The following 5 stories uncover a different side to the limousine-riding, jet-flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin’ dealin’ son of a gun, Ric Flair!
1. Ric Flair Reflects on the Highs and Lows of His Great Career
“I’ve been hit by lightning twice,” Ric Flair reveals.
“In 1982, I was the World Champion back then in NWA, and I was flying into Richmond, VA. I had to wrestle Ricky Steamboat that night. It was sold out. My connection was late getting out of Atlanta because of the weather.
“We landed, and they wouldn’t let us out of the plane because it was raining so hard, and it was before they had jetways.
“Finally, it let up a bit, so we got off, and they gave us umbrellas like they used to in the old days. I was walking about 50 yards from walking into the building, and lightning hit the tip of my umbrella, bounced off it and hit the guy behind me in the eye, and killed him.
“The second time I was on a Seneca II, a small plane, coming back from somewhere on the Fourth of July in 1986. And then lighting hit our plane — bingo! We went upside down…
“In 1975, I crashed in an airplane and broke my back. The doctors told me I’d never wrestle again…
2. Dusty Rhodes on Flair Almost Becoming “Ramblin’ Ricky Rhodes”
“He’d just broken in, and we were on the road,” Dusty Rhodes once shared about long-time comrade, Ric Flair. “He carried me and [Dick] Murdoch’s bags.
“He said, ‘Mr. Rhodes…I wanna ask you a question.’ He’s driving us through the town. ‘What do you think of the name…Ramblin’ Ricky Rhodes?’ And he was smiling, man. He was going to go with [that name].
3. Jack Brisco Gives His Thoughts on Ric Flair as Champion
“He is even better than they say,” admits Jack Brisco.
“He is, without a doubt, probably one of the all-time greatest. Never, never can you get him upset, can’t get him mad, can’t get him tired. He’s a 60-minute man. Never seen a man with energy like he’s got…the knowledge of the business, his ring savvy.
4. Lex Luger on Partying with Ric Flair
Lex Luger once recounted, “Ric would stay up so late, riding around the town. Early in my career, when I was riding with him, he always checked into real fancy hotels. He checked into this fancy hotel in Sacramento – so I did too.”
5. Arn Anderson on “The Roach,” Ric Flair!
“Ric’s a survivor,” Arn Anderson explains. “He’s like a roach.”
“He’ll be around when the rest of us are dead!”