Background and career
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. As of November 2023, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in a legends role for special appearances. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair's career spanned fifty years. Flair is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Much of his career was spent in JCP and WCW, in which he won numerous titles. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the moniker "the Nature Boy". A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade, on 10 occasions, while also co-headlining its WWF counterpart, WrestleMania, in 1992, after winning that year's Royal Rumble. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) awarded him their PWI Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and Lou Thesz) a record eight times. The first two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted with the Class of 2008 for his individual career and again with the Class of 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen, he is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Flair is recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion (eight-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion), although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 to 25. The most agreed upon number is 21, which Flair himself has claimed. He was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (the latter of which he was also the final holder). As the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete the WCW Triple Crown, having already held the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship. He then completed the WWE Triple Crown when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and the original World Tag Team Championship.
Fliehr was born on February 25, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee. His original parents were Luther and Olive Phillips, the latter of whom was also credited with the Demaree and Stewart surnames; nevertheless, his birth name is commonly considered to be Fred Phillips, even if he is also credited on various records as Fred Demaree or Fred Stewart. Fliehr was adopted by Kathleen Kinsmiller Fliehr (1918–2003) and Richard Reid Fliehr (1918–2000). The Fliehrs decided to adopt due to Kathleen being unable to become pregnant after giving birth to a daughter who died shortly after. At the time of his adoption (arranged by the Tennessee Children's Home Society as part of Georgia Tann's infant trafficking scandal), his adoptive father was completing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Detroit, Michigan. His adoptive mother worked for the Star Tribune. Shortly afterward, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota. However, they would move to Golden Valley, Minnesota where the young Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. Though not officially diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Flair stated in his 2004 memoir To Be The Man that he was in fact the "epitome of the disease" while growing up, partying and even having sex and drinking alcohol by the age of 14. After ninth grade, he attended Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for four years, where he participated in wrestling, football, and track. After high school, Fliehr briefly attended the University of Minnesota.
A successful amateur wrestler in his teens, Flair trained as a professional wrestler with Verne Gagne. He attended Gagne's first wrestling camp with Greg Gagne, "Jumpin'" Jim Brunzell, Iron Sheik and Ken Patera at Gagne's barn outside Minneapolis in the winter of 1971. On December 10, 1972, he made his debut for Gagne's American Wrestling Association (AWA) promotion in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, wrestling George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski to a 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name Ric Flair. During his time in the AWA, Flair had matches with Dusty Rhodes, Chris Taylor, André the Giant, Larry Hennig and Wahoo McDaniel. Flair left the AWA in May 1974.
Flair made his first appearances in Japan in 1973 with International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) as part of a working agreement between the IWE and AWA promoter Verne Gagne. He competed in IWE's "Big Summer Series" throughout June and July, facing opponents such as Animal Hamaguchi, Great Kusatsu, Katsuzo Matsumoto, Mighty Inoue, and Rusher Kimura.
In May 1974, Flair left the AWA for Jim Crockett Promotions' National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory in the Mid-Atlantic region. He debuted on May 13, 1974, defeating Abe Jacobs. Shortly after his debut, Flair won his first championship in the promotion, by teaming with Rip Hawk to defeat Bob Bruggers and Paul Jones in the Greensboro Coliseum to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. After a lengthy title reign, Flair and Hawk lost the titles to Paul Jones and Tiger Conway Jr. on December 6, 1974. Brute Bernard substituted for an inactive Hawk during the title defense. Flair captured his first singles title on February 9, 1975, by beating Paul Jones for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship in the Winston-Salem War Memorial Coliseum. After holding the title for six months, he lost it back to Jones on August 8. During the same time, Flair began feuding with Wahoo McDaniel over the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. After coming up short in several title opportunities, he finally defeated McDaniel for the title in a title vs. hair match on September 20, 1975 in the Hampton Roads Coliseum. On October 4, 1975, Flair was badly injured in a plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina that killed the pilot and paralyzed Johnny Valentine (also on board were Mr. Wrestling, Bob Bruggers, and promoter David Crockett). Flair broke his back in three places and was told by doctors that he would never wrestle again. He conducted a rigorous physical therapy schedule, however, and returned to the ring just three months later. Flair altered his wrestling technique from the power/brawling style he had used early on to one more focused on grappling, which led him to adopt the "Nature Boy" gimmick he would use throughout his career. Upon returning in January 1976, Flair resumed his feud with Wahoo McDaniel over the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title back to McDaniel on May 3, 1976, but regained it three weeks later by defeating McDaniel in a rematch on May 24. The title exchange with McDaniel continued as Flair lost the title to McDaniel in a steel cage match on September 11. On October 16, Flair defeated McDaniel in a title vs. hair match to regain the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. During this time, Flair teamed with Greg Valentine to defeat the Andersons (Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson) in a no disqualification match to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship on December 26. The following day, Flair lost the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship to McDaniel in a no disqualification match. In the midst of his tag team championship reign, Flair defeated Rufus R. Jones to win his second Mid-Atlantic Television Championship on April 4, 1977. On May 8, Flair and Valentine lost the World Tag Team Championship back to the Andersons in a steel cage match. On May 15, 1977, Flair received his first opportunity for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Harley Race. Race retained the title after the match ended in a double count-out. Flair then lost the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship to Ricky Steamboat on June 15, beginning a lengthy and historic rivalry between the two.
On June 30, 1977, Flair and Greg Valentine defeated Dino Bravo and Tiger Conway Jr. to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. On July 29, 1977, Flair defeated Bobo Brazil in the Richmond Coliseum to win his first NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid Atlantic version) in Richmond, Virginia. Flair and Valentine lost the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship to Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat on August 22. Flair defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against numerous challengers, including Steamboat, whom he wrestled in several matches, such as a title versus title match for Flair's title and Steamboat's Mid-Atlantic Television Championship. On October 30, Flair and Valentine defeated the Andersons to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid Atlantic version). On October 20, Flair lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to Ricky Steamboat.
