John Pasqualino Says Flair Is The Greatest Of All Time
I have been told since my birth in 1967 that Bruno Sammartino is the greatest wrestler who ever lived. Growing up the son of Italian immigrants whose parents didn't arrive in this country until they were in there 30's and in Pittsburgh, I guess I had no choice. That is, until 1984.
That is when channel 53 in Pittsburgh started carrying NWA wrestling and specifically Jim Crockett's Mid Atlantic promotion. For the first time I saw a man called Ric Flair and my wrestling world changed forever. No longer did I "mark " out for the forcefed babyfaces that the WWF told me to like. No longer did the "Apter" mags control my thinking of pro wrestling and how a wrestler was perceived. 16 years of programming from my parents and the WWF shot to hell in a two minute promo from the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Some teens turn to drugs, alcohol or music to rebel against society and their parents. Me? I turned to Slick Ric and never looked back.
Ric Flair is the greatest professional wrestler who ever lived. Pure and simple.
The past few weeks I have been reading on your website from two authors how Ric Flair is great but he pales in comparison to the real all time greats. I read that all his matches are the same and that he is not original, he is past his prime, etc... you know the routine.
It seems in this era if you are not Japanese or perform in front of 200 fans in a junior high school gym like Ring Of Honor you can't be great. Misawa, Kobashi, Danielson are great performers but to compare them to Ric Flair and his accomplishments in this industry is doing a disservice to wrestling fans who didn't see Flair perform in his prime or even his later years.
Is Ric Flair an original? No. The last honest to goodness original in this industry was Gorgeous George. Ric Flair is a combination Ray Stevens ( one wrestling historian wrote if it wasn't for Flair's outstanding promo work, Stevens and Flair would rate the same historically because they were the same wrestler. That is an exaggeration in my opinion,) Dusty, Wahoo, Superstar Billy Graham, Terry Funk, Johnny Valentine, Harley Race and of course Buddy Rogers. His ability to take from the best and mold it into his own persona is/was his greatest attribute.
The claim that Flair has the same match over and over is a point that I find amusing. Guess what, historians?! Every wrestler has a standard moveset that they use in all their matches. Look at Thesz and tell me that his matches weren't the same all the time. Even "innovators " like Misawa use the same moves over and over. Chris Benoit and Bret Hart had the same match their whole career yet they were technicians and Flair is stale. The ability to use ring psychology while using your moveset is what sets apart great wrestlers from flash in the pans. A move is only original once, after that it is like Seinfeld or I Love Lucy in syndication-- been there, done that, but people still watch it. Bruno made a career out of a punch, kick to the stomach and a bearhug. But he could draw and that is what counts.
"Ric Flair looks terrible." Yes he does, he is 59 after all. Has anyone seen Samoa Joe without his shirt? I forgot, Joe is a masterful technician who doesn't have the same match over and over. Never mind the running kick, rear naked choke, Muay Thai moves and the muscle buster I see every match.
When taking into account workrate, drawing power and historical importance to the industry Flair in my opinion as a fan and an historian of the industry rates number one. My rankings:
1. Ric Flair
2. Lou Thesz
3. Gorgeous George
4. Rikidozan
5. Hulk Hogan
6. Buddy Rogers
7. Bruno Sammartino
8. El Santo
9. Jim Londos
10. Antonio Inoki
(There are many greats who belong in anyones top ten, but there are only 10 spots available. It wasn't easy to leave off some wrestlers.)
Cody Runnels, while inducting his father into the WWE Hall Of Fame, called Ric Flair the greatest of all time. Countless wrestlers who drew huge amounts of money such as Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Dusty Rhodes and Sting called Ric Flair the best. In 2004 at the age of 54, Steve Austin wrote that Ric Flair was the best wrestler in the WWE locker room. High praise indeed. Not respecting Ric Flair's place in history by saying he does not rate with greats such as Kobashi and Misawa only tells a small part of wrestling's history as an art form.
Sonny Myers was a tremendously gifted performer who should be on anyone's list as an all time great worker, yet no one remembers him. Sonny Myers did not have "it."
Ric Flair had "it" to spare.
