How Ric Flair built a successful career. Explore key moments that defined the journey.
Ric Flair, born Richard Morgan Fliehr, is a highly celebrated and now retired American professional wrestler. He's broadly recognized as one of wrestling's all-time greats, with a career that extended for half a century. Flair achieved significant success and acclaim in the professional wrestling world.
In the winter of 1971, Ric Flair trained as a professional wrestler with Verne Gagne at his first wrestling camp outside Minneapolis.
On December 10, 1972, Ric Flair made his professional wrestling debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, battling George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski to a 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name Ric Flair.
In 1973, Ric Flair made his first appearances in Japan with International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) as part of an agreement between IWE and AWA, competing in IWE's "Big Summer Series" against various opponents.
On May 13, 1974, Ric Flair debuted in Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic region in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), defeating Abe Jacobs.
On February 9, 1975, Ric Flair won his first singles title, defeating Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship.
In 1975, Ric Flair faced a career-threatening plane crash on October 4 in Wilmington, North Carolina, resulting in a broken back and a prognosis that he might never wrestle again. Also in 1975, on February 9, Flair captured his first singles title by defeating Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship, holding it until August 8 when he lost it back to Jones. Later in 1975, Flair defeated Wahoo McDaniel on September 20 for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship in a title vs. hair match.
In January 1976, Ric Flair returned to the ring just three months after a near-fatal plane crash, resuming his feud with Wahoo McDaniel.
On May 3, 1976, Ric Flair lost the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship back to Wahoo McDaniel.
On April 4, 1977, Ric Flair defeated Rufus R. Jones to win his second Mid-Atlantic Television Championship during his tag team championship reign.
On March 30, 1978, Ric Flair and Greg Valentine were stripped of the World Tag Team Championship by NWA management due to continuously ending their matches via disqualification.
On April 27, 1978, Ric Flair challenged for the NWA United National Championship but was unsuccessful.
On April 1, 1979, Ric Flair defeated Ricky Steamboat in a steel cage match to win his third United States Heavyweight Championship.
On April 20, 1980, Ric Flair defeated Jimmy Snuka to win the United States Heavyweight Championship for a fourth time.
On January 27, 1981, Ric Flair lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to Roddy Piper in a title versus title match, where Flair's title and Piper's Television Championship were on the line.
On September 17, 1981, Ric Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
On January 6, 1983, Ric Flair experienced an unsanctioned title loss to Carlos Colón Sr. in Puerto Rico, which was not officially recognized by the NWA.
In March 1984, Ric Flair lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Harley Race, but regained it in the span of three days in New Zealand and Singapore.
On October 21, 1985, Ric Flair wrestled Rick Martel in a double title match, where Flair defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and challenged for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, but the match ended in a double countout.
On July 26, 1986, Ric Flair lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Dusty Rhodes at The Great American Bash in a Steel Cage Match.
On September 25, 1987, Ric Flair lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Ron Garvin in Detroit.
On November 26, 1987, Ric Flair regained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ron Garvin at WCW's first pay-per-view event, Starrcade, held in Chicago.
On February 20, 1989, at Chi-Town Rumble in Chicago, Ricky Steamboat defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
On May 7, 1989, at WrestleWar, Ric Flair regained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ricky Steamboat. This match was voted 1989's "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
On July 23, 1989, at The Great American Bash, Ric Flair defeated Terry Funk, which led to a feud and the reformation of The Four Horsemen.
On July 7, 1990, Ric Flair dropped the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Sting at The Great American Bash.
On January 11, 1991, after Sting was unmasked as The Black Scorpion at Starrcade in 1990, Ric Flair regained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Sting.
On May 19, 1991, at SuperBrawl I in St. Petersburg, Florida, Ric Flair defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to reclaim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
In August 1991, Ric Flair signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), marking a new chapter in his career.
In February 1992, Ric Flair faced Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper in a series of inconclusive title-versus-title matches.
In April 1992, Ric Flair toured Japan with the Super World of Sports (SWS) promotion. He teamed with The Natural Disasters to defeat Ashura Hara, Genichiro Tenryu, and Takashi Ishikawa in a six-man tag team match.
In July 1992, as Savage prepared to defend the title against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam, Flair and Mr. Perfect sowed distrust between the two by suggesting that they would back one or the other during their match.
On September 15, 1992, Ric Flair defended the WWF Championship against Genichiro Tenryu at a Wrestle Association R event in Yokohama, Japan; the match ended in a draw.
In November 1992, Ric Flair teamed with Razor Ramon to take on Savage and Perfect at the Survivor Series.
In 1992, Ric Flair co-headlined WrestleMania after winning that year's Royal Rumble, marking a significant achievement in his career.
In January 1993, Ric Flair appeared in the Royal Rumble.
On February 11, 1993, Ric Flair made his last appearance with the WWF before returning to WCW, fulfilling his remaining house show commitments and participating in the WWF's "Winter Tour '93" of Europe.
In February 1993, Ric Flair returned to WCW as a hero, hosting a talk show called A Flair for the Gold due to a "no-compete" clause.
