It’s as disappointing as it is frustrating, and it seems like despite how long it takes place, the story has, and probably will continue to remain the same. Ric Flair is an absolute icon of the professional wrestling industry and there is definitely a case to be made that he was the greatest performer to ever lace up a pair of boots. He carried territories on his back, he made the careers of others that became the foundation of other promotions, and he was one of the top-drawing champions in an era when drawing a house was everything.
I can’t and wouldn’t want to take anything away from Ric Flair the professional wrestler, It’s too entertaining to watch him in some of his prime bouts and even in a portion of the latter stages of his career. Harley Race, Sting, Lex Luger, Terry Funk, Jack Brisco, Ricky Steamboat, Vader, and Shawn Michaels are just some of the names that Flair had incredible matches with.
As skilled, calculated, and polished as Ric Flair is inside the ring ropes, the real-life Richard Fliehr is just as disappointing, irresponsible, and embarrassing outside of it.
He was the guy that shouldered the weight of the National Wrestling Alliance, a burden that other titans of the industry were only willing to tow for a certain amount of time before they tapped out. Jack Brisco, an iron man of conditioning and skill, famously insisted on dropped the belt to Terry Funk in 1975 after the schedule for more than two and a half years was simply too much to keep up with. There are positives and negatives to this, but Ric Flair was tailor-made to be on the road, wrestling almost every night of the week, hence why he is arguably the competitor that personified the position of the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight champion more than just about anybody else.
That said, Flair’s nearly 20-year fall from grace is just plain sad.
To attempt to review every lawsuit, alimony fiasco, ill-fated return to the ring, and the occasional nonsense that he posts on social media would simply be too lengthy. The point is, despite being 76 years old, Flair can’t function outside of the WWE bubble, which more or less kept him from embarrassing himself, as well as tarnishing his legacy.
As we know, Flair was at death’s door with very slim odds to survive when he was hospitalized with a bowel obstruction from alcoholism in 2017. Regardless of the second chance at life, in the nearly ten year since that time, he brags about drinking regularly on social media in the name of still being “The Nature Boy.”
Obviously, taking life for granted is his choice, but more recently his drinking habits have arguably taken his public perception to a new low.
As we know, Flair can’t manage money between expensive partying, alimony payments, and a lavish lifestyle from the time that he was in his prime. Keep in mind, he was sued by both High Spots and Ring Of Honor because he owed them money as early as 2009. He went back to the ring for the ill-fated run in TNA because he needed the cash. After being one of the highest-paid performers in the business for a few decades prior to his original retirement in 2008, Flair ended up broke not long after that.
A few years ago, he made a few hundred thousand dollars to get back in the ring one more time at the age of 73 for an embarrassing tag match, where he passed out twice and it was later revealed that doctors suspected that he had a heart attack during the bout. In short, Flair still isn’t financially stable so after everything that he has been through, positive and negative, he still has to try to make a dollar off his legacy any way he can. You can’t knock the hustle, but you can definitely be disappointed that he squandered his career earnings. He was given a rare chance with such a level of supreme talent to be one of the all-time greats in his chosen profession, and even a rarer second chance at life, but seems to take all of that for granted.
Since he has to monetize his name as much as possible with little discretion or quality control, just within recent years, he was involved in some odds business ventures. He endorsed a “Ric Flair Drip” cannabis brand, and it was reported a few weeks ago that he and Mike Tyson are suing the company. He partnered with a beverage company to release the “Wooo! Energy” drink, which still looks to be a mostly online product. He promoted “Wooo! Wings” a few years ago as a “virtual brand” that went nowhere, and to be completely fair to Flair, I have no idea how the group behind it thought they were going to get a virtual brand of food to become a profitable venture.
You can see the pattern here.
Cameo, the video service where you can buy greetings from a slew of celebrities, has become another way that aging legends can have a second career so to speak and have a revenue stream after retirement. Recently, Flair made headlines among the wrestling media for video messages that fans paid as much as $600 for that were nothing more than incoherent rambling. The visibly intoxicated Flair was at a restaurant, and instead of wishing someone the best in their upcoming wedding, as he was paid to do, the former NWA champion ranted with profanity about the possible downside as only someone that has been married five times can. Another recent Cameo found him again in public so drunk that he could barely talk, and the happy birthday message a fan paid for consisted of Flair reading the instructions given in the actual video before he called the person “barf” instead of Bart. After the backlash, Flair just recently offered the fan a refund, which probably has more to do with him wanting to keep that Cameo revenue stream going than doing what’s right since the customer didn’t get what they paid for.
Just a few weeks ago, Ric Flair was scheduled to be a part of an anime and pro wrestling convention in Pittsburgh with several luminaries from the business as well. It was a notable convention as it was Sting’s final appearance in face paint, as he wisely maximized his convention appearance before he either retires from the circuit or shows up as Steve Borden on a more limited basis. Sting was only scheduled to sign for three hours so fans prioritized meeting first before the other legends that would still be there the entire day and the following day as well. I actually went to the convention with my pal, Johanson and despite getting there just before 12:30, we were told that Flair had left just two hours into the convention with the statement that he was “going to drink at the Westin and if anyone wanted an autograph he could find him there.” Sadly, one of my other friends that was there confirmed that Flair was found at the bar that afternoon.
The reason that I decided to write this column is based on Shane Douglas’ reaction to the incident on his podcast, as “The Franchise” was there as well to sign autographs at the convention. I’ve met Shane on a few different occasions and he’s a very nice guy. Aside from the fact that the former ECW champion explained that he was grateful that fans would be willing to put their money down to meet the legends, he also made a very compelling point about addiction, which Flair is clearly still dealing with. Douglas went through five years of a pain pill addiction himself, and he lamented that when he was able to turn his life around, his experiences were on a much better level. According to Douglas, Sting was running late so fans had to wait in his line until he arrived so Flair had a much smaller line at the start of the convention, which is what prompted him to leave to go to the bar.
Don’t get me wrong, Ric Flair is responsible for his own decisions. He pressed record and send when he was sloppy drunk on Cameo. He’s making himself look bad and more of a clown than an icon of the industry. He should be the Mickey Mantle of professional wrestling. Instead, he’s known as a disgruntled drunk on social media. Despite it being his own fault, it’s still incredibly sad to watch Flair’s antics in retirement.
Ric Flair lost his son at a tragically young age, and who knows how much danger that did to him. But, he’s also burned a lot of bridges, both personally and professionally. According to Mark Madden, who had a very public falling out with Flair a few years ago, Ric isn’t on speaking terms with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Arn Anderson, or David Flair. Truthfully, I feel bad for Charlotte since she has to see this stuff happen.
One thing is for sure, Ric Flair isn’t going to come to monumental realization at 76 years old so this is basically who he is, and as great as he was as a pro wrestler, he might be equally as sub par as a person outside of the business. He almost died of alcoholism, but went to the bar by 12:30 PM and then was drunk on Cameo so lessons aren’t going to be learned. Shane Douglas is right, life would be brighter if Flair would put his drinking issues behind him, but if I had to guess, I’d say that Flair is more concerned with playing the role of “The Nature Boy” than living a quality real life outside of the industry.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
