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Ric Flair and the end of an era

Posted: Apr 12th 2008 By: mikeiles

Sunday, March 30, 2008, was a date that signified the end of a career and an era. Ric Flair?s last match occurred on the highest profile stage the business has known, WrestleMania. His last opponent was his good friend, Shawn Michaels. Now that it?s over and done, it can be said that Ric Flair was, in his prime, among the very best ever to be seen in a professional wrestling ring. That much was made abundantly clear on the next night?s live telecast of RAW, when World Wrestling Entertainment saw fit to give Ric a send-off that is unparalleled.

In a rare display of class, the WWE devoted the final 30 minutes of the program to celebrating the man. As well, by virtue of the fact that he stayed in the background and didn?t insert himself into the proceedings, Vince McMahon displayed an elegance ordinarily found wanting. Just how genuine the emotion truly was between Flair and the myriad number of wrestlers that came out to pay their respects may be debated. However, his profound effect on the sport cannot.

Ric Flair didn?t win his final match, which doesn?t matter in the least. He?d been jobbing much of the time over the previous two-plus years anyway, so what was one more loss? It meant nothing. Another title run towards the end would have made some of his fans happy, but did Flair really need it? Again, no. He transcended pro wrestling and became an entity unto himself. ?To be the man, you have to beat the man? was Ric?s pet phrase that exemplified who he was and what he would come to represent within pro wrestling.

Ric entered the business in 1974, weighing over 300 pounds and sporting closely cropped brown hair. Seeing him in his earliest incarnation, he appeared to be capable enough, but somewhat ordinary and unproven. No one at that time could have predicted the heights he would attain. But Ric was a quick study, and it didn?t take him very long to shed the excess poundage and whip himself into shape, completing the transformation by growing out his hair and coloring it platinum blond.

Having been trained by two of the most skilled shooters in pro wrestling history, Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson, Flair demonstrated that he knew how to wrestle. He?d already shown a strong aptitude for the working aspect, and in short order he rose to the top of the tag team wars in the Carolinas, a territory that specialized in such matches. Presented as a nephew of established ring veteran Rip Hawk, the duo took the title within months of forming.

Before long, Flair would become regarded as a top singles wrestler, and he demonstrated it by winning the Mid-Atlantic TV title early in 1975. The owner of the promotion, Jim Crockett, Jr., saw a very profitable future in his young charge and began grooming him for an eventual run as the National Wrestling Alliance heavyweight champion. But only a short eight months later, the sunny skies and rosy outlook turned black.

Wrestlers Ric Flair, Johnny Valentine, Bob Bruggers, Tim Woods and co-promoter David Crockett were in a small plane that hadn?t been fueled properly. Running out of gas in any vehicle is a source of distress ? when it occurs in a small aircraft, the results can be deadly. The crash killed the pilot, crippled Valentine and threatened to end Ric Flair?s career prematurely. With his back broken in three places, doctors informed Ric that he would never wrestle again; just being able to walk would be an amazing enough accomplishment.

?Nonsense!? intoned the driven wrestler, who then insisted he would not only compete within a year, he?d go on to win the highly coveted NWA championship. He was wrong. It didn?t take 12 months, it took 6 before Ric was back in the ring. Continuing the feud he?d been having with Wahoo McDaniel prior to the accident, Flair cranked up the more flamboyant ?Nature Boy? part of his personality while continuing to adhere to the psychology of pro wrestling. (The appellation ?Nature Boy? came from Ric?s admiration for former NWA titleholder and major force within the business, Buddy ?Nature Boy? Rogers. Rogers had adopted the nickname early in his career when fans in California began using it in reference to the great tan he sported. As well, the song ?Nature Boy? by Nat ?King? Cole was extremely popular at that time).

Having solid matches encompassing every style imaginable became the norm for Flair. Be it against a brawler, a performer or a technician, Ric could match and sometimes surpass his opponent?s expertise, all the while infuriating fans with his haughty strut and self-satisfied shout of ?Woooo!? when he was especially pleased. As time passed, the fans that had once derided him, enjoying the moments of discomfort he suffered, would come to applaud these same actions. Initially treating him with disparagement for his cockiness and dirty tactics, many in attendance changed their view and turned to applauding Ric for what would one day become acknowledged as his signature spots.

All of which made Ric Flair a rare bird ? a bad guy who had at least half the house on any given evening cheering him on. Being accepted as a heel was something that would be more and more difficult as he continued to entertain the crowds. Cheaters and scoundrels were supposed to be vilified for their behavior, ultimately going down to defeat at the hands of the good guys. Flair, on the other hand, was so attractive and compelling in his style that the cheering often drowned out the booing.

All of the acknowledgment and respect that Ric Flair accumulated as he built his name in region after region throughout the wrestling world (while maintaining his home base in the Carolinas) came to a head in 1981. That?s when he won the NWA title for the first time, defeating arch-nemesis Dusty Rhodes. Big Dust had held the championship for three months, having taken it from 6-time champ Harley Race.

