The Tragic Life and Times of Ric Flair

#7 Conclusion

Flair never seemed whole unless decked out in one of his flashy robes.

Flair, like most pro wrestlers, led a somewhat troubled life. Sometimes to deal with the hardships in and outside the ring, wrestlers resort to drinking, drugs, alcohol, womanizing or any combination of those vices.

Flair didn't really seem to have any of those vices early on even as fate tried to take his life on more than one occasion. He became a national icon during his run with NWA/WCW in the 1980s and 1990s, so much that he won the WWF World Championship in his first Royal Rumble appearance.

His influence was so great that he took the WCW World Championship with him to WWF claiming to be the real champion. WCW tried and failed to reclaim 'the big gold belt' and it came to be one of the main titles in WWE until the titles were unified back in 2013.

Of course, they were separated once again due to the brand split, but Flair's belt was synonymous with the top dog in WWE for much of the 2000s. Just ask Triple H, who held it throughout much of the early 2000s.

Flair has certainly tested fate a few times as well but he's had almost as many highs as lows. It would be hard to find a current wrestler in the WWE who doesn't list Flair as an influence.

He's even had a influence on recent pop culture as the LA Rams' Jared Goff voices 'Ric Flair, Ric Flair' as an audible on offense for the Rams. Flair is already considered one of the greatest of all time and is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer.

Who knows how things would have played out had he not suffered serious injuries in the plane crash or if he had been struck by lightning. We might not have had the Nature Boy as we know it or the 16-time Champion or the constant 'WOOOs' from the crowd whenever a wrestler receives a chop to his/her chest.

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