There are very few wrestlers out there who posses Ric Flair’s legendary status in wrestling. The kiss-stealing, limousine-riding, jet-flying son of a gun who kissed all the girls and made them cry has lived and breathed wrestling for over 40 years, which makes him one of the most interesting people in the industry out there.
- He’s competed in WCW,
- TNA,
- And the WWE.
The WWE Hall of Famer is now retired, but his impact in the industry continues on. He’s vocal about supporting young talent in the WWE, he believes in the Divas division and he continues to set the record straight about how much he believes in the possibilities of modern wrestling in general.
To celebrate the Nature Boy, here are 16 facts about him that you probably didn’t know about:
1. The greatest match that never was. At the time, Flair had just joined the WWE and everyone hoped for a showdown between him and Hulk Hogan as the main event during WrestleMania. But this WrestleMania VIII match between the two Superstars never took place, and everyone still wonders why. Eventually, the two wrestlers lived out their feud in WCW and Raw 2002, but if their first match had been during WrestleMania, it would have been all the more memorable.
2. He’s not the original nature boy. At the time of his rise to fame, Ric Flair decided to adopt the name Nature Boy after Buddy Rogers. Not only did Flair adopt the name, he also took on the Nature Boy gimmick which included his strut and his signature move, the figure-four leglock.
3. His appearance changed drastically. Flair used to be a heavy-built and bulky type of wrestler until a plane crash changed everything. The crash, which took place in 1975, took the life of a pilot and paralyzed Johnny Valentine. Flair broke his back in three places, and doctors told him he would never wrestle again. This forced him to change his wrestling technique from power brawling to the style of the Nature Boy that he would use throughout the rest of his career.
4. He thinks Roman Reigns is the right guy to headline WrestleMania. In an interview with BuzzFeed, Ric Flair confessed that he had a lot of admiration and respect for Roman Reigns. He said he believes Roman is a very classy man, a great athlete with a solid amateur background. He said he was proud to know someone like him, and that he believes he’ll be a great asset to the WWE for a long time.
5. Ric pushed Charlotte into sports at a very young age. Charlotte has gone on the record to say that she didn’t always want to be a wrestler. She played volleyball starting in high school, and earned a full scholarship at Appalachian State University where she became a personal trainer. She currently performs on Raw and she is the current Raw Women’s Champion, a title that she’s held four times.
6. Ric Flair trained under a legend. In his autobiography, To Be the Man, Ric describes the intensity of his training with Verne Gagne, saying: “We’d start off running along this frozen creek, slipping and sliding. I’m not exaggerating. You’d have to wear three sweat suits. The only way to stay warm was to keep moving and not slow down the whole day, for six or eight hours.” You can’t argue with this style of training, because it produced a Superstar like Ric.
8. The cost of his sequined bathrobes. Regardless of how you feel about the loud sparkles and fluorescent colors, it turns out they were once worth a lot of money. Back in the 70s and 80s most wrestling robes, including Flair’s, were made by a woman named Olivia Walker. She charged up to $8,000 for each of Flair’s robes, which would translate today to roughly $20,000.
9. He headlined one of the biggest wrestling crowds of all time. Flair and Antonio Inoki headlined Collision, a show held in North Korea to an audience of 190,000 people, effectively beating the WWE’s WrestleMania III record by 100,000.
10. He’s won over 16 Championships in total. Flair is officially recognized by WWE and PWI as a 16-time world champion. His wins included 8 NWA World Heavyweight Championships, 6 WCW World Heavyweight Championships and 2 WWF Championships. Eventually, John Cena surpassed his record with over 24 championships including 15 reigns as world champion.
12. He quit three times. Ric’s rise to stardom was not as smooth as most people assume. Back when he was training with Verne Gagne, he almost tapped out and tried to quit three times. Verne recognized the talent in Flair before he even knew about it, and ended up dragging him back to the barn for more training. You could say that Verne not only prepared him for the world of wrestling, but he also kept him in it.
13. He was hit by lightning twice. The first time he was hit was on his way to Richmond, VA in 1982. His flight was late due to the weather, and when the passengers were getting on the plane, lightning bounced off the umbrella he was holding and smacked a man in the eye, killing him. Then in 1986, a lightning bolt turned the plane he was on upside down, effectively proving that Flair and planes just don’t go very well together.
14. He had a stalker. A woman named DeAnn Siden started stalking Flair in 1990. She followed him around the country for almost 8 years, and she was even kicked out of wrestling events along the way. She claimed they had an affair and even threatened to kill him. In 1992, she gave birth to a baby and claimed it was Flair’s and in 2001 he pressed charges against her.
16. He took Andre the Giant out for drinks. Speaking of great Ric Flair drinking stories, he once took Andre the Giant out to a bar where the Giant drank nearly 106 beers in five hours. Whether you think this is Flair’s typical brand of exaggeration or not, the stories about Andre’s drinking prowess are well known across the wrestling world, so this wouldn’t be a surprise.
