How will Ric Flair be remembered

[Guest bigm350]

How do you guys think Flair will be remembered 20 years from now? Barring him still wrestling , will he be remembered as a Top 5 legend in the history of Pro Wrestling? Or will he be remembered as someone who held on way too long, became a parody of himself, and tarnished his legacy by being Trips lap dog, and other things to disgrace himself? Overall, will he be mentioned in the same breath as Thesz, Race, Buddy Rogers, Kiniski, Tsuruta, Baba, etc? What are your thoughts?

[The Decemberists 0]

As the best.

 

Wooooo!

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

as the guy who died in the ring on Live TV.

[Guest Brian]

I used to think he'd be remembered in much the same way as Willie Mays, in that he hung around too long, but most of those memories will fade away in the public imagination. But he keeps on hanging around, so it's going to be tough to judge. Personally, I think it's tainted him pretty heavilly.

[Guest LooneyTune]

To me, no one is the best ever. There's great, but no such thing as the best. Kind of hard to compare people for best ever. How would you compare someone like Ric Flair to Jushin Liger, or Hulk Hogan to the Great Muta?

 

Flair, IMO, will be remembered for his great personality to cut promos. His in ring work, although entertaining, is pretty repetitive. His "Hanging on forever" doesn't help much either.

[Slickster 0]

In my opinion, Flair will be remembered along with Hulk Hogan and Lou Thesz as one of the three men who personified what North American pro wrestling is all about.

 

Lou Thesz brought the business out of the carnival circuit during the 50s and 60s with his emphasis on technical ability; his 'shooter' persona brought an air of legitimacy to pro wrestling that had ben sadly lacking.

 

Hulk Hogan's career was based far more on his gimmick and persona than his (nonexistent) wrestling ability; people paid to see Hulk Hogan, not to see Hulk Hogan wrestle. Hulk Hogan brought wrestling into the mainstream.

 

In his prime, Ric Flair was a combination of the two: an incredible wrestler with an instantly recognizable persona. Flair was arguably the greatest heel of all time while also proving to be a capable face (see Starrcade '83). Even now, Flair can wrestle better than many OVW guys half his age (see his TTuesday cage match for proof).

[NoCalMike 0]

Depends, to those who do tape collecting and/or are old enough to remember his glory days, then well that is how he will be remembered.

[Guest bigm350]

To me, no one is the best ever. There's great, but no such thing as the best. Kind of hard to compare people for best ever. How would you compare someone like Ric Flair to Jushin Liger, or Hulk Hogan to the Great Muta?

 

Flair, IMO, will be remembered for his great personality to cut promos. His in ring work, although entertaining, is pretty repetitive. His "Hanging on forever" doesn't help much either.

Yeah, it is extremely subjective to have best wrestler ever, but it seems Flair is really killing his legacy with all this Trips ass kissing, and all the crap he went through, and agreed to do, in WCW in his later years.

[Guest Brian]

I think when all the smoke clears, he'll be remembered as one of the greatest promo guys. I think the same fate will come to Austin, who also did some great wrestling, but for different reasons.

[Guest bigm350]

I think when all the smoke clears, he'll be remembered as one of the greatest promo guys. I think the same fate will come to Austin, who also did some great wrestling, but for different reasons.

But, as a complete package (charisma, wrestling ability, promo skills) is there anybody Flair doesn't compete with?

[Guest Coffey]

It'll depend on who you ask. If you ask a newer fan, they'll probably think he was a crazy old man. If you ask an older fan, they'll think he was a great champion.

[Guest Brian]

Alot of older fans think he's pissing away his legacy. There's was a point where he could have gone out with respect, and he's LONG since such a point.

[Guest TheLastBoyscout]

I used to think he'd be remembered in much the same way as Willie Mays, in that he hung around too long, but most of those memories will fade away in the public imagination. But he keeps on hanging around, so it's going to be tough to judge. Personally, I think it's tainted him pretty heavilly.

I think that will be countered by WWE OFFICIAL HISTORY deeming him the best EVAHHH!

[Guest Coffey]

Alot of older fans think he's pissing away his legacy. There's was a point where he could have gone out with respect, and he's LONG since such a point.

There's no such think as wearing out your legacy. What you've accomplished in the past doesn't go away.

[Guest LooneyTune]

For Flair to gone out with 100% respect, he should've retired at least 6 years ago. I can understand not wanting to give up what you love doing, but Jesus is it hurting his name. When you think of Flair now, you'll likely say "It's the guy who jobbed clean to Rico!"

[Guest TheLastBoyscout]

When you think of Flair now, you'll likely say "It's the guy who jobbed clean to Rico!"

No... No I don't think anyone remembers him that way.

[Guest bigm350]

For Flair to gone out with 100% respect, he should've retired at least 6 years ago. I can understand not wanting to give up what you love doing, but Jesus is it hurting his name. When you think of Flair now, you'll likely say "It's the guy who jobbed clean to Rico!"

I assume Flair still loves wrestling, and/or he pisses money away so fast, he needs to keep working.

[Guest LooneyTune]

When you think of Flair now, you'll likely say "It's the guy who jobbed clean to Rico!"

No... No I don't think anyone remembers him that way.

NOT ANYONE? I just mentioned it. Most fans won't remember it would be accurate, but people will remember Flar doing jobs to everyone on the roster.

[natey2k4 0]

Too Bad I hardly remember Flair jobbing to Rico. Flair is still able to give some younger stars good rubs, and he is still great at cutting promos and just being there. I still mark out when I see him.

