On March 30th 2008, the most decorated wrestling career came to an end. While the jury may still be out on whether or not Ric Flair is the best wrestler of all time, he is certainly the most celebrated.
It is safe to say that Flair donated more years of his life to wrestling than any other start in the modernized world. For years, the “Nature Boy” wrestled one match a day, seven days a week, and twice on Christmas. Flair’s career was further helped by the fact that he was wrestling in the time of legends. By the time that Flair broke into the business, wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes and Harley Race were already well known and respected wrestlers. Flair spent his early days in the business watching and listening to these future legends of the squared circle. There is no doubt that this helped him in his success in the world of pro wrestling.
While his original interest and dream was to be booked as a relative of Dusty Rhodes, Flair’s trainer Verne Gagne steered him elsewhere. Gagne and those close to Flair that he insisted that he drop his cowboy gimmick and become a larger than life character with nice suits and nicer jewelry. Throughout this time period the “jet flying, limousine riding, kiss stealing, wheeling, dealing, son of a gun” was born. Professional wrestling has not been the same since.
The image of Ric Flair is historic, iconic, and instantly recognizable. His feathery and vibrant robes accented by his bleached blonde hair is recognized by fans and non fans alike across the globe. His moves and motions in the ring have become the subject of wrestling lore. Today, it is impossible to go to a wrestling show where Flair’s iconic “Wooo!” is not re-created and duplicated.
As an 18 year old fan of wrestling it is impossible for me to fully understand, despite my knowledge on wrestling, the career of Ric Flair. Flair has been wrestling twice the amount of years that I have been alive. Despite this fact I witnessed two of the bigger moments of Ric’s storied career. In 2003 I traveled from my home in Tampa, Florida to Orlando to the TD Waterhouse Centre. The superstars of Raw were in town for Armageddon, a yearly Pay Per View held in December. On that night, the four members of Evolution (Ric Flair, HHH, Randy Orton, and Batista) won all three major Raw titles. It was the beginning of the most successful stable since the Four Horsemen. Then on March 30th 2008, I again traveled to Orlando to witness the “Granddaddy of them all” WrestleMania 24. I knew what was going to happen. In fact, it is more than likely that every single fan there and every fan around the world knew what was going to transpire in the outdoor environment of the Florida Citrus Bowl. In one of the best matches of each of their respective careers, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair stole the show. After an emotional match, Michaels covered Flair for the three count. A career that spanned 36 years, the entire globe, and countless matches came to an end in tear jerking and sudden fashion.
Saying that Flair left on the top of his game would be cliché, and it would also be an incorrect statement. Flair’s glory days were gone long before Flair arrived upon WrestleMania 24. Despite holding the Intercontinental Championship and the World Tag Team Championship on multiple occasions in his final stint with the WWE, Flair hadn’t held a World Title since 2000. However, I don’t believe there was a better time for Ric to leave to leave the squared circle. Despite having only few title runs in his final years in wrestling, he continued to do the most important thing that a wrestler can do: entertain the fans. His entrance music was able to bring a sold out arena to its feet right up to the last night of his career. And on March 30th at the Citrus Bowl over 74,000 people applauded him as he walked back up the ramp for the final time.
He left before hurting himself. He left when nearly every single wrestler and wrestling fan was on his side. Perhaps most importantly, he left the fans feeling fulfilled. The departure of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin left the fans wanting more. But after 36 years and 16 World Titles, Flair left wrestling with nothing more to accomplish. Because of this, Flair was able to go out when he was ready, and on his own terms. And every wrestling fan should be truly happy for that reason.
Already at nearly 800 words I could go on forever about Ric Flair. I could go on about my experience at the Hall of Fame the night before WrestleMania, and how amazing it was to see the most prolific wrestler in the history of this business inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. I could say that there will never be another wrestler like Ric Flair, because honestly there will not be. The most important thing to remember though is that Ric Flair loved this business. He got married while already in the business, he had his children while already in the business, he made a name for himself in this business. A few years shy of being 60, Ric can now spend the rest of his life with his family and friends. But don’t expect to see Flair pull a Hogan and come in and out of retirement for the next several years. The emotion that Flair showed throughout WrestleMania weekend is proof enough that this retirement is for real.
In a separate column I’ll approach three very big statements that Flair made at the Hall of Fame ceremony, but for now I’d like to share my final thoughts and comments on the career and legacy of Ric Flair. After watching a few old matches of Flairs, some of the old black and whites, I noticed for the first time how fluid Flair was in the ring in his younger years. Nobody in the business today, not even the freshest and most genuine athletes in the ring today wrestle like Flair did. His moves and chemistry in the ring were believable beyond compare. Everyone knows it, but I have to reiterate it, Flair was the best talker in the business. His words were perhaps a million times more believable that his words. When Flair would go on one of his rants in the ring or in the studio, even in the later years of his career, you believed it. And now with some of his own words, I end my final column of Flair as abruptly as his career came to an end. “To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man.” Ric Flair truly is the man. I won’t go out with a cliché and say that Flair was the greatest wrestler of all time. But you better have somebody good in mind if you try to make the argument against him.
And one last time: For everything you’ve done Ric, though I know you will probably never read this, thanks.
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