55e4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5e2e55e4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_5e2e55e4 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_61a12ee2 | type |
Eccentric Mentor | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_61a12ee2 | comment |
Eccentric Mentor: Ask Scott McGhee and Stan Lane, whom Flair had a hand in training. McGhee got training from both Ric Flair and Buddy Rogers, since we're on the topic. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_61a12ee2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_61a12ee2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_61a12ee2 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6411dac8 | type |
BadassNormal | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6411dac8 | comment |
Badass Normal: Unlike some of his most famous opponents, he didn't possess super-strength (Luger, Sting, Hogan) or fly off the top much (Steamboat, Sting). He instead was just the greatest wrestler of his era. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6411dac8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6411dac8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6411dac8 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64b303c0 | type |
Drunk with Power | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64b303c0 | comment |
Drunk with Power: Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan inside a barbed-wire steel cage. Not only was the WCW title up for grabs, but so was "ownership" of WCW, which Flair had won for 90 days by beating Eric earlier that year. (It was okay because Flair was a good guy.) In the weeks that followed, Flair did the thing where he stripped to his underoos in the middle of the ring. He had gone mad with power. He would later become just as bad as Eric, and Dean Malenko had to play the voice of reason. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64b303c0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64b303c0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64b303c0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64e975cf | type |
Manly Tears | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64e975cf | comment |
Manly Tears: Ric could solve a drought by crying. At Night of the Champions, Ric opened the show by noting that a backstage worker told him not to weep on account of it being the final TNT show. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64e975cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64e975cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_64e975cf | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_675056e4 | type |
Signature Move | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_675056e4 | comment |
Signature Move: He wasn't given the nickname "The Dirtiest Player in the Game" for nothing. Thumbs to the eye and kicks to the groin were among his favorite illegal tactics. Flair would also use chop blocks, kicks, ANYTHING that would weaken an opponent's legs and/or knees to soften them up for the Figure Four. He so thoroughly owns the knife-edge chop that if anyone uses it today, the crowd will shout "Wooo!" in honor of Ric. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_675056e4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_675056e4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_675056e4 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6fc21d06 | type |
Fiction 500 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6fc21d06 | comment |
Fiction 500: He was rich enough to buy a controlling share of WWE. That VERY NEXT DAY after Vince kills the InVasion angle (which effectively shut the book on WCW), Ric Flair debuts as co-owner and puts an arm around him, and Vince looks horrified. Very funny and also bittersweet. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6fc21d06 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6fc21d06 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_6fc21d06 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_71bd62b9 | type |
Calling Your Attacks | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_71bd62b9 | comment |
Calling Your Attacks: Flair would often telegraph his figure-four leglock by exclaiming, "Now, we go to school!" Some of his best opponents, such as Bret Hart, were savvy enough to reverse it when he did that, though. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_71bd62b9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_71bd62b9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_71bd62b9 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_737394ab | type |
Iconic Item | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_737394ab | comment |
Iconic Item: The Big Gold Belt is more associated with Flair than any of the other many wrestlers who have held it. This is likely because Flair was not only the first wrestler to hold the belt, but has also had the highest number of title reigns with it. He even wore the original belt with him to the ring during his "last match" (it's owned by his son-in-law Conrad Thompson). | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_737394ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_737394ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_737394ab | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_754df088 | type |
Put on a Bus | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_754df088 | comment |
Put on a Bus: Flair continued to bounce between the independent circuit and various promotions, often times in the ring (reforming his old posse with Evolution and Fortune), but mostly as an authority figure. Despite many accomplishments in WWE and his stated intention to close out his career there, Flair's contract finally expired in 2009 (apparently he was a little too animated for today's scripted WWE) and he migrated to TNA; but within a year he'd had a bellyful and returned to WWE, fulfilling his wish. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_754df088 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_754df088 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_754df088 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_781c9a5b | type |
Talk Show with Fists | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_781c9a5b | comment |
Talk Show with Fists: "A Flair for the Gold," WCW 1993, done as a stopgap until his no-compete clause with WWE ran out; he could appear anywhere but the ring. By far his most famous guest was the Shockmaster. Ric, on the verge of corpsing, fled the set. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_781c9a5b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_781c9a5b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_781c9a5b | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7a3dd888 | type |
Real Men Wear Pink | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7a3dd888 | comment |
Real Men Wear Pink: He wore a brand-new, sparkly, befeathered, occasionally-pink ring robe to each big event (we're talking pink, here; he should've driven to the ring in a Barbie Dream Car). Each robe was custom-made and cost more than the previous one, eventually totaling at $5000 a pop—and yet he still manages to look masculine. Here◊ is the famous photo of Sherri trying one on of his robes. It's funny since they were both such flamboyant dressers. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7a3dd888 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7a3dd888 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7a3dd888 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7aa858c1 | type |
