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Ric Flair, at age 57, Still Proving He's "The Man"

Posted: Nov 30th 2006 By: CMBurnham

Professional wrestling afficianadoes have long considered Ric Flair a wrestler for the ages.

These days, the 16-time former World Champion could also be called a wrestler for the aged. Three months away from his 58th birthday, he is easily the oldest member of the active roster of World Wrestling Entertainment.

But while Flair's signature blond mane his started to thin a bit and he has significantly more wrinkles than the buff, young studs he mixes it up with in the ring, he remains one of the WWE's star attractions.

After 34 years in the business, Flair--who's real name is Richard Fliehr--still would rather take a steel chair over the head than take a seat in a rocking chair.

So why does a man who is a grandfather continue to subject his body to frequent poundings that a predetermined but anything but painful?

"Because I can," Flair said with a laugh. "I'd be a liar if I didn't say that I like being in the spotlight. And (WWE) still wants me, which is the most important part of it."

Unlike Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, two wrestling legends who are also in their 50s who wrestle a handful of matches per year and get by on their star power and showmanship, Flair is wrestling several times a week and taking the same big bumps in the ring he took when he was in his prime.

"It's challenging to go out there and wrestle guys 25 years younger than me", says Flair, who is calling from Charlotte, NC on his way home from the airport after performing on eight shows on the WWE's tour of the United Kingdom.

"It forces me to work out harder and stay in better shape," he adds. "and it gives me an opportunity to do something no one else has ever done. I don't think anyone else (in wrestling) has ever excelled at something at my age. It's a pretty rewarding feeling."

Despite the physical nature of wrestling and the grueling travel schedule, Flair says he has never felt better.

"I don't have a nick or anything wrong right now," he says. "I feel great."

Flair, in fact, has been able to avoid major injuries for most of his career in a profession where they occur often.

Ironically, his most serious injury occurred outside the ring when he suffered a broken back in a plane crash in 1975. Doctors told him he might never wrestle again, but he returned in a matter of months.

Flair, who coined the phrase "To be 'The Man', you gotta beat 'The Man'" went on to become one of wrestling's biggest starts, selling out arenas not only throughout the United States, but also in places like Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and the Carribbean.

Nicknamed the "Nature Boy ",Flair portrays a cocky playboy who wears colorful, sparkling robes and always punctuates his interviews by shouting "Wooooo!" in a high-pitched inflection.

Although he currently plays a "babyface" (a wrestling good guy) in the WWE, Flair made his name as one of wrestling's most notorious "heels" (bad guys)

Perhaps Flair's greatest accomplishment is that he's been able to thrive for four decades in an ever-changing industry that has seen some trememndous peaks and valleys during his career.

The touhgest adjustment, he says, was coming to grips with wrestling's gradually pulling back the curtain and ackknowledging that it is scripted entertainment and not true competition.

"I struggle with the term 'sports entertainment'". Coming from an era where we protected the business to the death, it was hard to swallow," he says. "But then I was able to see the big picture for us becoming what we are, and that's the Mecca in the world of entertainment."

Flair, who last May was married for the third time and has 4 children ranging in age from 18 to 32, says he is uncertain if he will continue wrestling full time when his WWE contract expires in a little over a year.

I'll leave that totally in [WWE's] hands," said Flair, who recently opened a finance company that bears his name.

For now, Flair is content to try and prove that he's still "The Man" to a younger generation of wrestlers.

"I want to show them that I can do anything a guy 25 can do," he says. "It's a gift, so why not have fun with it while I still can?"