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Nature Boy Had Flair For The Dramatic

Posted: Apr 7th 2008 By: CMBurnham

"It's been said a million times that Ric Flair is arguably the greatest wrestler of all time. I'm still waiting to hear the argument."

-------------- Paul Levesque, a/k/a Triple H, March 29, 2008.

________________________

There isn't one, Trips. Not that you needed to be told.

He shared his entrance music with Elvis, and his singular undisputed excellence as well. Over the course of his 36-year career, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair settled the issue of wrestling's greatest ever in a decisive manner matched perhaps only by Michael Jordan in basketball.

Or perhaps not. Jordan's NBA comeback at 38 turned out to be ill-advised. Flair, meanwhile, stole the show at 59 -- 59! -- with his retirement match at WrestleMania eight days ago.

Wrestling's detractors like to throw around words like "fake." But it was never fake with Flair.

Suspending disbelief is the goal of the bastard athletic soap opera that is pro wrestling. Great performers do it most of the time. Good performers do it some of the time.

Flair did it every time. He did it every time regardless of the quality of the foe, the size of the crowd, televised or not. He did it hurt, he did it tired, he did it over 300 times per year in his prime, he did it for 60 minutes some nights, he did it twice some days, he did it while making his opponent look better than he really was and he did it far better than anyone else.

Having worked in the business, I'm as jaded as a wrestling fan can be. But when Shawn Michaels had Flair pinned at WrestleMania, I lifted my shoulder even as I sat watching on my living-room couch, trying to make Ric kick out one last time. That's how much Ric Flair still makes me believe.

Sadly, my help wasn't enough. As planned, Flair lost, and his career was over.

I'm still not sure why Flair is retiring. He's still a better in-ring performer than 90 percent of the WWE roster. When he's turned loose, he's still the best interview there is. People still want to see him.

But that's OK. Maybe it's time anyway.

And while Flair may be done as a full-time wrestler, it seems inevitable that we'll see a father-son tag team of Ric and Reid Flair on some special occasion. Reid is 20, and was born to be a wrestler. Let's just hope the burden isn't too heavy, because he has the toughest act ever to follow.

As much as Ric Flair has meant to me as a performer, he means more to me as a friend. We first met over 20 years ago when I profiled him for a local paper, and we worked together at World Championship Wrestling. He is a genuine, caring man, a great father, and while he's slowed down a bit in the party department, he's responsible for killing a frightening amount of my brain cells. I never have a better time than when I'm with Ric Flair. He made me a New York Times best-seller, too.

But friendship doesn't cloud my judgment when it comes to Ric as a performer. I could write about the Flair-Ricky Steamboat series in '89, Ric's glory days in the Mid-Atlantic territory, the Royal Rumble in '92, or all those great promos with the Four Horsemen, but that would be lost on most of you.

So just ask a wrestler who the best ever is. Ninety-nine percent will say Flair. No one in any profession is more beloved and respected by his peers.

Not only is Flair the greatest wrestler ever, but his name will never die. Never mind the video, never mind all the press clippings, never mind the books. Go to a wrestling show. Whether it's the WWE in Mellon Arena or an independent show in a little gym, just buy a ticket, sit down and wait for a wrestler to throw a chop like Flair was famous for.

"WHOOOOO!" Whether it's 15,000 fans or 15, I guarantee you will hear Ric Flair's trademark exclamation thunder from just about every larynx in the house. Today, tomorrow and forever.

There may be an encore, but there won't be a successor. They only made one.

Tags: Ric Flair, WWE