In September 1993, WCW left the NWA, during Flair's tenth reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
In June 1994, at Clash of the Champions XXVII, Ric Flair defeated Sting in a unification match, merging the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. This solidified Flair's heel turn after his alliance with Sherri was revealed, when she helped him win the match after pretending to side with Sting. Subsequently, Flair feuded with Hulk Hogan.
On April 29, 1995, Ric Flair wrestled Antonio Inoki in front of 190,000 spectators in Pyongyang, North Korea, at the May Day Stadium. This was a losing effort in a joint show between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling.
In December 1995 at Starrcade, Ric Flair won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Flair defeated Lex Luger and Sting by countout and then defeated Randy Savage with help from the Four Horsemen, marking a significant milestone in his career.
On July 17, 1996, Ric Flair challenged Shinya Hashimoto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in NJPW but was unsuccessful.
In September 1996, at Fall Brawl, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson teamed with Sting and Lex Luger to lose to the nWo (Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and an impostor Sting) in the WarGames match when Luger submitted to the impostor Sting's Scorpion Deathlock.
In October 1996, Jeff Jarrett came over to WCW from the WWF and wanted to join the Four Horsemen. Flair was in favor, but the other Horsemen were not.
In February 1997, Ric Flair finally let Jeff Jarrett join the Four Horsemen, despite the other members' reluctance.
In July 1997, Ric Flair kicked Jeff Jarrett out of The Four Horsemen due to the instability he caused within the group.
In September 1997 at Fall Brawl, Curt Hennig turned on Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen after being offered a spot in the group, slamming the cage door onto Flair's head.
On September 14, 1998, Ric Flair made a surprise return to WCW television and ceremoniously reformed the Four Horsemen with Steve McMichael, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit.
In December 1998, Ric Flair lost a match to Eric Bischoff at Starrcade after interference from Curt Hennig.
Between 1998 and 2000, Ric Flair's second wife, Beth, and their children made periodic appearances in WCW.
From 1999 to 2001, Ric Flair's elder son, David Flair, worked for WCW as a professional wrestler.
In 1999, Ric Flair was approaching the later stages of his wrestling career, continuing to perform in various wrestling promotions, maintaining his presence in the wrestling world.
Between 1998 and 2000, Ric Flair's second wife, Beth, and their children made periodic appearances in WCW.
In March 2001, Ric Flair lost the final match of Nitro to Sting, recreating their second match from 1995, marking the end of WCW before its purchase by the WWF.
On November 19, 2001, Ric Flair made a return to the WWF on Raw following the end of the "WCW/ECW Invasion," taking on the on-screen role of co-owner of the WWF.
From 1999 to 2001, Ric Flair's elder son, David Flair, worked for WCW as a professional wrestler.
On January 20, 2002, at the Royal Rumble, Ric Flair defeated Vince McMahon in a Street Fight.
In September 2002 at Unforgiven, during a World Heavyweight Championship match between Triple H and Rob Van Dam, Ric Flair turned heel by interfering and helping Triple H win.
In 2002, Ric Flair's elder son, David Flair, made two televised appearances in the WWF during the run-up to WrestleMania X8.
In June 2003 at Bad Blood, Ric Flair defeated Shawn Michaels after Randy Orton struck Michaels with a chair.
In January 2004 at the Royal Rumble, Ric Flair and Batista successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship against the Dudley Boyz in a tables match.
In February 2004, Ric Flair successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship with Batista against The Dudley Boyz twice.
On February 7, 2005, Ric Flair lost to Shawn Michaels in a singles match on Raw, broadcast from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
Ric Flair turned heel for the first time since 2005.
On November 5, 2006, at Cyber Sunday, Ric Flair and Roddy Piper captured the World Tag Team Championship from the Spirit Squad.
On November 26, 2006, at Survivor Series, Ric Flair was the sole survivor of a match against the Spirit Squad, teaming with Ron Simmons, Dusty Rhodes, and Sgt. Slaughter.
In 2006, Ric Flair and Mick Foley worked a program where Flair took part in some of the bloodiest and most violent matches of his career, particularly at SummerSlam 2006, in an "I Quit" match featuring barbed wire and thumbtacks.
In September 2007, Ric Flair opened a financial business called Ric Flair Finance.
Near the end of 2007, Ric Flair's younger son Reid Flair signed a developmental contract with WWE.
In February 2008, Ric Flair wrestled Mr. Kennedy and William Regal in Japan under the stipulation that he would retire if he lost.
On March 31, 2008, Ric Flair delivered his farewell address on Raw. Many current and retired superstars came out to thank Flair, including Shawn Michaels, The Four Horsemen, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, and Vince McMahon.
On June 16, 2008, Flair made his first post-retirement appearance on Raw to confront Chris Jericho about his actions during a rivalry with Shawn Michaels. He challenged Jericho to a fight in the parking lot, but Triple H stopped Jericho.
In March 2009, Ric Flair signed with Ring of Honor (ROH) and appeared at the Stylin' And Profilin' event, clearing the ring after an ROH World Championship match. He served as the company's ambassador and appeared on Ring of Honor Wrestling in May to cement his role.
