World Wrestling Insanity: Ric Flair-A Look Back at a True Hall of Famer (Part Four)

Ric Flair-A Look Back at a True Hall of Famer (Part Four)

By Mike Rickard II
Mar 16, 2008 - 10:33 PM

With the announcement that Ric Flair will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, it’s time to look back at the incredible career of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Flair’s accomplishments in the ring are legendary. With 16 world championships to his credit (including the NWA and WWE) and multiple regional singles and tag team titles, Flair’s importance as a top draw is irrefutable. Equally important is his in-ring ability which made Flair’s name synonymous with the phrase “able to carry a broomstick to a five star match”. In part three, we examined Flair’s climb to the top of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as the organization’s world heavyweight champion. Flair reached the top of the mountain in professional wrestling but his career was just beginning.

Flair’s first run with the world championship was no short-lived transitional reign. Flair’s title win represented the National Wrestling Alliance’s faith in his ability to draw not only in the Mid-Atlantic territory of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) but around the country as he was given a lengthy run with the belt, holding the title from September 17, 1981 until June 10, 1983.

For some wrestlers, the end of a world championship reign was the beginning of the end for their career, an accomplishment that would never be repeated. When Flair lost the belt back to seven time world champion Harley Race, things were just beginning. The loss to Race and Flair’s subsequent campaign for the belt would lead to one of the greatest programs in Flair’s career, a program known as “A Flair for the Gold”. The program would cement Flair’s status as the kingpin of not only JCP but the entire NWA.

After regaining the belt from Race, it was clear that Flair was “The Man”. It was also becoming clear that the business was changing from a system of territories to a battle of national promotions. As 1984 rolled around, Vince McMahon’s quest to transform the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) into a national promotion was taking its toll on promotions that couldn’t keep up with him. In the NWA, promoter Jim Crockett became increasingly powerful in the NWA with his promotion JCP becoming the flagship promotion of the NWA. Part of his power came from having Flair as world champion but part of it also came from an influx of new stars. The first Starcade marked the beginning of Dusty Rhodes’ tenure as booker in JCP as well as the influx of new talent in the territory.

While the territories were slowly dying, Flair continued touring as world champion, visiting the territories and using the world championship to help build up main event matches. The formula was usually pretty straight forward, Flair would enter a territory and dress down the number one contender and his fans, leading to a highly anticipated match between the champion and challenger. Another popular promotional tactic was to have Flair wrestle an up and comer, boasting of how he was no match for Flair only to have the wrestler defeat Flair in a non-title match, earning a championship match at a house show. Inevitably, Flair would hold on to the title by the skin of his teeth but the wrestler would be established as someone destined to beat Flair if he could earn a rematch. So many stars would be built up this way whether it was the Von Erichs, Barry Windham, Ted DiBiase, or Magnum T.A. While Flair wasn’t the first world champion to work such programs, he seemed to take them to a new level with his combination of interview skills and in-ring ability. Fans who watched the territories during Flair’s run as champion have their own favorite memory of when Flair visited their territory and the local hero came close to winning the belt.

One local hero who did more than come close was Kerry Von Erich. During Flair’s first reign as champion, he had tangled in Texas’ World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) promotion with the Von Erich brothers including Kevin, David, and Kerry. All had come close to wresting the title from Flair but none more than David. To many WCCW fans, David Von Erich was the heir apparent to the title until his unexpected death in February 1984 [1] . WCCW promoter Fritz Von Erich (and father to the Von Erich brothers) decided that David’s dream would carry on via one of his sons. In the end, Kerry Von Erich was chosen as the Von Erich who would win the NWA world championship. On May 6, 1984, brother Kerry won the belt at a stadium show entitled the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions. The belt wouldn’t stay around Von Erich’s waist long as he dropped it less than three weeks later to Flair during a title defense in Japan.

After regaining the belt from Von Erich, Flair faced a challenge from newcomer Tully Blanchard. While the cocky heel would eventually side with Flair as a member of the Four Horsemen, Blanchard’s initial run in JCP saw him clash with Flair including a memorable program over the summer of 1984 where he teamed with Wahoo McDaniel to battle Flair. McDaniel, a longtime friend of Flair, was portrayed as having grown bitter as his career began to wind down and he longed for the world title that had long eluded him. McDaniel seemed determined to do anything to get the belt, even turning his back on his longtime friend Flair. The program would see Flair successfully fight off both the challenge of Blanchard and McDaniel.

Flair’s duties as world champion meant less time for him to work in JCP but Jim Crockett made sure that Flair made as many appearances in his old stomping grounds as possible. With Dusty Rhodes booking JCP, Flair began working more and more as a heel in JCP. Rhodes began booking himself against Flair for the world championship, hoping to recreate some of the magic they had in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF). The program between Rhodes and Flair culminated in a main event match at Starcade 84: The Million Dollar Challenge. Unlike the previous year’s Starcade, Flair wasn’t the babyface. This time he played heel against Rhode’s challenge. With special referee Joe Frazier calling the match, it seemed to many that Rhodes might defeat Flair for the belt (along with the million dollar prize offered to the winner). Unfortunately for Rhodes’ fans that wasn’t the case as Frazier stopped the match due to excessive bleeding on Rhodes’ part.

As the WWF grew stronger, more and more NWA territories began to fall by the wayside. However JCP wasn’t one of them. With Rhodes booking the promotion and Flair headlining shows, JCP began to evolve into a national promotion. In 1985, JCP absorbed the stars of Georgia Championship Wrestling, leading to an all-star assemblage of talent with Flair shining brighter than anyone else. As the NWA lost more and more territories, Flair became firmly entrenched in JCP. He began working as both a heel and babyface, depending on who his opponent was. Flair continued working as a Tweener, feuding with rising babyface star Magnum T.A. as a heel and defending the honor of the United States as a babyface when Russian wrestler Nikita Koloff challenged him at the first ever Great American Bash for the NWA title after clotheslining Flair’s friend TV commentator David Crockett (brother to promoter Jim Crockett).

Flair’s days as a Tweener finally ended in the fall of 1985 when he turned full-fledged hell. The event marked the genesis of the Four Horsemen as Flair joined in with Ole and Arn Anderson in a brutal beat-down of Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes saved Flair from a post-match beatdown at the hands of Nikita and Ivan Koloff only to have his ankle broken by an ingrateful Flair. For the remainder of his tenure in JCP, Flair would be an unabashed heel. This event led to a rematch at 1985’s Starcade: The Gathering with Flair retaining the belt in controversial fashion after the first referee in the match was knocked out and a second referee awarded the match to Rhodes only to have his decision overturned by the first referee.

As 1985 faded into memory, Flair was firmly entrenched as the heel champion of JCP. While his appearances in other promotions were becoming less and less frequent, he maintained his national exposure thanks to JCP being carried on WTBS Superstation as well as the promotion running shows in more and more markets. The new year would see the development of one of the greatest episodes in Flair’s career-the formation of the Four Horsemen.