Ric Flair (Classic Era)



Ric Flair is a character in the Classic Era Universe. At the start of the Era, Flair had just completed his rookie stint in the American Wrestling Association.

History
Having competed as an amateur at the University of Minnesota, Richard Fliehr was rechristened for his professional career as Ric Flair by his trainer, Verne Gagne, the AWA World Heavyweight Champion.

As the Classic Era began, Flair was in Japan competing for International Wrestling Enterprise before returning to the AWA where he would remain until May 1974. That month, Flair would embark on his first tour of Jim Crockett Promotions aka the Mid-Atlantic territory of the National Wrestling Alliance.

The change of scenery did Flair good as he would soon taste his first championship success, teaming with Rip Hawk to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. While he struggled to find his identity in the AWA and Japan, Flair found it in Mid-Atlantic as a cocky and arrogant first world citizen, eventually settling on the "Nature Boy" nickname that had been made famous years before by Buddy Rogers.

During this time in JCP, Flair would also win the NWA's Mid-Atlantic World Tag Team, Mid-Atlantic Television, Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight, and United States Heavyweight Championships. Flair would also make his first World Wide Wrestling Federation appearance, defeating Frank Williams during a WWWF Madison Square Garden event which aired live on HBO.

Flair would be claimed by Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson to be a cousin of the Anderson Family. Flair would also have championship rivalries with Paul Jones, Wahoo McDaniel, and Ricky Steamboat while also achieving success in a tag team with Greg Valentine. Flair would also survive a plane crash in 1975 that would injure his back and keep him out of action for three months. By 1981, Flair would be synonymous with championships in JCP.

On September 17, 1981 Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes to become to the NWA World Heavyweight Champion in Kansas City, Kansas during a Central States Wrestling event. Flair would tour the various NWA territories as Champion with one of his chief rivals being former champion, Harley Race.

In 1982, Flair would defend the title in the US and abroad, with challengers like Butch Reed and Kerry Von Erich pushing Flair to his limit. On December 25 in Dallas, the Reunion Arena witnessed a Flair title defense against Von Erich in which Michael Hayes was one of two referees in a cage match. Hayes and Von Erich had been friends until that match, but with Flair's maneuvering and Von Erich refusing Hayes' help, Ric was victorious while the Von Erich Family now found themselves in a feud with Hayes and his crew, the Fabulous Freebirds.

Flair meanwhile would continue the title defenses until losing to Race in St Louis. Eventually another cage bout, this time in Greensboro at the inaugural Starrcade on Thanksgiving 1983 would see Flair win the title back after much blood had been spilled between them.

Between Starrcades 1984 and 1988, Flair was World Heavyweight Champion most of the time, suffering only brief separations from the title by Kerry Von Erich, Dusty Rhodes, and Ron Garvin. In 1989, he would lose the title to a familiar foe, Ricky Steamboat only to win it back a few months later. In 1990, Flair would lose to the title to Sting at the Great American Bash event in Baltimore. It was also during this time that Flair had become part of a faction known as the Four Horsemen.

In 1991, the NWA titles in JCP were now referred to as World Championship Wrestling titles with the exception of the World Heavyweight title which still belonged to the NWA though the physical belt, the Big Gold belonged to WCW. Flair would beat Sting to win the title and then suffer a controversial loss in Japan to Tatsumi Fujinami. The NWA recognized Fujinami's win while WCW refused, still recognizing Flair as champion. At SuperBrawl, the two would meet in a rematch with Flair winning, but tensions between Flair and WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd would lead to Flair exiting WCW while still NWA and WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Flair would be stripped of WCW's recognition while the NWA would do the same after Flair appeared in the World Wrestling Federation with the title belt without permission.

Proclaiming himself the "Real World Champion", Flair would challenge Hulk Hogan, the WWF Heavyweight Champion, with his hatred for Hogan leading Flair to helping the Undertaker beat Hogan for that title at WWF Survivor Series in 1991.

The WWF title would soon become vacant after Hogan's rematch against Undertaker ended in chaos and the 1991 Royal Rumble match being used to determine the new Champion. Entering #3 out of 30 contestants, Flair would survive and become the WWF Heavyweight Champion. At WrestleMania, Flair would lose the title to Randy Savage, but would gain it back one last time later that year before losing it again, this time to Bret Hart.

In 1993, Flair would exit the WWF and return to WCW which by this point no longer had Herd as part of it. He would defeat Barry Windham, a former Horseman for the NWA World Heavyweight title. In September, WCW separated for good from the NWA and Flair would find himself losing what would become the WCW International Heavyweight Championship to Rick Rude before recovering to beat Big Van Vader for the WCW Heavyweight title at Starrcade 1993.

In a reversal of fate from 1991, Hogan would arrive in WCW in 1994 to challenge Flair for the WCW title. Flair would accept and then lose the title to Hogan at WCW Bash at the Beach in Orlando. Flair would still be in the title picture, even after being temporarily retired for a few months with Flair getting the World title a few more times between 1995 and WCW's closure in 2001. Flair would also get a brief run with the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, itself a continuation of the NWA United States title Flair had won years before.

Through it all, there were new formations of the Horsemen followed by quiet dissolution as the New World Order dominated much of the scene from 1996 to 2000. On the last edition of WCW Monday Nitro, Flair would lose to one of his top rivals of the 1990s, Sting. This would be Ric's last appearance during the Classic Era.

Danaverse Connection
Ric Flair's role in the Classic Era is vital as he was one of the top competitors of the 1980s and '90s, almost always being in the World Heavyweight title picture wherever he went.

Information
As is usually the case in the Classic Era, Ric Flair is portrayed by himself.

Classic Era Characters Classic Era AWA Characters Classic Era JCP Characters Classic Era CWF Characters Classic Era WCCW Characters Classic Era WCW Characters Classic Era WWF Characters