Unfair to Flair: Celebrating The Worst of The Nature Boy

[King Kamala 0]

So I was watching The Legends of Wrestling: Heatseekers DVD and Roddy Piper and Buff Bagwell's boxing match was an extra and well, I kind of wanted to see if it was as terrible as everybody says it was. Well for the first few minutes, I thought to myself "Well this is pretty awful but maybe not as bad as I've heard" and then the finish comes and oh my god, it was even more retarded than I'd heard. And it all culminated in Ric Flair getting chased by Judy Bagwell. And I thought "Well, this must be the low point in Flair's career."

 

Then I thought some more. I thought about him basically being a bitch during his entire feud with The Undertaker, the feud with Vince Russo and David Flair, having to put over stiffs like El Gigante and a decade past his prime Junkyard Dog in the early '90s, jobbing to Rico, and hanging out with Scott Hall and Udo Kier in the looney bin in early '99 and I realized for an undeniably great wrestler, Ric Flair has had a plethora of really terrible moments. The fact that he's successfully managed to maintain his reputation as the greatest wrestler of his time, while working under some of the most terrible bookers in wrestling history is really something to behold. And even in the worst of times, rarely has Flair managed to leave me uninterested. And since bad wrestling can be more fun to talk about than good wrestling, I figured this could be an interesting idea for a thread.

 

So, let's talk about the most embarrassing moments in a storied and rightfully celebrated career. WOOOOOOOO!

[TheFranchise 0]

This is somewhat hi-jacking your thread Kammy and I apologise (and I apologise for continuing to call you that) but:

 

Ric Flair is generally regarded as the greatest of all time (A call i'd lend weight to with my own opinion) but one thing that's always made me curious, for many years people told Flair to retire because he was sullying his legacy.

 

So.. if Ric Flair had retired, say, in 1994, and not wrestled another 15 years, would he STILL be called the greatest of all time?

 

Are the extra fifteen years that people wanted Flair to give it up actually the reason he's called the best?

[King Kamala 0]

I don't know. I think if anything forgoing those last fifteen years of his career (which did have some great moments here and there) would have helped his reputation as the greatest of all time.. I don't think hanging on about a decade too long hurt his legacy as much as some people think but I think his legacy as a an all time great was already well established by '94.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Why would you call Flair a terrible booker? His run in the NWA from mid-1989 to early 1990 got both good ratings and a strong product.

[King Kamala 0]

Wasn't he also responsible for some really terrible stuff in '93/'94ish though? I could just be getting confused.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Wasn't he also responsible for some really terrible stuff in '93/'94ish though? I could just be getting confused.

He got the book again in early 1994, just before Superbrawl.

[King Kamala 0]

Well, that wasn't bad at all either. I stand corrected and will edit that little line out. I blame it on me confusing Mick Foley calling Flair a terrible booker in one of his books with Flair's actual booking runs.

 

And thanks for derailing my thread, ya jerks!

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Don't forget the nWo beating up Flair and burying him in the desert, with Flair crawling out, making his way back to the arena, only to get destroyed again.

[Jingus 0]

One of my favorite Flair "...what?" moments was during the Russo feud, which did of course have a lot of such moments. Flair came out to cut this blistering promo on Russo, making fun of him for being a punk who always wanted to be a wrestler but could never cut it. Except for one thing: stapled on right at the front was a frigging political correctness ass-covering. Flair mumbled something to the effect of "none of what I am about to say is intended to denigrate the Italian people". This was before he was impersonating Russo's parents saying "But-a Vinnie, you don't got-sa no muscles!". I know that some Turner executive probably forced him to add that disclaimer to the beginning, but Flair couldn't figure out a way to deliver it and it derailed an otherwise great promo.

 

hanging out with Scott Hall and Udo Kier in the looney bin

WHAT? I never saw THAT part. Is this stuff on Youtube?

 

...we really need to get our We Watch Shitty WCW And Weep Together club back going again.

