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Wrestler with local ties returns to ring

Posted: Feb 10th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Wooooooooo!

Ric Flair is making a triumphant return to Norfolk and can hardly contain himself.

It has been nearly three years since the professional wrestling Hall of Famer last performed in Norfolk.

He retired from pro wrestling two years ago, but it didn't take long for one of the business's most recognized icons to miss the life he lived for nearly four decades.

So he's back in the profession that made him rich and famous. Back in the Italian handmade suits, the flashy thousand-dollar robes and the wrestling tights. And back shouting out his famous battle cry.

Flair recently signed on as a cast member for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling - a 7-year-old promotion group that has vowed to challenge World Wrestling Entertainment for its supremacy in the soap-opera world of professional wrestling.

Flair's return is part of that challenge. His first TNA live "house show" performance will be Friday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk.

He's excited and sentimental about his return to a town that for years either loved him or hated him.

"Norfolk has a special place in my heart and always will," Flair said from his home in his native Charlotte, N.C. "I look at Norfolk as almost being my second home."

Wooooooooo!

Richard Morgan Fliehr's pro-wrestling roots go back to the early 1970s. A standout high school athlete, he took up pro wrestling in the American Wrestling Association after studying at Verne Gagne's Minneapolis-based wrestling school. After changing his name to Ric Flair, the soon-to-be superstar jumped ship to the Raleigh, N.C.-based National Wrestling Alliance in 1974.

His career - and association with Norfolk - took off. The NWA had a live show in Norfolk every Thursday night for decades.

The flashy, bravado-filled Flair won his first singles title a year later, beating Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic TV Championship.

It seemed his career was over in October 1975 when a plane he was in crashed and he broke his back in three places. A pilot was dead, a wrestling buddy was paralyzed. Doctors told Flair, at age 26, that he would never wrestle again. He reacted by beginning a brutal rehabilitation process.

He amazed everyone in wrestling, even himself, when he re-entered the ring six months later.

"Hardest thing I've ever done in my life," said Flair, now 60. "Tougher than anything I've ever done in the ring."

A lofty statement considering the endless falls, slams, bashes and cuts to the forehead that have made Flair's career legendary.

He is "officially" recognized as a 16-time world champion - more titles than anyone else in the business's history.

His shoulder-length golden locks, barrel-chested physique and bold talk on the microphone made him a promoter's cash cow.

After a 36-year career, Flair called it quits in 2008.

Again, his exit was short-lived.

Wooooooooo!

Flair made several cameo appearances on WWE after retiring. He did autograph sessions for smaller independent promotions, including one in Norfolk. Last year, he took part in Hulk Hogan's Australian Hulkamania Tour and caused an Internet sensation when he bloodied Hogan at a news conference.

He longed to get back to his storied place in the spotlight.

TNA had the fix.

"I just missed the business, and they created a very nice opportunity for me," said Flair, who made famous his figure-four-leg-lock finishing move. He said he already had a good relationship with talent relations coordinator Terry Taylor.

"I wasn't sure if it was something I wanted to do. But I'm a big fan of (TNA star) Kurt Angle, and working with Hulk in Australia really showed me how much I missed things."

TNA has made it perfectly clear during its broadcasts and pay-per-views that it intends to challenge WWE for its spot as the No. 1 wrestling promoter in the world. TNA's lineup is stocked with former WWE superstars and talented newcomers.

"They really are in the right mold, and they have the money to create a good product," Flair said. "They're going to get really better in a real short period of time. And I'm excited about the chance to be a part of that."

Flair's role currently has him advising TNA champion A. J. Styles, much to the chagrin of Hogan, who also recently signed with the organization in a "boss-man" role designed to help take TNA to the top.

The two megastars already have had on-camera confrontations.

"The feud thing with Hogan will play out later," Flair said. "The story line right now is that they've made all these changes to be competitive, and I'm just a part of that."

And yes, Flair fans, the Nature Boy will be getting back into the ring.

"Yep," Flair said. "And probably sooner than later, much to my dismay.

"Things are happening quickly."

Wooooooooo!

As excited as Flair is to return to the business that made him a worldwide celebrity, he's almost equally excited about returning to Norfolk.

"Oh God, yes," he said. "I remember my first match in the convention center underneath Scope. Julius Erving was playing upstairs with the Squires. We had such a great time that night. It was amazing.

"Norfolk is such a tremendous place to work and a wonderful place to be. It's such a great fan base there. Wrestling has a long-standing tradition in Norfolk."

But it wasn't just wrestling and its fans that endeared Flair to Southeastern Virginia. During his early years, he earned a party-animal reputation in Virginia Beach's nightlife scene.

"Norfolk was one of those towns that we couldn't wait to get to for a lot of reasons," he said. "We couldn't wait to get there for Thursday night after filming Wednesday in Raleigh. Everybody used to hang out back then - Rogue's, Peabody's, September's. Oh, yeah, we had a lot of fun."

The social-life aspect of the business has changed since those rowdy days of the 1970s and '80s, but Flair said he's not about to let his age hinder his taste for a good time.

"This will be my first road trip with these guys, and things have really changed," he said. "The guys don't hang out like they used to.

"And I've got to leave town early the next morning. So I might just be a good boy and go to bed early. But that just wouldn't seem right... not if something's happening.

"I refuse to grow up."

Wooooooooo!

Tags: Ric Flair, TNA, WWE, AWA, NWA, Terry Taylor, A. J. Styles