Ric Flair: Nature Boy, Wrestling Icon, A Legend In His Own Right

By | February 23, 2020

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Left: Ric Flair in a publicity photo. Right: Flair talking smack on 'World Championship Wrestling.' Source: facebook.com/RicFlairNatureBoy

Ric Flair is an icon of pro wrestling. Whether he was working with the NWA, WCW, All-Japan, or the WWE the “Nature Boy” was a superstar. His entire life has been about turning audiences on one match and one promo at a time. After shedding the real life skin of Richard Morgan Fliehr to become the larger than life sequined robe- and alligator shoe-wearing Ric Flair he stopped being human. Like Bowie and Jagger before him, when Flair was at the top of his game he was like god descended from Mount Olympus.

Flair’s life hasn’t been lacking in drama outside of the ring. He’s as well known for his Dionysian pursuits as he is for his prowess in the ring. He once claimed that he was drunk every day for years, and that he’s slept with thousands of women in his decades long commitment to the bit. He’s lived through tragedy and triumph to become one of the most well respected wrestlers in the business. He has five "keys to the city" in the U.S. and four holidays named after him, and if you shout “WHOO” in any crowded area you’ll hear at least one response calling back as if from a game of ‘Naitch branded Marco Polo.

Before He Was Ric Flair He Was Richard Fliehr

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source: pinterest

Born on February 25, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee, Fliehr was put up for adoption in the same Tennessee Children's Home Society that was a part of Georgia Tann’s infamous infant-kidnapping syndicate. After his adoption Fliehr’s family settled in Minnesota, but young Richard was bounced around the Midwest for a few years while taking part in pretty much every high school sport that could be used to mold an interscholastic athlete (wrestling, football, you name it).

When was 21, Fliehr dropped out of college and began training with wrestling impresario Verne Gagne in a winter camp in 1971. A year later, on December 10, 1972, Ric Flair made his wrestling debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, against George “Scrap Iron” Gadaski. By 1974, Flair was wrestling for Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic arm of the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) and on February 9, 1975 he won his first strap - the Mid-Atlantic TV championship.