Did you know that he was born Fred Phillips, but the world knows him Richard Morgan Fliehr
[7] better known as Ric Flair?
[8]
Did you know that Flair is an American
professional wrestling manager and retired
professional wrestler signed to
WWE under its Legends program?
Did you know that Flair is widely regarded as the greatest professional wrestler of all time
[9] and the best American performer of the 1980s?
[10]
Did you know that Flair
cultivated a legacy over a career that spans 40 years?
Did you know that Flair is noted for his tenures with the
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA),
World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) and
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)?
Did you know that since the mid-1970s, he has used the moniker "
The Nature Boy"?
Did you know that Flair was a major
pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined at the premier annual NWA/WCW event,
Starrcade, on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWF counterpart,
WrestleMania,
in 1992?
Did you know after winning that year's
Royal Rumble,
[11] PWI awarded him their
Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while
Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the
Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and
Lou Thesz) a record eight times?
Did you know that Rick Flair is the only two-time
WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted in 2008 for his individual career and again in 2012 as a member of
The Four Horsemen, he is also an
NWA Hall of Famer?
Did you know that Rick Flair is officially recognized by WWE and
Pro Wrestling Illustrated (
PWI) as a 16-time
world champion (
eight-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion,
six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and
two-time WWF Champion)?
[12][13] although the actual number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 to 25.
[14]
Did you know that Rick Flair was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the
WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (which he also held last)?
Did you know as Flair was the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete
WCW's Triple Crown, having already held the
United States Heavyweight and
World Tag Team Championships?
Did you know that Flair also completed
WWE's version of the Triple Crown when he won the
Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWF Championship and the
World Tag Team Championship?
Did you know that Rick Flair was born on February 25, 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee?
[7]
Did you know that Flair's birth name is widely perceived to be Fred Phillips, although on
different documents he is also credited as Fred Demaree or Stewart,
while his biological parents were Luther and Olive Phillips?
[16]
Did you know on October 4, 1975, however, Flair's career nearly ended when he was in a serious plane crash in
Wilmington, North Carolina that took the life of the pilot and paralyzed
Johnny Valentine (also on board were
Mr. Wrestling, Bob Bruggers, and promoter David Crockett)?
[27][1]
Did you know that Flair broke his back in three places and, at age 26, was told by doctors that he would never wrestle again?
[27]
Did you know that Flair conducted a rigorous physical therapy schedule, however, and he
returned to the ring just eight months later?
[27]
Did you know that the crash did force Flair to change his wrestling technique away from
the power brawling style he had used early on, which led him to adopt
the "Nature Boy" style he would use throughout his career?
Did you know that Flair won the
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship when he defeated
Bobo Brazil
on July 29, 1977?
Did you know that Flair
reached elite status when he began referring to himself as "The Nature
Boy" in order to incite a 1978 feud with the original "Nature Boy"
Buddy Rogers, who put Flair
over in one encounter?
Did you know that WCW sued Flair in an attempt to reclaim the championship belt,
[31]
but Flair claimed that he owned the title belt in lieu of the US$25,000
deposit paid by NWA champions upon winning the title, which had not
been returned to him when he was fired from WCW?
[32]
Did you know that Flair won his last world titles in his career by winning the WCW
World Heavyweight Championship twice during 2000, the company's last
full year of operation?
Did you know that in 2015, Flair made his feature film debut, appearing in
Magic Mike XXL?[160]
Did you know that From May 2015-April 2016, Flair was host of a podcast titled "WOOOOO!
Nation"?
Did you know that the podcast was placed on hiatus after episode 46 which was
uploaded on April 1, 2016?
Did you know that Flair returned to podcasting on
MLW Radio with a new show called
The Ric Flair Show in July 2016?
[161]
Did you know that the final episode of
The Ric Flair Show was uploaded on December 16, 2016?
Did you know that
ESPN will air
Nature Boy, a
30 for 30 documentary directed by Rory Karp?
[162][163]
Did you know Flair married his first wife, Leslie Goodman, on August 28, 1971 and they had two children, daughter Megan and son
David,
before divorcing in 1983 after twelve years of marriage?
Did you know that on August 27,
1983, he married his second wife,
|
Elizabeth Harrell |
Elizabeth Harrell?
Did you know that promoter
Jim Crockett Jr. served as the best man for the wedding?
Did you know that Flair and his Wife Elizabeth had two children, daughter
Ashley and son
Reid.
Beth also made periodic appearances in WCW between 1998 and 2000?
Did you know that Flair
and Beth divorced in 2006 after nearly 23 years of marriage?
|
Tiffany VanDemark |
Did you know that on May 27,
2006, Flair married his third wife Tiffany
[164]
VanDemark, a fitness
competitor?
Did you know that in 2008, Tiffany filed for divorce from Flair, which was finalized in 2009?
[165]
|
Jacqueline Jackie Beems |
Did you know on November 11, 2009, Flair
Charlotte, North Carolina.
[166]
and in 2012, Flair filed for divorce from Beems, which was finalized in
2014?
married his fourth wife, Jacqueline "Jackie" Beems, in
|
Wendy Barlow |
Did you know that Flair is dating Wendy Barlow
Celebrity Wife Swap where he swapped wife/girlfriend with Roddy Piper and his wife Kitty?
(the maid "Fifi" from Flair's WCW
interview segment "A Flair for the Gold") as documented on ABC TV's
|
Did you know that Flair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008 for his singles career |
Did you know that Flair and Barlow got engaged in July 2016?
[167]
Did you know that Flair has a heart condition called
alcoholic cardiomyopathy?
[187]
Did you know that on August 14, 2017, Flair had surgery in Georgia to remove an
obstructive piece of his bowel, which led to various complications, most seriously
kidney failure, necessitating
dialysis treatment and ongoing hospitalization?
[188]
Did you know that Flair was discharged from rehabilitation and allowed to return home on September 21, 2017?
[189]
Now if you didn't know, now you know...
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