Rhodes, in the guise of The Midnight Rider, defeated Flair and reacquired the belt in 1982. However, because he had done so under a hood, he was ordered by the NWA to unmask or forfeit the title. Dusty made the decision to maintain the mystery of The Midnight Rider and relinquish his claim to the championship. He preferred to keep his identity a secret, at least to those that were unable to recognize his voice, mannerisms and body type.

While Flair officially kept the NWA heavyweight championship for 16 months, he actually dropped it several times, all of which were ignored by the ruling body. In one instance, the title change was a matter of self-preservation, a genuine life-or-death scenario. Facing the extremely popular Jack Veneno (Rafael Sanchez) in the latter?s hometown of Santa Domingo in The Dominican Republic, the crowd was borderline hysterical and on the verge of rioting as the finish approached. Facing the likelihood that he would not live long enough to defend the belt beyond that night were he to win, Flair changed the agreed-upon conclusion on the spot and did the job in an act of self-preservation.

Under friendlier circumstances, Ric permitted both Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica to take the title during a tour of Puerto Rico in early 1983. In both instances, he defeated his rivals and took back the belt within a matter of weeks. Again, the NWA never acknowledged any of these switches in their record books.

In 1985, Ric Flair became a member of the premier stable of heel wrestlers known as The Four Horsemen. Originally composed of ?brothers? Ole and Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and his manager James J. Dillon, the three wrestlers began helping out ?cousin? Ric during his matches. (Yes, in time-honored wrestling tradition, a new family without actual blood-ties emerged). Part of the decision to have him become part of this collective was to assert Flair?s heel credentials. Maybe the fans couldn?t find it within themselves to boo Flair when he soloed, but it became a lot easier to do when he had some reprehensible, if talented, thugs in his corner.

The concept worked beyond anyone?s expectations. As the storylines developed, the Horsemen acquired virtually all of the championships worth obtaining. Exchanging the belt back-and-forth over the next couple of years with Harley Race, Ric was never far out of the title picture. Meanwhile, the Four Horsemen rose to the level of ?elite heels? as they battled the top babyfaces, such as Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A. and Ronnie Garvin in singles and tag bouts. In match after match the rivalries developed, inevitably with Ric Flair in the middle of the mix.

In 1988, the distrust between the titleholder and the booker, Dusty Rhodes, came to a head. Rhodes decided that Flair should drop the belt to Rick Steiner. Flair refused, contending that he would leave the company if Rhodes didn?t alter those plans. Consequently, Dusty was given his walking papers and former booker George Scott was rehired. Scott, who possessed a great ability for creating a pro wrestling product that appeared as sport, contacted Ricky Steamboat, considered by insiders and fans alike to be the ultimate babyface. The series of matches between Steamboat and Flair resulted in what many believe to be at the apex of compelling professional wrestling.

The contests between these two superiors, one representing good and the other symbolizing evil, were sublime. Steeped in the dramatic storytelling that harkened back to the ancient Greeks, Flair and Steamboat were equally accomplished as grapplers and performers. Their series of bouts encapsulated all that was so exciting, so uplifting, so beautiful and so very right about wrestling. The matches also signified the approaching end to what would become known as the ?old school? style of presentation.

In 1991, Ric finally followed through on his threat and jumped to the rival WWF. His dissatisfaction with the course taken by WCW/NWA made the move a reality. Flair worked for Vince McMahon?s company for two years, somewhat diminished from what he had been in the past, but still carrying an aura of greatness with his every appearance.

Although still strong when putting himself over, Ric no longer was ?the man who could have a great match with a broomstick.? He had committed the cardinal sin in the world of sports and entertainment: he had aged. He was slower now, and the ring psychology that had once been so much a part of his repertoire was replaced by a limited set of moves. Still, fans responded every time Flair did what was expected, such as taking his patented flip over the turnbuckle, followed by a collision with a patiently waiting clothesline as he scuttled along the ring apron.

Perhaps surprisingly, Flair returned to WCW in 1993, staying there right through the final days in March of 2001, when Vince McMahon purchased the floundering company. Once again, Ric Flair was with the WWF. Instead of retiring, which would have provided the ideal coda to an incredible career, Flair continued wrestling. Barely a shadow of his former self, his trademarked shout of ?Woooo? now seemed forced, farcical and a little bit sad. Those that had followed the man in his heyday through the 80s and into the 90s remembered nostalgically what he had once done with seemingly little effort. Ric had had such style and passion. Now, it was all about repetition, of hitting a few familiar spots that barely hinted at what Ric Flair had been.

And so, Ric Flair has now seen fit to call it a day. His legend is guaranteed, and undoubtedly the myth will continue to grow. In retrospect, he may well come to represent the bridge between old school wrestling and sports entertainment, having been a successful practitioner of both. As a wrestler, Ric Flair was a unique and special blend of athlete and performer, one that people responded to with excitement and respect. His place in the history of the sport will not be diminished, and his legend shall forever remain intact.

Tags: Ric Flair, WWE, Verne Gagne, Billy Robinson, NWA, Johnny Valentine, Wahoo McDaniel, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T. A., Rick Steiner, WWF, WCW