How many times
has he been World champion?
Here is what we could come up with for Ric Flair's title reigns over the years:
NWA
- Ric Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes 9-17-81
- Ric Flair defeated Harley Race 11-24-83
- Ric Flair defeated Harley Race 3-23-84
- Ric Flair defeated Kerry Von Erich 7 5-24-84
- Ric Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes 8 8-9-86
- Ric Flair defeated Ronnie Garvin 11-26-87
- Ric Flair defeated Rick Steamboat 5-7-89
WCW
- Ric Flair defeated Sting 1-11-91
- Ric Flair defeated Barry Windham 7-18-93 (International World Heavyweight Title)
- Ric Flair defeated Vader December 27, 1993
- Ric Flair defeated Ricky Steamboat April 24, 1994
- Ric Flair defeated Sting 6-23-94 (International World Heavyweight Title)
- Ric Flair defeated Randy Savage December 27, 1995
- Ric Flair Randy Savage February 11, 1996
- Ric Flair defeated Hulk Hogan March 14, 1999
- Ric Flair defeated Jeff Jarrett May 15, 2000
- Kevin Nash forfeits titles to Ric Flair May 29, 2000
WWF
- Ric Flair Won the Royal Rumble on January 19, 1992 to win the WWF Title.
- Ric Flair defeated Randy Savage on September 1, 1992
There have been other
disputed or not recognized title changes that Ric Flair has been involved
in:
March 21, 1984, Harley Race beat Ric Flair in New Zealand for the NWA title.
Flair regained the title on March 23, 1984 in Singapore. The title switch
was not recognized in the U.S until the late 90's.
March 21, 1991, Tatsumi Fujinami beat Flair in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese
referee for the match counted a pinfall, while the WCW referee for the match
DQed Flair for tossing Fujinami over the top rope. The title was then held
up and settled on May 19, 1991 when Flair beat Fujinami in St. Petersburg,
FL.
On April 17, 1994, Ric Flair and Rick Steamboat had a double pin finish. On
April 21, 1994, (aired on TV May 21, 1994) Flair defeated Steamboat to end
the dispute. It was never officially announced that the belt was held up,
although Flair gave the belt to WCW commissioner Nick Bockwinkel and said
he wanted it held up. There are also stories that Ric Flair did title switches
with Jack Venano in the Dominican Republic and Victor Jovica in the Caribbean.
Both stories have been confirmed by fans in attendance but haven't been recognized
in the U.S as of yet.
So as you can see, Flair has had more title wins than they announce to his credit on television. The amount of times Ric Flair has been champion has always been a sort of confusion.
Why
did he leave WCW in 1991?
Ric Flair contract was up and WCW officials offered him a new deal that bad
compared to his last deal. Flair has offered a 50% pay cut and no longer got
the option of booking power. WCW officials wanted to make Lex Luger their
top star and wanted to make Ric Flair a midcard star. Flair disagreed and
a week before Great American Bash 1991 he either quit or was fired by WCW.
He signed with WWF soon after and started appearing on WWF television in October
1991.
Why
did he take the NWA World title belt with him?
Because Ric Flair simply owned the title. WCW owner Jim Crockett had the belt
specially made for Ric Flair in 1985 for $10,000 and have ownership of the
belt to Flair instead of bonus money Flair was suppose to receive. Owning
the belt meant that Flair could take the belt with him wherever he went and
he did take it when he went to WWF. WCW filed a lawsuit against WWF and Ric
Flair but it's not sure what came out of it besides that Ted Turner (the owner
of WCW at the time) bought the title back for $23,000.
Why
did he leave the WWF in 1993?
Both Vince McMahon and Ric Flair felt that Flair was no longer needed in the
WWF. McMahon thought Flair did everything he could in the WWF and Flair wanted
to go back to WCW. The two both agreed to end the contract and Ric Flair lost
to Mr. Perfect in a loser leaves town match on Monday Night Raw. He rejoined
WCW soon after.
What's
the plane crash I always hear about?
In 1975 Ric Flair was involved in a small plane crash with wrestling legend
Johnny Valentine, Bob Bruggers, and "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods. Doctors told
Ric Flair that he would never wrestle again but Flair proved them wrong by
returning to active wrestling the next year. The other three wrestlers weren't
so lucky though and all retired from the sport.
Did
WCW sue Ric Flair in 1998?
Yes. In early 1998 Ric Flair was written out of WCW storylines while he was
working out a new contract with WCW. Seeing that he wasn't needed for any
WCW television tapings he decided to not show up at a WCW Thunder taping and
to watch his son's amateur wrestling tournament. WCW's booking committee decided
out of nowhere to reform the Four Horsemen that night and announcers said
he would be on the show over and over with a big surprise. Flair never showed
up of course and WCW got upset and filed a $2 million dollar lawsuit against
Ric Flair for damages saying he signed a letter of intent to re-sign with
WCW. Flair was not mentioned or seen on WCW for a long time but did return
months after and reformed the Four Horsemen. It isn't known what exactly happened
with the lawsuit but it is thought of to be dismissed since Ric Flair came
back to WCW and stayed till it's sale in 2001.
Why didn't Ric Flair fight Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 8?
There are two stories to why the two men didn't fight. The match was announced
for Wrestlemania 8 but soon after was cancelled and changed to a double main
event of Macho Man vs Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan vs Sid. Some say Sid came to
Vince McMahon and demanded to fight Hogan since a clause in his contract said
he could at the next Wrestlemania. That story is highly unlikely though and
thought to be untrue. The other story which is believed to be the true one
is that Hulk Hogan was going to retire at Wrestlemania 8 (he did but he returned
a year later) and didn't want to lose to Ric Flair. Hogan wanted to fight
Flair but wanted to win by pinfall and retire with the belt. Vince McMahon
didn't like the idea so changed the match to a double main event. Wrestling
fans never did get to see a pay pier view Hogan vs Flair match until two years
later in 1994.
How old is Ric Flair?
Ric Flair is 60 years old as of February, 2009.
Did Tony Atlas ever wrestle Ric Flair?
They sure did. The two had a confrontation on Georgia Championship Wrestling in March or April of 1983. They also wrestled matches a few times that I am aware of. One was a tag team match that featured Ken Patera & Ric Flair vs. Tony Atlas & Rick Steamboat that took place in Mid Atlantic Wrestling between 1978-1980. Not sure of the exact date.