#7 Ric Flair parts ways with WWF
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When The Nature Boy Ric Flair made his first WWF appearance back in 1991, hopes were high for an ultimate showdown between the two biggest legends of professional wrestling. For one reason or another, the WWF decided not to go with Flair Vs. Hogan at Wrestlemania, and we instead got another, less anticipated match between ‘the Natch’ and Randy Savage.
Despite this, Flair’s first run with the WWF was not without success. He first gained the WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble 1992, defeating 29 other men for the prize. He would go on to compete against the likes of Bret Hart and Razor for the championship later on, and even gave a symbolic blow to the fortunes of WCW by parading its 'big gold belt' around like it was nothing. In theory, Flair could have stuck around with the WWF for a number of years, helping to fill the void left by Hogan, Warrior and Andre.
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Instead, his title reigns, and his WWF career, in general, were short lived. Perhaps seeing the direction the company was going, he decided to jump ship and return to WCW in 1993. To his credit, Flair utilised his departure to help out another, younger talent -perhaps Hulk Hogan should have been taking notes.
Flair was involved in a storyline with Mr Perfect throughout most of 1992, as the two men were initially a part of Bobby Heenan’s faction. After working together to take the WWF Championship away from Randy Savage, the two of them had a falling out, resulting in the former friends competing against each other at Survivor Series of that year.
In the opening months of 1993, Flair, after failing to win the Royal Rumble for a second consecutive time, ended up putting his career on the line in a match with Perfect on Monday Night Raw. The angle for the match was that Flair and Perfect’s relationship had gotten so sour, that there wasn’t enough space for the two of them in the company any longer. Perfect ended up getting the win in a fairly surprising victory, and Flair was not to be seen on WWF television for a number of years.
Flair appeared on WCW later that month and became a central part of the company’s success throughout the late 90s. It must have hurt the WWF to see yet another Golden Era legend leave the company, but it did end up issuing in a new era, and the career of Mr Perfect was made that much more important from having the seal of approval from the Nature Boy.