Consummate Liar | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7aa858c1 | comment |
Consummate Liar: One of the most infamous running gags in all of wrestling is how Flair's natural charisma would start to win over Sting's trust before Flair would, of course, screw Sting over in some dastardly way. Rinse and repeat for infinity. | |
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Chronic Backstabbing Disorder | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7c862b8a | comment |
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Flair turned on Sting more times than almost humanly possible. He turned on Vader, Mr. Perfect, Randy Orton, Batista, and even alienated fellow Horsemen Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko with his David-centric behavior. Perhaps the most triumphant example of this trope, though, was during the 1992 Royal Rumble, when he gave The Barbarian a high-five, circled around in front of him and immediately gave him a knife-edge chop. Raised to funny by commentator Bobby Heenan, who had previously managed Barbarian, pleading with Ric not to turn on Barbarian. Fourtune. He formed them specifically to be his future expy of the Horsemen motivated by taking back prominence in the company they helped build, but then as soon as that purpose turned them against Hulk Hogan's blatant new-generation nWo ripoff, he would show that for him it's all about the power. | |
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"The Reason You Suck" Speech | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7d89315b | comment |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Flair dismantled Carlito in one of the greatest examples in professional wrestling history. The big return of the Horseman in the 9.14.98 Nitro episode capped with what is easily Ric's most famous shoot, the "FIRE ME!" rant, as Bischoff stood on the ramp and glowered. And yes, he actually told Eric that he "sucks". | |
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Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7d89315b | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7da34d45 | type |
Ring Oldies | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7da34d45 | comment |
Ring Oldies: Ric Flair is an historically-significant figure in wrestling. He was a 16-Time World Champion and had an in-ring career spanning 50 years. Some of the companies he headlined in don't even exist anymore. AWA: Trained by Verne Gagne, Flair debuted in the AWA in December of 1971. NWA: From its founding in 1948 until 2019, the NWA wasn't a promotion, but instead a loose alliance of promoters who agreed to a set of bylaws and shared a common world heavyweight "championship". By the late 80's it was pretty centralized around Jim Crockett, though, which is what led to Jim Crockett Promotions becoming WCW. (Fun fact: ECW and TNA didn't come from nowhere; they used to be a part of the NWA as well. And when Flair first joined the NWA, WWE was part of it too.) Flair left for the NWA in 1974. He won the NWA Championship 9 times in that span, an unbeatable record. WWE: During his two years in the WWF, Flair beat Sid Justice to win the vacant World Championship title. In the remaining years at WCW, Ric was the WCW Champion 8 times (bringing the grand total to 9 WCW reigns) before the company was bought by WWE. Flair returned to wrestling in November of 2001 in WWE and continued to work there up until his first retirement in 2008 in a grandiose career match vs. Shawn Michaels. TNA: After his first retirement, Ric Flair eventually went to work to TNA for two years. In that run, he helped AJ Styles retain the TNA Championship. He continued to wrestle part-time for TNA and other indie promotions until officially announcing his retirement at 63, almost exactly forty years after his debut. After Ric returned to WWE in a non-wrestling role, he was in his daughter's corner when she first won the Divas Championship, them the NXT Women's Championship, and finally the World Women's Championship at WrestleMania 32. Of course all of this wouldn't be counting Japan or any other territories. It's funny because Flair probably does have over 100 reigns. When Flair wasn't in a big money feud, he'd go to crappy little territory shows, drop the belt to a local hero on Friday, and win it back on Sunday. The NWA didn't count any of them, so who knows how many times Flair actually won the title. Can we get Scott Steiner in here to check the math? | |
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Jobber Entrance | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_7e3725ad | comment |
Jobber Entrance: Not even Ric Flair was above these in WCW. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_80288048 | type |
Nonchalant Dodge | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_80288048 | comment |
Nonchalant Dodge: He avoided Mike Von Erich this way, while doing his usual strut. At Clash of the Champions XXVII, Flair managed to combine it with Nonchalant Grab: When Sting went for a splash towards ringside, Flair simply grabbed Sherri Martel and shoved her in his path. (It's perfect because he could have easily just moved out the way.) | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_810c980e | type |
Serial Spouse | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_810c980e | comment |
Serial Spouse: As noted in the page lead, he's been married four times, all ending in divorce. While he had a fifth wedding ceremony in 2018, he and his partner (Wendy Barlow, aka Fifi in WCW) separated in 2021 and officially broke up (apparently amicably) in 2022, with both confirming that they never applied for a marriage certificate. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_823c6e3e | type |
Large Ham | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_823c6e3e | comment |
Large Ham: Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels: GOATs at overselling. Flair is a relic of a time when superstars would dive into a mountain of coke before promos: | |
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Napoleon Delusion | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_83a55c8e | comment |
Napoleon Delusion: "President Flair" was this overall. At one point, he yelled at Piper that he was the President of the United States. (He meant he was President of WCW.) He also began decorating his office with a Presidential Seal and War Room phone. | |
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Villain Protagonist | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_898ff050 | comment |
Villain Protagonist: Of the NWA and WCW during The '80s as perennial Heel champion. | |
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Spell My Name with an S | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_89a17726 | comment |
Spell My Catchphrase Without an "H": His catchphrase is often misspelled as "Whooooo!" | |
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Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_89a17726 | |
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'80s Hair | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_8b4f2a4f | comment |