In June 2009, Ric Flair had not had any contact from WWE. He had stated his loyalty to WWE but had waited six months for a call before deciding to sign with TNA.
On November 21, 2009, Ric Flair returned to the ring as a villain on the "Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin" tour of Australia, losing to Hulk Hogan in the main event of the first show.
On January 4, 2010, Ric Flair made his debut appearance for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on Impact!, arriving via limo and observing the main event between A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle. He later signed a one-year deal with the company.
On January 25, 2011, Ric Flair reportedly pulled out of TNA's Maximum Wooo! tour of Europe mid–tour after monetary disputes. He returned to the tour on January 27 in Glasgow, Scotland, and wrestled on January 29 in London.
On May 12, 2011, Ric Flair returned to television in a non-wrestling role on an episode of Impact Wrestling.
In September 2011, Ric Flair had the last match of his career against Sting on an episode of Impact Wrestling, where he tore his left triceps on a superplex spot.
On March 31, 2012, Ric Flair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for the second time, as part of The Four Horsemen, becoming the first two-time inductee.
In April 2012, Ric Flair tried to have his TNA contract terminated, which led to TNA filing a lawsuit against WWE for contract tampering and eventually firing Flair on May 11.
On May 17, 2012, it was reported that Ric Flair's daughter Ashley had signed with WWE, adopting the ring name Charlotte, which was later changed to include the Flair surname.
On December 3, 2012, Ric Flair announced in an interview that he would never wrestle again, owing chiefly to an on-air heart attack suffered by Jerry Lawler.
On December 17, 2012, Ric Flair returned to WWE at the Slammy Awards, presenting the Superstar of the Year award to John Cena, and later being assaulted by The Shield.
Throughout 2013, Ric Flair appeared sporadically on WWE's main roster as The Miz's mentor, and also occasionally on NXT accompanying his daughter Charlotte.
On April 28, 2014, Ric Flair appeared on Raw and showed his endorsement for The Shield, turning his back on Evolution.
In 2014, Ric Flair occasionally appeared on NXT, accompanying his daughter Charlotte to the ring.
In August 2015, Ric Flair interrupted Jon Stewart on Raw, telling him that the world title record would eventually be broken.
In January 2016, Ric Flair and Charlotte began displaying villainous traits with Flair often getting involved in Charlotte's Divas Championship defenses, turning heel.
On November 14, 2017, Ric Flair made a surprise appearance during SmackDown to congratulate his daughter Charlotte Flair, who won the SmackDown Women's Championship. They shared an emotional moment on the ramp and did his iconic strut.
On February 25, 2019, WWE celebrated Ric Flair's 70th birthday on Raw. During the closing moments, Flair was attacked by Batista.
In May 2020, Ric Flair transferred the rights to "The Man" nickname and gimmick to WWE. The terms of the transfer were undisclosed.
In June 2020, Ric Flair came back to WWE programming as a heel again, managing Randy Orton.
On November 22, 2020, Ric Flair made an appearance at Survivor Series during The Undertaker's retirement ceremony.
On January 4, 2021, Ric Flair started a storyline with Lacey Evans on Raw, where Evans flirted with him during a match against Women's Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Asuka. Flair managed Evans in subsequent weeks, often distracting his daughter Charlotte.
On August 2, 2021, it was reported that Ric Flair had asked for and was granted his release from WWE, which WWE confirmed the following day.
On August 14, 2021, Ric Flair made his Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) debut at Triplemanía XXIX, accompanying Andrade "El Ídolo" to ringside during his match against Kenny Omega and getting involved in the match.
On August 29, 2021, Ric Flair made his return to the NWA at NWA 73, his first NWA appearance since his induction into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2008. He thanked both NWA and WWE for memorable moments and emphasized the importance of having several companies in the industry.
On May 16, 2022, it was announced that Ric Flair would wrestle his final match on July 31 in Nashville, called Ric Flair's Last Match.
In July 2022, Ric Flair launched a virtual restaurant chain named "Wooooo! Wings" in Nashville, Tennessee, in partnership with Kitchen Data Systems, ahead of Ric Flair's Last Match. The chain's name is based on Flair's signature exclamation.
On July 31, 2022, Ric Flair suffered a heart attack during his final wrestling match.
On August 6, 2022, Ric Flair accompanied Andrade during his match against Carlito at the 49th WWC Anniversary show. Flair attempted to interfere before poking Primo Colón, causing Carlos Colón to attack him.
In August 2022, the virtual restaurant chain "Wooooo! Wings", launched by Ric Flair in July, expanded to six American cities. Conrad Thompson handled the launch and expansion.
In October 2022, Ric Flair partnered with Mike Tyson and Verano Holdings Corp. to launch his own cannabis line called the "Ric Flair Drip" under Tyson's cannabis brand "Tyson 2.0". The line launched in Arizona, Nevada, and California.
In July 2023, Ric Flair partnered with Carma HoldCo and LGNDS to release a mushroom-infused energy drink called Wooooo! Energy.
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