 

Flair was in no way the greatest wrestler of all time, he's matches were really repeatitive, but usually still very entertaining. However, there are much better wrestlers, like Benoit.

 

Flair, in my honest opinion will always be remembered as one of the greats. There are few greats in the business, but Flair was great both in the ring and on the mic.

 

He is not pissing away his legacy, to be pissing away his legacy he would be A World Champion right now, when he in no way deserves it(other than a 1 night reign maybe to give him final respects before retiring as Champion, and putting the belt in a tournament or something). Right now he is helping future stars, and still being very entertaining.

[Guest LooneyTune]

What rub does Flair have to give? I can understand if it was 1995 when he was still considered a real threat to anyone and could be a world champion whenever bookers wanted, but in a few weeks it will be 2005, and he's run out of it for quite some time.

[Guest Brian]

Alot of older fans think he's pissing away his legacy. There's was a point where he could have gone out with respect, and he's LONG since such a point.

There's no such think as wearing out your legacy. What you've accomplished in the past doesn't go away.

That's not true. The shit will way down on the good stuff. It will tarnish. Furthermore, he will lose respect from people. The last six or so sub-par years and the couple mediocre years before will be viewed in the same scope as the Steamboat and Funk matches. And the only thing consistent through that timne frams, from start to finish, is that Flair could deliver the goods on the mic. Even when his wrestling was bad, bordering on embarassing, he still had the ability to light things up on the mic. He still have his accomplishments, and that's a HOF career, but when you weight the whole thing and examine his whole career, he's got alot more to answer to then just that. And those last few years will stay in people's minds too, as they are the most recent.

[natey2k4 0]

Say what you want, but I for one... DO NOT mind having Ric Flair still on my television screen Monday nights.

[Guest Brian]

And neither do I. When he's cutting a promo. He can still bring it in that respect. But when he's wrestling, it's different.

[Guest Coffey]

Alot of older fans think he's pissing away his legacy. There's was a point where he could have gone out with respect, and he's LONG since such a point.

There's no such think as wearing out your legacy. What you've accomplished in the past doesn't go away.

That's not true. The shit will way down on the good stuff. It will tarnish. Furthermore, he will lose respect from people. The last six or so sub-par years and the couple mediocre years before will be viewed in the same scope as the Steamboat and Funk matches. And the only thing consistent through that timne frams, from start to finish, is that Flair could deliver the goods on the mic. Even when his wrestling was bad, bordering on embarassing, he still had the ability to light things up on the mic. He still have his accomplishments, and that's a HOF career, but when you weight the whole thing and examine his whole career, he's got alot more to answer to then just that. And those last few years will stay in people's minds too, as they are the most recent.

Dude. Professional wrestling is NOT a legitimate sport. This isn't Japan. The fans aren't going to give a flying rat fuck. This isn't baseball. This isn't football. The Hall of Fame doesn't mean anything. He doesn't have anything to worry about except for his financial status for the rest of his life when he retires. It's not like wrestling has a retirement plan.

 

He could wrestle until he died and people will still talk about his title reins and Steamboat matches.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Fans from 1998-Present: "Ric Flair is an old man with saggy tits."

 

Fans from 1988-Present: "Ric Flair use to rule, now he just sucks."

 

Fans from 1978-Present: "Ric Flair is one of the greatest ever."

 

I've heard the former a lot in High School, because most fans I know didn't become fans until the Attitude days, and have no idea about Flairs past.

 

The last 2 are common to hear on Message Board discussions, so there are 3 different ways to look at it.

[Guest Brian]

And they will. But probably in the same breadth they remember that he was in the ring too long. Like I said, it'll weigh down. Whether you view it as a legitimate sport is not the point, it's an athletic event and he was out there past the point where he was viewed as an athlete.

[Guest TheLastBoyscout]

When you think of Flair now, you'll likely say "It's the guy who jobbed clean to Rico!"

No... No I don't think anyone remembers him that way.

NOT ANYONE? I just mentioned it. Most fans won't remember it would be accurate, but people will remember Flar doing jobs to everyone on the roster.

If that is the way you REMEMBER Flair (Note: This is different from actually remembering an event), than you have no business calling yourself an educated wrestling fan. Remembering Flair for that implies it will be a major part of his legacy.

 

Again, no one looks at Flair and says "Hey, there's the guy who lost to Rico."

[Twisted Intestine 0]

When you think of Flair now, you'll likely say "It's the guy who jobbed clean to Rico!"

No... No I don't think anyone remembers him that way.

NOT ANYONE? I just mentioned it. Most fans won't remember it would be accurate, but people will remember Flar doing jobs to everyone on the roster.

If that is the way you REMEMBER Flair (Note: This is different from actually remembering an event), than you have no business calling yourself an educated wrestling fan. Remembering Flair for that implies it will be a major part of his legacy.

 

Again, no one looks at Flair and says "Hey, there's the guy who lost to Rico."

Maybe by someone who watched wrestling for the first and last time during that event.. How else are they suppose to remember him?

 

Then again, I doubt they'd remember at all.

[Guest LooneyTune]

I was simply pointing out he went from winning World Championships to jobbing to the lowliest of people, especially when Rico was managing 3 Minute Warning at the time.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

This thread is a classic example of how the majority of Ric Flair fans will remember him: With selected ignorance. They'll talk at length about Steamboat, Tsuruta, Race and Rhodes but ignore the cluelessness in the ring, HHH cocksucking and all-around terrible wrestling and senility that he's been showcasing the last few years.