Ric Flair apparently carried significant resentment over being forced to cut his signature hair during his time in WCW, with Charlotte Flair revealing just how deeply the experience affected her father.
During an appearance on What’s Your Story? with Steph McMahon, Charlotte discussed interviewing Ric for her upcoming podcast and recalled asking him about something he had struggled to overcome mentally. “I asked him what was something that he couldn’t get past, mentally,” Charlotte said. “He said when they made him cut his hair, the first time he walked through the Charlotte airport, no one knew who he was.”
For Ric, whose distinctive appearance had become inseparable from the “Nature Boy” persona, Charlotte said the experience amounted to losing part of his identity. “To my dad, that’s like, ‘No one knew who I was?’” she continued. “Seeing the pain on his face and him saying my uncle Arn and mom got him through it, but him articulating that to me was…I won’t give away the whole thing.”
Stephanie McMahon then asked whether Ric had told Charlotte what he eventually did to the person responsible for making him cut his hair. “Did he tell you what he did to the person who made him do that?”
After Charlotte confirmed that he had, Stephanie recalled later receiving word that Ric had confronted Eric Bischoff. “I think I’m in charge of talent relations at the time, I could’ve been,” Stephanie said. “At any rate, I get the call that your dad has punched Eric Bischoff in the face. I think we were in Kansas City for some reason.”
Stephanie said the incident demonstrated how long Flair had carried his feelings about what happened. “He held on to that…..He was ready to explode. It was like his identity.”
Charlotte added that her father told her his hair never grew back the same way after it was cut.
Flair and Bischoff famously had a contentious relationship during their years together in WCW, with their real-life problems occasionally spilling over into wrestling storylines. Despite their history, the two later crossed paths again while working for WWE.
Charlotte’s comments offer additional insight into why the issue was so personal for her father, with Flair apparently viewing his trademark hair as far more than simply part of his wrestling presentation.