'80s Hair: The sight of Flair with his huge mullet, held in place by a headband. Compare it to the modest hairstyle he had for the rest of his career. | |
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Forgot Flanders Could Do That | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_8b9226d6 | comment |
Forgot Flanders Could Do That: Best known for cheating and gurning and flopping around, Flair was a really good technical wrestler... when he felt like showing it. He's been known to point out that he doesn't cheat because he has to, he cheats because he can. | |
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Defiant to the End | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_966da803 | comment |
Defiant to the End: Ric's final WrestleMania match. Facing a mandate that he would be fired the next time he lost, Ric specifically chose to face Shawn Michaels, Mr. WrestleMania, because if he didn't face the best then it didn't mean anything. At the end of the match, Flair (legitimately, if tales are to be believed) had trouble even standing and holding his fists up, telling Shawn to "Come on! Pull the trigger!" He knew it was his last match, and it would end in nothing short of an epic climax. | |
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Heel–Face Revolving Door | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_97522514 | comment |
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Flair is probably the ultimate "chameleon wrestler", able to smoothly transition from "face" to "heel" depending on who he's facing. Flair and Hogan did have a match at WCW's Clash of Champions five days after Hogan won the title at Hog Wild. It was a very cool dynamic seeing a babyface Ric Flair and Hollywood Hogan go at it. | |
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Chick Magnet | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_9858c391 | comment |
Chick Magnet: His entourage. He's been famous for his ability to draw women for decades. In his younger days, Flair's trash talk would invariably end in promises to "take your momma for a ride on Space Mountain, fat boy! WOOOOOOOOO!" | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_9ae8eea9 | type |
Character Tics | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_9ae8eea9 | comment |
Character Tics: Besides his chops, there was the rolling knee drop. In WCW, these got increasingly bizarre, such as failing a top turnbuckle move or begging for a timeout. Flair's inability to hit a top rope maneuver without getting caught by his opponent. Subverted the few times it actually works, such as his first title win against Dusty Rhodes. Also, there's his famous strut. Lest we forget... The Flair Flop. And of course, most famously... "WOOOO-"ing and jerking his whole body around like he's a chicken or having an orgasm. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_9fbe06a5 | type |
Badass in a Nice Suit | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_9fbe06a5 | comment |
Badass in a Nice Suit: He really loved his suits. They cost more than most people make in a year, you know. This was also Evolution's gimmick in a nutshell: They gang up on people and they wear suits. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_a43a691b | type |
Finishing Move | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_a43a691b | comment |
Finishing Move: Well, he was a heel and it was the 70's and 80's. Every match would end in bullshit heel antics, DQ's, countouts, literally just holding someone down after a double leg takedown for a pin was common. It was a different time where you didn't really need to use the same move to finish every match. That said, the Figure Four Leglock was the signature Flair spot he often won with. He beat Chris Jericho with the figure four at Summerslam '02 and Vince McMahon at the '02 Royal Rumble. That may have been the most effective year in the history of the figure four. Jericho actually says in his book that he had to convince Flair to allow him to tap out to the move. (To be fair, The Miz rarely beat anyone with it either. So, the legacy lives on.) Speaking of which, his 2022 "Last Match" ended in a similar manner. Shortly after a ref bump, he was passed a set of brass knuckles and hit Jeff Jarrett with them, knocking him out before applying the figure-four, followed by the referee awakening and calling the pinfall. | |
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Jobber | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_a505fdd7 | comment |
The Figure Four. He did beat lots of people with it back in the day, especially jobbers during the buildup to a feud with some babyface. They had to establish that the Figure Four was a death sentence, so that it was a big deal when the champ finally reversed it. (When he beat a name opponent with the Figure Four it was usually by pinfall, after they'd been KO'd by chicanery, such as Jeff Jarrett in his "Last Match" in 2022. Or, as in the case of Randy Savage when Flair beat him for the WWE Title in September 1992, "passed out" from the "pain".) As time goes on, though, any wrestling move starts to get taken for granted, and stops being impressive on its own. Especially after enough babyfaces counter it for the big win. So after a while, the Figure 4 went from "OMG he just broke that guy's leg" to basically a rest hold which started being countered all the time. Ric says the same on just about every podcast, uncertain why anyone would use the move, since he can't remember winning a single match with the Figure Four himself. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_a8adc5a0 | type |
Like a Son to Me | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_a8adc5a0 | comment |
Like a Son to Me: In TNA he has AJ Styles and Kazarian, who even got into a fight for Ric's love until he decided to make them a part of Fourtune, where he was a Team Dad of sorts for about eight months. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ab2df806 | type |
Red Baron | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ab2df806 | comment |
Red Baron: The Nature Boy Or "Naitch". Slick Rick The Man The Dirtiest Player in the Game | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ab473580 | type |
Wrestling Family | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ab473580 | comment |
