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 Born
Richard Morgan Fliehr way back in 1949, in Edina Minnesota, Ric “The
Nature Boy” Flair has had a legendary wrestling career, spanning four
decades. His career has seen Flair reach the very top echelon of the
wrestling business, with some ups and downs along the way. Now, Flair is
back in the WWF, a company he had spent a short time with back in the
early 90's. Flair began his wrestling career at a young age when he was
a high school wrestling champ. He was also a standout football player,
playing offensive guard on his high school team. Flair began his
professional wrestling career under the tutelage of the legendary Verne
Gagne and in late 1972, Flair would have his first match. Flair’s first
pro match was, ironically, a draw, when he was in the AWA, but better
days were ahead. After joining the Mid-Atlantic region in 1973, Flair
quickly picked up the “Nature Boy” gimmick that would become his
hallmark. Then, in 1975, Flair was involved in a serious plane crash
that would alter his career and life, and the wrestling business itself,
forever. Along the way, Flair has done and seen it all. He’s been
married three times, with four children, one of whom, David Flair, may
be joining his father in the WWF at a later date.
In addition to his numerous title reigns; in WCW, the WWF, and
most famously, the NWA, Flair was formerly a multiple tag team champion
wrestler, teaming up with the likes of Greg Valentine and Blackjack
Mulligan. One thing’s for certain: At the age of fifty three, Flair’s
still beloved by wrestling fans around the world, all of whom grew up
watching his legendary matches with the likes of Harley Race and Dusty
Rhodes. Although he may not be physically able to resume the endurance
of a full-time wrestling career, Ric Flair is still around, and he seems
destined to stick around for a long time.
UPBEAT How did you get the “Nature Boy” nickname?
Ric Flair "That belonged to my idol and
mentor Buddy Rogers. I kind of modeled myself after him, with my look
and all, and I just assumed the identity of the Nature Boy. Buddy was
cool with it. The “whoo” just evolved out of my personality and as for
my dress, well, I’ve always liked to be well dressed, but again, Buddy
was like that too."
UPBEAT Tell us about the plane crash in 1975.
Ric Flair "The travel was really
tough back then so I had this idea that a bunch of us could team up and
use this plane, for a few hundred dollars a day. It turns out that the
plane on that day was seriously overloaded, about fourteen hundred
pounds overloaded, and there was hardly any fuel either, so we couldn’t
turn back and then I heard this sound, it was like the engines were
popping and they just died. They were gone, and we crashed. The lack of
fuel probably saved my life. It was terrible. Johnny Valentine, one of
the greats in wrestling, was paralyzed from the waist down and the pilot
was killed."
UPBEAT What would you say were the greatest moments of your career?
Ric Flair "One of them was coming back
to the WWF and having my return show take place in my hometown of
Charlotte. That was very emotional for me. The other greatest moment in
my career was probably at Starrcade back in 83, when I beat Harley Race
and regained my world title. I think that might’ve been the first pay
per view in history."
UPBEAT One of the most amazing matches in your career was when you
wrestled Antonio Inoki in North Korea?
Ric Flair "I didn’t like that
situation at all. That was a deal where it looked like we might go to
war with those guys and we were part of a peace delegation, or something
like that, that went over there and it was crazy. Ted Turner was with
me, his wife, the President was there, everybody, but at the end, I was
the only one left and I didn’t like it at all. There were about 190,000
fans in the arena when I wrestled Inoki, and I don’t ever want to see
that many fans again, it was scary. He ended up winning the match in
about fifteen minutes. I didn’t mind losing to Inoki under those
circumstances. I just wanted to get out of there."
UPBEAT Who were the greatest champions you’ve faced in your career?
Ric Flair "Ricky Steamboat is at the
top of my list. Harley Race, Terry Funk, Chris Benoit, Ronnie Garvin.
I’ve been lucky to wrestle just about everybody in my career. The guys
today can do stuff that I couldn’t do back then, but it’s a different
time now. The Hardy Boyz are amazing with what they do, the same with
Stone Cold and The Rock. It’s all proportional: Guys eat better, train
better, learn from better people, so how can you compare different eras,
in any sport?"
 UPBEAT
The Rock has kind of transcended the sport of wrestling the same way
Hulk Hogan did in the 80's. You never transcended the sport. You were
never really seen outside of wrestling.
Ric Flair "It’s funny because I
wrestled the Rock’s father Tony Atlas and his grandfather, the high
chief Peter Maivia, and Rock would be running around the back area, when
he was thirteen years old. No, I just didn’t have time with my schedule
to think about television and movies. I did some stuff but wrestling is
what I am. I just didn’t want to take away any more time from my family
than I was already. I really don’t have any regrets about not doing
movies or television."
UPBEAT Why did you come back?
Ric Flair "I was getting paid by WCW to
basically sit at home, but I think by coming back I have a chance to
make more money than I would by doing nothing and I still feel I can
contribute to the business. I feel great. I didn’t feel good for a long
time, mostly because of the behind the scenes stuff, but it’s great here
in the WWF. I wanted to come to the WWF before, but financially, it just
didn’t work out. Coming back to the WWF, I had to decide if I really
wanted to work again. It’s an honor to work with Vince McMahon because I
think he’s the greatest promoter in the history of sports period."
UPBEAT You took a vacation after WCW?
Ric Flair "No, I just stayed home with
my family and played with my kids."
UPBEAT If you do come back to wrestle, who would you like to wrestle
against?
Ric Flair "I’d like to wrestle Stone
Cold and the Rock. I mean, I loved wrestling Vince McMahon because Vince
is such a great performer and an underrated wrestler in his own right. I
can wrestle anytime I think, because I’m getting in better shape
everyday. My shoulders are feeling great after surgery and I feel better
than I ever have recently. I still have to lose some weight before I’m
ready for TV though, but I’m almost there."
UB
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