[King Kamala 0]

 

No Udo Kier in this clip unfortunately but I swore that he played the doctor in the mental asylum. I must be crazy because I'm looking at DDT Digest's recap and there's a picture of the doctor that isn't very good but I can pretty much tell it is not Udo. Oh well.

 

As to why we don't revive The Shitty WCW Watching club...eh there aren't that many full shows on YouTube or DailyMotion. I don't know a Match of The Week thread might be an interesting idea though.

[TheFranchise 0]

At the time, I seem to remember there was no reason why Hall was in there.

 

Was he just inserted for shits and giggles?

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Anyone remember the court report from the Plane ride from Hell?

 

Not to mention his extremely creepy boasting about getting Cena (who previously had been a teetoler) to be a big party guy, and coaxing former addicts HBK and Regal to get drunk.

[Timmy8271 0]

I forgot when it was but the time he lost to that mid card guy, I think it was either Carlito or Chris Master on PPV was just embarrassing. I think they made a angle out of it to. But I got to say the most embarrassing part of his career was between 94-95 when he was made to be Hogan's bitch. Especially losing the retirement match and coming back a month later.

[theone 0]

Anyone remember the court report from the Plane ride from Hell?

 

Not to mention his extremely creepy boasting about getting Cena (who previously had been a teetoler) to be a big party guy, and coaxing former addicts HBK and Regal to get drunk.

[The Buzz 0]

I always thought it was silly how McMahon was so dominant in their ppv match. When you compared it to previous McMahon matches where he was dominated by other wrestlers, it made Flair look weak for awhile, atleast to me.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I always thought it was silly how McMahon was so dominant in their ppv match. When you compared it to previous McMahon matches where he was dominated by other wrestlers, it made Flair look weak for awhile, atleast to me.

It was a surprise that Flair actually won that one, as Vince had previously stated that if he and Flair ever wrestled that he (Vince) would have to win as Vince was too big for anyone to believe that Flair could really beat him.

[The Buzz 0]

Which is stupid for Vince to think, seeing as how Flair isn't that small and in character is one of the most highly decorated wrestling champions ever while Vince is just a corporate boss who knows how to fight a little. Thanks for the info, I always wondered why that match went the way it did.

[cabbageboy 0]

The lowest point of Flair's career is very easy to me. Uncensored 1995. Nothing comes close. Flair had already been "retired" by Hogan at HH 94, but on this show he comes back in drag to do a run in on that PPV (and made for a hideous looking woman). Then he ended up being a proxy job boy for Vader in the main event, when Hogan had to drag Flair around all 4 corners of the ring.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Anyone remember the court report from the Plane ride from Hell?

 

Not to mention his extremely creepy boasting about getting Cena (who previously had been a teetoler) to be a big party guy, and coaxing former addicts HBK and Regal to get drunk.

 

 

It's kind of funny how many people tend to present Flair as this good natured, fun loving, life of the party type guy, when he's clearly very sleazy and unhinged, even by wrestling standards.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yeah, but wasn't he acquited in that or whatever?

 

I have no doubt Flair is an old lech, though. But what's really funny to me is after how many times various promoters tried to bury Flair, they would constantly come back to him when business was down. A lot of people who wouldn't be fit to kiss Flair's ass owe him a lot for what he constantly did to rebuild their shitty businesses.

[Taxman 0]

Are there any more of those floating around, or just that one page?

[Beto Chavez 0]

There was that time on Nitro in 2000 I believe when Flair got his head shaved.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Then he ended up being a proxy job boy for Vader in the main event, when Hogan had to drag Flair around all 4 corners of the ring.

 

It's UncEnSoReD!!

[CookieMueller 0]

Are there any more of those floating around, or just that one page?

 

 

It's all on the Smoking Gun. Though to be honest that's the ONLY page with anything amusing other than the fact that Scott Hall's middle name is Oliver.

[Smues 0]

No one has mentioned yet that Flair was the Black Scorpion? One of the worst angle's ever, and they end up sticking poor Ric in the suit.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah but Flair was a last minute bailout of that angle and really wasn't near much of it on the shows until Starrcade. And the angle was quickly forgotten and Flair got the belt back from Sting about a month later anyway.