Wrestling Family: His eldest son, David, is known for his time in WCW from 1999 until the end. David would have been fine if they had actually, well, trained him. To make matters worse, he had the charisma of a grape. In fairness, he never really wanted to be a pro wrestler full time; he was a career police officer and trained in his off time at WCW's Power Plant training facility as more of a hobby than anything else, because it was fun and it gave him and his dad something to talk about. All of a sudden, though, WCW wanted to throw big money at him to get in the ring in televised angles and feuds and hell, who would say no to that? And the common consensus was his time with Crowbar and Daffney did make for some of WCW's more genuinely funny moments, so it could be argued that it wasn't all bad. After WCW closed its doors, he spent some time bouncing around WWE, TNA, and a handful of NWA territories, all the while never making any pretense that he was anything other than an enthusiastic hobbyist, before calling it quits in 2008. Flair's younger son, Reid, competed primarily in the North Carolina area and All Japan Pro Wrestling before dying on March 29, 2013, of what has since been determined to have been an accidental overdose of heroin and other drugs. Flair was also near obsessed with the kid. He would never stop talking about his achievements and how'd be a big star. He did have the talent, though. Reid was a transcendent talent at amateur wrestling, having won several tournaments at the state level and another at nationals trivia In fact, it was this national tournament that Ric Flair referred to in his biography that caused so much bad blood between himself at Eric Bischoff in WCW. Ric had given what he felt was more than enough advance notice that he would be unavailable while attending his son's matches, but was told to show up to a TV taping only a couple days before the set date, and which point he told them no, I made my plans months ago, suck it up. Probably with much more yelling. Bischoff then directly referenced the incident in a later talent meeting when he berated Flair publicly in front of much of the WCW roster for his perceived unprofessionalism. and could have made some noise at the Olympic level if so inclined and had kept on course. But after high school, he began getting into trouble with drugs, in fact being denied a WWE developmental deal because he couldn't pass a drug screening, which set the tone for his last few years. He felt bad for not being there for his other kids, but Reid was the one he was going to get right. If Ric could be faulted for anything, though, it was taking things too far in the other direction, being overaccommodating to compensate for his absence and being more a friend than a father. WWE, showing their knack for sensitivity, thought it would be a good idea to make light of Reid's death, to get everyone talking about the Paige/Charlotte feud by inserting a line in a promo having Paige mock Reid's death to his sister's face text "Your baby brother, he didn't have much fight in him, did he?"—without asking him, of course. (It's easier to ask forgiveness than ask for permission.) In a shoot interview promoting his Last Match event in 2022, he admitted that in the years after Reid's death, he self-medicated his grief by falling into serious alcoholism, which led to a near-life-ending medical crisis in 2018. (Ric was in intensive care for a month, with more than a week spent in a medically-induced coma.) Flair's older daughter Megan has appeared in a number of wrestling TV shows, including Monday Nitro. Her husband Conrad Thompson is host/moderator of several prominent wrestling podcasts, and as noted above is involved in organizing the Starrcast fan convention in Nashville. The Ric Flair's Last Match event was the centerpiece of the 2022 Starrcast. Flair's younger daughter Ashley (now billed as Charlotte Flair) is a former NXT Women's Champion and WWE Divas Champion, as well as a four-time WWE Raw Women's Champion. (Note that the Raw Women's Championship is actually the WWE Women's Championship: the 2016 brand split took place during her first reign. During her second reign, the title was rechristened the Raw Women's Championship after the SmackDown Women's Championship was created.) She turned out to be the second-generation Flair who made it in this business. Not to mention that she's married to Andrade El Ídolo, who tag-teamed with Ric in his "final" match in 2022. Scott McGhee is his brother-in-law and Bram, perhaps best known to USA viewers for his time in TNA, was his son-in-law, having been previously married to Charlotte. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b01abe4f | type |
Catchphrase | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b01abe4f | comment |
Catchphrase: A ton. Being in the business for four decades tends to allow you that luxury. Fun fact: he owns the trademark for "Wooooo" with exactly 5 O's. For real. "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!" "Time to go to school!" (usually just prior to whooping somebody's ass.) "What's CAUSin' all o' this?" "YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, FAT BOY." He's a Rolex/diamond-ring wearin', limousine-ridin', jet-flyin', stylin', profilin', whiskey-drinkin', wheelin'-dealin', kiss-stealin', son of a gun! (And he has a hard time keeping his alligators down!) "If you don't like it, learn to love it, 'cause it's the best thing going today!" "I'm every woman's dream and every man's nightmare." "The BIGGEST house, on the BIGGEST hill..." "WE ARE LOOKIN' GOOD!" "I CAN KISS ANY GIRL HERE, EVEN THAT FAT ONE, AND MAKE 'EM CRY." "I'm a 60-minute man, and I'm ALL NIGHT LONG!", referring to his endurance both in the ring and the bedroom. ("YOU WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT 60 MINUTES IS, PAL.") "GIMMIE DA GREEN LIGHT!" "You gotta....WALK THAT AISLE!" "MEEEEEAN — WOO! BAHGAWD! — GENE!" "TIME TO RIDE SPACE MOUNTAIN!" "Space Mountain runs all night long....and even longer." "OLDEST RIDE...LONGEST LINE, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" "JUMPING ON'S A LOT EASIER THAN JUMPING OFF, WOOOOOOOO!" "I am GOD!" | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b49f08c9 | type |
Gorgeous George | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b49f08c9 | comment |
Gorgeous George: A grown man, dressed in a sequined bathrobe and not much else, putting a figure four leglock on some jabroni. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b5b4b077 | type |
The Ace | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b5b4b077 | comment |
The Ace: Widely considered the best pro wrestler ever. Not just by fans, but by plenty of wrestlers and publications. There's very little room for debate outside of Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels (and three out of the four say Flair was the best). Hogan and Austin may have had bigger popularity and drawing power at their peaks, Hart and Michaels might have been better technically, but Flair was the complete package, a true Master of All. Look no further than "The Broomstick Rule", a term coined by wrestling reviewers. The rule is that Ric Flair, at the top of his game, made matches a minimum of 3 stars note matches are rated from 5 stars (the very best) to a negative 5 stars (the very worst). No stars or "Dud" would be a match of no value. 3 stars would be an average match that is still good. simply by being in the match. It is called "The Broomstick Rule" because Ric could carry a broomstick to a 3 star match. This rule has since been used to describe other outstanding wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels or AJ Styles, but let it be known that it was created to describe Ric Flair. | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b5b4b077 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b9fa17b7 | type |
Pretender Diss | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b9fa17b7 | comment |
Pretender Diss: While endlessly on the hunt for the "next" Nature Boy, he has no time for losers who ape his style without his blessing. He more or less said 'Prepare to die' at Abyss after he was given a WWE Hall Of Fame Ring. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b9fa17b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b9fa17b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_b9fa17b7 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bc74ef27 | type |
