Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Ric Flair

Ric Flair

Born:
02/25/1949
,
Memphis, Tennessee
Birthname:
Richard Morgan Fliehr
Height & Weight:
6'1"
,
243 Ib

Titles Won:

  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship (13 times)
  • WCW World Heavyweight Championship (8 times)
  • WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • WWF World Championship (2 times)
  • Royal Rumble (1992)
  • First WCW Triple Crown Champion
  • Thirteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2012) – with Four Horsemen

Flair is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time with a professional career that spans 40+ years. He is noted for his lengthy and highly decorated tenures with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Flair is officially recognized by WWE, TNA and Pro Wrestling Illustrated as a 16-time world heavyweight champion (eight-time NWA Champion, six-time WCW Champion, and two-time WWF Champion)although the actual number of his world championship reigns varies by source. Flair considers himself as a 21-time World Champion. Flair has won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship thirteen times. He is an eight-time WCW Champion, two-time WCW International World Champion, and two-time WWF Champion, making him a 25-time world heavyweight champion.

In WCW, he also had two stints as a booker—in 1989–1990 and 1994. Flair also became the only man to have won the WWF Championship in a Royal Rumble match, when he accomplished this in the 1992 edition of the event. In 2012, Flair became the first ever double inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame, first inducted in 2008 for his individual career, and for a second time in 2012 as a member of the Four Horsemen. He is also an NWA Hall of Famer (class of 2008).

Flair’s hair styles and mannerisms are stolen from Buddy Rogers, who previously and famously used the “Nature Boy” gimmick in the 1950s and 1960s. Coincidentally, Flair also followed Rogers in becoming the second man to win both the WWF and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Flair was the first WCW World Champion, having been awarded the title following WCW’s secession from the NWA in 1991. With that, he also became the first WCW Triple Crown Champion upon being awarded the title, having already held the United States and World Tag Team titles.

In 2005, he completed WWE’s version of the Triple Crown when he won the Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWF (now WWE) Championship, as well as the World Tag Team Championship, becoming the third man to win both the WCW and WWE Triple Crown (after Bret Hart and Chris Benoit). Using the officially recognized totals (by WWE, TNA and PWI) of 26 World Championships and a record-tying five U.S. Championship reigns, Flair has won a total of 30 different major championships between the NWA, WCW, and WWE, with numerous regional titles also to his credit.

A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, he has headlined WWE’s premier annual event, WrestleMania, as well as the NWA/WCW equivalent, Starrcade, on ten occasions.

Notable Matches

vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleWar 1989

vs. Terry at Clash of the Champions IX

vs. Ricky Steamboat at Clash of the Champions VI

vs. Big Van Vader at Starrcade 1993

vs. Sting at Clash of the Champions I

vs. Randy Savage at Wrestlemania VIII

vs. Harley Race at Starrcade 1983

vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XXIV

Notable Feuds

vs. Dusty Rhodes

vs. Ricky Steamboat

vs. Sting

vs. Harley Race

vs. Terry Funk

vs. Wahoo McDaniel

vs. Barry Windham

Other Notable Achievements

NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Rip Hawk (1), Greg Valentine (1) and Big John Studd (1)

NWA (Mid Atlantic)/NWA Television Championship (2 times)

NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (6 times)

NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3 times) – with Greg Valentine (2) and Blackjack Mulligan (1)

NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship

World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Batista (2) and Roddy Piper (1)

WWE Intercontinental Championship

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