Berserk Button | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bc74ef27 | comment |
Berserk Button: I just want to ask you one question... WHO ARE YOU! TO EVER TELL ME! HOW TO WRESTLE!?! Don't you dare take wrestling lightly, as Carlito found out. Imitating him without his permission (Vince McMahon, Jay Lethal) or being a garbage wrestler (Mick Foley) also does the trick. (Somewhat hypocritical from the guy who wore a fat suit and Stetson hat to impersonate Dusty.) Name somebody other than him as "the greatest of all time." Just don't be surprised when his music hits, followed by a hand chopping you in the throat. He has a sharp ear. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bc74ef27 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bc74ef27 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bc74ef27 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bfad4265 | type |
I Have You Now, My Pretty | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bfad4265 | comment |
I Have You Now, My Pretty: Jimmy Garvin (NWA) losing a match to Ric Flair, which meant that his wife "Precious" had to go on a dream date with Flair. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bfad4265 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bfad4265 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_bfad4265 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c313d43a | type |
True Companions | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c313d43a | comment |
True Companions: Him and Arn Anderson. Both men demonstrated this trope 2002 season of RAW when The Undertaker intentionally assaulted Double A to make Ric Flair "change his mind" about facing him in that year's WrestleMania. Then, Ric Flair attacks The Undertaker with a large pipe while making it clear he's still not accepting the eventual WrestleMania and warning him if he ever goes after one of his friends, especially Double A, he'll show him why he's the " the dirtiest player in the game". As for Double A, he told Ric Flair don't accept the match because of him while also stating he didn't want his career/or legacy to come crashing down because of "The Deadman". | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c313d43a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c313d43a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c313d43a | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c3fbac64 | type |
Bestiality Is Depraved | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c3fbac64 | comment |
TNA Flair blurred the line between "legend" and "dangerous old man", believing himself to be God — as in Jehovah, Yahweh, etc. We also discovered Flair doesn't draw the line at thoroughbreds when selecting his dates. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c3fbac64 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c3fbac64 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c3fbac64 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c420a553 | type |
We Can Rule Together | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c420a553 | comment |
We Can Rule Together: Exploited, as Flair would famously lure Sting (aka "the dumbest man in wrestling") into the Four Horsemen and then turn on him, kicking him out of the group. And he did it twice. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c420a553 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c420a553 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c420a553 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c675d08c | type |
Compliment Backfire | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c675d08c | comment |
Compliment Backfire: Calling Austin Aries a fair hand who might become another Shawn Michaels or Nature Boy while Flair was trying to put over Ring of Honor. Aries believed he was already that good and that notable. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c675d08c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c675d08c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c675d08c | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9597a03 | type |
Self-Deprecation | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9597a03 | comment |
Self-Deprecation: You have to remember that there's Ric Flair and there's Richard Fliehr. Richard has a reputation for leaving promoters high and dry with money, be it ROH, Highspots, or countless other autograph/collectibles companies across the country. He was stupidly irresponsible with money, and now finds himself in a pile of debt which will likely just be transferred over to his estate when he dies. (Not to mention having to pay alimony to alllllllll his ex-wives...) To his credit, he's owned up to it and even incorporated it into his schtick. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9597a03 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9597a03 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9597a03 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9e5a0db | type |
Legacy Character | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9e5a0db | comment |
Legacy Character: In 1978, he earned his nickname by beating the Golden Age "Nature Boy", Buddy Rogers, in the ring. In real life, Rogers handed the mantle over to Flair, along with his finishing move. The strut was taken from Memphis great "The Fabulous One" Jackie Fargo.note Who also trained Jerry Lawler and who, at least in Kayfabe, put together the Tag Team the Fabulous Ones, Steve Keirn and Stan Lane. After watching his daughter capture the NXT Women's championship, he declared that she will be the best Flair ever. Here's the hug after Charlotte won her first big match on Raw. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9e5a0db | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9e5a0db | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_c9e5a0db | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caa28b82 | type |
Cloudcuckoolander | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caa28b82 | comment |
Cloudcuckoolander: Anybody who calls himself God in dead seriousness is probably an example. But really, no one, including the McMahons, thinks that Ric Flair will stay on topic. That's part of his charm. Do you have a better explanation why a man would constantly strut like a chicken, elbow drop his coat, or scream 'Wooo' between speeches while flinging his head around like he's having a seizure? One of Nitro's more eccentric performers, Steve McMichael (nicknamed "Mongo" since his days with the Chicago Bears), used to carry his little dog Pepe to matches. When Pepe started yapping at Flair, what he did he do? SNARLED RIGHT BACK. Under Vince Russo's booking, Flair's character turned into this. He did a few vignettes about his stay in a mental institution and would soon be booked to look like a senile old man, stripping off his clothes and humiliating himself until Roddy Piper came out to walk him backstage. it didn't last long and was very hard to watch. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caa28b82 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caa28b82 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caa28b82 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caca21f7 | type |
Easily-Distracted Referee | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caca21f7 | comment |
Easily-Distracted Referee: Flair utilized this trope to its fullest advantage. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caca21f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caca21f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_caca21f7 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ceabe589 | type |
Incoming Ham | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ceabe589 | comment |
Incoming Ham: meeeeeeeeeEEEAAAAAAN......WOOO!.....bah GAWD!....WOOO.....Gene! He did this so much that Mean Gene Okerlund would be taken aback on those rare occasions where Ric dispensed with his usual over-the-top salutation. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ceabe589 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ceabe589 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ceabe589 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d0b60f23 | type |
GoshDangItToHeck | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d0b60f23 | comment |
Gosh Dang It to Heck!!: Due to being on TBS in prime time on November 27, 1986, the worst threat Flair could throw at Nikita Koloff during their Starrcade match was, "Now I'm gonna kick your butt, you son of a gun!" And later on Nitro, "I'm gonna take your girlfriend home and make her say 'Mickey Mouse'!" | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d0b60f23 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d0b60f23 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d0b60f23 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d2c4c6f5 | type |
Hey, That's My Line! | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d2c4c6f5 | comment |
Hey, That's My Line!: The "Wooo"-off with Kurt Angle and Jay Lethal, which pisses him off to the point of violence. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d2c4c6f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d2c4c6f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d2c4c6f5 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d50a5478 | type |
Unlimited Wardrobe | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d50a5478 | comment |
Unlimited Wardrobe: Flair's ring attire is legendary; elaborate robe, usually with feathers, fur, and/or jewels, trunks, and boots typically the same color as his robe with "RF" monogrammed on them in a custom font, and kneepads. The hand-made robes were top of the line, costing several thousand dollars minimum. Out of the ring, Flair was committed to the gimmick of being the Nature Boy. He wore tailored suits, handmade shoes, custom sunglasses, rings and stupidly-expensive watches (like the matching Rolexes he and Shawn Michaels bought to commemorate his last WWE match). And apparently, some damn expensive shoes. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d50a5478 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d50a5478 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d50a5478 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d52d28b6 | type |
Hypocrite | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d52d28b6 | comment |
Hypocrite: In 2023, Ric tries to shrug off critism that his daughter, Charlotte, is always being given opportunities over the rest of the locker room, while critisizing that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin being in the main event of the first night of the previous WrestleMania in his first match in twenty years. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d52d28b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d52d28b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d52d28b6 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d6dee153 | type |
Tactical Suicide Boss | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d6dee153 | comment |
Tactical Suicide Boss: His signature top-rope spot (where he climbs up only to get tossed off). He did it in virtually every match yet you could probably count the times anything except getting thrown off happened on one hand. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d6dee153 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d6dee153 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_d6dee153 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_da76b18 | type |
Hijacked by Ganon | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_da76b18 | comment |
Hijacked by Ganon: Flair was shoehorned into the infamous Black Scorpion angle in 1990. Flair volunteered to be unmasked as the Black Scorpion, believing it wouldn't hurt him, whereas if Barry Windham (who had recently portrayed a Stingbot in the Halloween Havoc fiasco) went in his place, it would drive a stake in Windham's wrestling career. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_da76b18 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_da76b18 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_da76b18 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_df8bbf3 | type |
Theatrics of Pain | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_df8bbf3 | comment |
Theatrics of Pain: If he wanted you to believe he was in pain, he would make you believe it. Flair could probably out-sell Redd Foxx's heart attacks. He even has a specific move named after him: The Flair Flop. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_df8bbf3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_df8bbf3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_df8bbf3 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e26f04b4 | type |
Last of His Kind | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e26f04b4 | comment |
Last of His Kind: The last World Champion of the NWA territory system. When Flair won the title in 1981, his schedule was set by a national Board of Directors who divided his time between regional promotions all over the country, in addition to international trips to promotions in Japan, the Caribbean, and elsewhere. By the time Flair left the title behind in 1991, that system, in place since 1948, had broken down, and he was the exclusive employee of WCW. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e26f04b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e26f04b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e26f04b4 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e37f19 | type |
Disguised in Drag | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e37f19 | comment |
Wearing a polka dot dress and rouge to ambush Hogan | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e37f19 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e37f19 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e37f19 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e39ce9 | type |
The Face | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e39ce9 | comment |
The Face: Though closely identified with WWE, Ric Flair's most memorable matches all took place in the NWA and WCW. Flair was their Cena; a significant amount of WCW viewers, particularly the Carolinas and surrounding region, mostly watched for Flair. He remained with them until the company shuttered its doors in 2001. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e39ce9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e39ce9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e39ce9 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e3d06d0c | type |
Bash Brothers | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e3d06d0c | comment |
Bash Brothers: Greg Valentine, Blackjack Mulligan, Arn Anderson, Sting. Sting agreed to one last dance for the final broadcast of Nitro. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e3d06d0c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e3d06d0c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e3d06d0c | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e4f5affb | type |
The Chew Toy | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e4f5affb | comment |
The Chew Toy: Being the Champ so much, and primarily a heel who went out of his way to make people hate him, inevitably led to having a LOT of guys lining up to beat up Flair. In Inside Wrestling's "100 Greatest Wrestlers of the Century" special issue from Summer 2000, the photos for Jerry Lawler, Lex Luger, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Sting are all of them battling Flair. Sting and Luger are also included in the "Best of the 1990s" special color section, and the photos for them are also of them beating on Flair. The photo for Flair is of him about to chop Rick Steiner, who, as per his usual, doesn't look too interested in selling it. There is nothing Ric Flair will not do to put over his opponents. Unscrupulous bookers at WCW/TNA would often take advantage of this: Wearing a polka dot dress and rouge to ambush Hogan Dancing the Fargo Strut in a mental hospital...while Also sprach Zarathustra spews from a broken radio Kissing Dusty's ass (read: mule) | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e4f5affb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e4f5affb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e4f5affb | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e54325c9 | type |
Heel | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e54325c9 | comment |
Being the Champ so much, and primarily a heel who went out of his way to make people hate him, inevitably led to having a LOT of guys lining up to beat up Flair. In Inside Wrestling's "100 Greatest Wrestlers of the Century" special issue from Summer 2000, the photos for Jerry Lawler, Lex Luger, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Sting are all of them battling Flair. Sting and Luger are also included in the "Best of the 1990s" special color section, and the photos for them are also of them beating on Flair. The photo for Flair is of him about to chop Rick Steiner, who, as per his usual, doesn't look too interested in selling it. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e54325c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e54325c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e54325c9 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e5e6640b | type |
Flanderization | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e5e6640b | comment |
Flanderization: It's hard to deny that Flair's later promos are really bizarre. They are awesome, but also what the heck is he doing and how can a human body contain that much cocaine. The Figure Four. He did beat lots of people with it back in the day, especially jobbers during the buildup to a feud with some babyface. They had to establish that the Figure Four was a death sentence, so that it was a big deal when the champ finally reversed it. (When he beat a name opponent with the Figure Four it was usually by pinfall, after they'd been KO'd by chicanery, such as Jeff Jarrett in his "Last Match" in 2022. Or, as in the case of Randy Savage when Flair beat him for the WWE Title in September 1992, "passed out" from the "pain".) As time goes on, though, any wrestling move starts to get taken for granted, and stops being impressive on its own. Especially after enough babyfaces counter it for the big win. So after a while, the Figure 4 went from "OMG he just broke that guy's leg" to basically a rest hold which started being countered all the time. Ric says the same on just about every podcast, uncertain why anyone would use the move, since he can't remember winning a single match with the Figure Four himself. 1998 was the year he was being booked by Hogan and Nash: a dementia-ridden grandpa who just says whatever he wants, and it's funny at first, but at the same time you kinda wanna help him. This is also where Flair showed his jacket who's boss and dropped an elbow on it. And that other time Ric started stripping in the ring. (He dropped an elbow on each article of clothing he took off.) And even in the loony bin, Naitch is still pulling hot nurses! TNA Flair blurred the line between "legend" and "dangerous old man", believing himself to be God — as in Jehovah, Yahweh, etc. We also discovered Flair doesn't draw the line at thoroughbreds when selecting his dates. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e5e6640b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e5e6640b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e5e6640b | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e6b5d22f | type |
Catchphrase | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e6b5d22f | comment |
And of course, most famously... "WOOOO-"ing and jerking his whole body around like he's a chicken or having an orgasm. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e6b5d22f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e6b5d22f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e6b5d22f | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9db9908 | type |
Younger Than They Look | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9db9908 | comment |
Younger Than They Look: Ric Flair looks great for 74. His appearance has always confused people: when you go and watch his pre-2000 work, it's surprising by how young he looks. A life of touring, partying and getting dropped on the head for a living took its toll. Fans are always amazed at how much older he appears in the 2010s compared to, say, the late '90s or the turn of the millennium. What they don't typically notice is that he looks amazing for a man well into his late forties and early fifties and only during his mid-to-late fifties had age caught up with him more or less all at once. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9db9908 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9db9908 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9db9908 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9e35e8f | type |
Exact Words | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9e35e8f | comment |
Exact Words: In his retirement speech on WWE Raw, Flair started off by saying, “Last night, I wrestled my very last match at Wrestlemania. I will never ever wrestle in this ring again.” Flair stayed true to his word: he never wrestled again... in WWE. As for never wrestling again ever, well... | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9e35e8f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9e35e8f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_e9e35e8f | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eaf5a1ac | type |
Groin Attack | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eaf5a1ac | comment |
Groin Attack: Pretty much every heel during Flair's heyday used the Low Blow. Flair turned it into an art form. What else do you expect from someone known as "The Dirtiest Player in the Game"? | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eaf5a1ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eaf5a1ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eaf5a1ac | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eb9afb9d | type |
Evil Old Folks | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eb9afb9d | comment |
Evil Old Folks: Just like every other veteran who turned up on Impact — but Ric was the oldest by five years. As an authority figure, he was a thorn in the sides of Mr. McMahon, Dixie Carter and Eric Bischoff. He stepped on many young wrestlers to get a foothold back in power. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eb9afb9d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eb9afb9d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_eb9afb9d | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ee30ce4b | type |
Popularity Power | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ee30ce4b | comment |
Popularity Power: WCW audiences proved how much this trope works via their sabotaging The Great American Bash 1991 in protest of Flair being fired from WCW. The crowd sat on its hands effectively no-selling the entire undercard, resulting in just about everyone half-assing their matches, before launching into the deafening "We want Flair!" chants practically non-stop during the Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham main event; the chants were loud enough to be heard despite WCW cutting the crowd microphones; they were even picked up on the ring and announcer mics. And all this when Flair had been the most hated heel in the company going into the pay-per-view! To wit: The Horsemen were arguably the most famous and popular stable in wrestling history up until the rise of the nWo, and at the height of Evolution's success, all four members simultaneously held every men's title exclusive to Raw. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ee30ce4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_ee30ce4b | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f005700f | type |
Conspicuous Consumption | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f005700f | comment |
Conspicuous Consumption: "I have spent MORE MONEY! On BAR TABS! Than ALL THREE of you! WILL EVER! MAKE!" Just read through his biography, To Be the Man. Every other page has an example of real-life indulgences beyond the dreams of avarice. (Rappers love him.) The Nature Boy was custom-made from head to toe. With rappers, most of the stuff they wear is rented for the videos. Over half of Flair's career was spent in the days of kayfabe being unbroken. At the very height of his career in the late 80s, he spent over $60,000 a year of his own money on limousines alone for himself and the Four Horsemen. He probably has spent more money on spilt liquor in bars from one side of this world to the other, than most people make in a year. He's also run into financial problems at times due to still living the Nature Boy lifestyle without the Nature Boy paycheck. According to his stepson on Celebrity Wife Swap, you would need a six-figure salary to pay for the nightly cost of Ric's restaurant bills. That's right, a pre-teen with a legal pad is a better accountant than Mr. Flair. (Between leaving WWE for the second time and joining TNA, he started a financial advice company. This is not a joke. It actually existed: Ric Flair Finance. It went bust, unsurprisingly.) | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f005700f | featureApplicability |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f005700f | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f15c2859 | type |
NO INDOOR VOICE | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f15c2859 | comment |
No Indoor Voice/The Unintelligible: IS THIZ ST. LOOZ MAZURAH?! I BEENHER BEFOREBUD I ALWEZ HEVA GREYTIME SO I THANKYA. WOO TRIPLE H MEMBER WHEN YOU WAZ EATIN RIBEYE?! BATIZDA, DAMMID RANDEH, SHIT MY SON BUT I LIKE WREZLERS AND ...I CHOOZE SHEILZD WOO | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f15c2859 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f15c2859 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f15c2859 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f27ec906 | type |
Identical Stranger | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f27ec906 | comment |
Identical Stranger: "Lil' Naitch" Charles Robinson. A lifelong fan of the Nature Boy, Robinson's career is closely intertwined with the family, making him something of an honorary Flair. He was first introduced as the Horsemen's "crooked referee", and even wrestled under a gimmick where he WAS a Mini-Me of Ric Flair. That's because he makes a far more convincing Heir to Flair than any of Ric's sons. This was very evident back in '98, when Robinson was calling David Flair's matches. Later, when Flair was carried out on a stretcher following the incident with the crowbar (DDP reversed it on him), David pretended to cry, but Robinson was WEEPING. Because he is great. (It's also funny for a different reason: the older Flair gets, the more noticeable it is that Robinson doesn't age. Dude's a robot.) He dropped the Heel Ref angle once he joined up with WWE. He could also be seen officiating Charlotte's title match in NXT, and appropriately enough was the referee for Flair's last WWE match at WrestleMania. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f27ec906 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f27ec906 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f27ec906 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f5144b92 | type |
Tag Team | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f5144b92 | comment |
Tag Team: "Team Package" with Lex Luger in WCW. In his Mid-Atlantic days, Flair frequently teamed with Greg Valentine and had multiple reigns with the tag belts. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f5144b92 | featureApplicability |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f5144b92 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f933e594 | type |
How the Mighty Have Fallen | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f933e594 | comment |
Dancing the Fargo Strut in a mental hospital...while Also sprach Zarathustra spews from a broken radio | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f933e594 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f933e594 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_f933e594 | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_fd8e62fc | type |
Underwear of Power | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_fd8e62fc | comment |
Underwear of Power: For all that talk about his money and expensive clothing, this is all he wrestles in. And yet, given what we know about his persona, it's every bit as in character. | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_fd8e62fc | featureApplicability |
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Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_fd8e62fc | |
| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_name | type |
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| Ric Flair (Wrestling) / int_name | comment |
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Ric Flair (Wrestling) |
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