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This next series is going to focus on the greatest wrestlers of all time. This topic is very controversial. It’s controversial because not everyone agrees who should be included on the list of the greatest of all time. With credentials and general information, I shall work to make a case for each of the wrestlers I present in this series.
To be the man…
Though many would think that I’d save this one to the very last, I’m going to be unpredictable. Arguably the Number 1, greatest wrestler of all time is Ric Flair. The “Nature Boy”, the 17-time world champion, there aren’t many who could argue that Ric Flair is not the best there has ever been. Flair had a career that spanned 40 years fighting the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Total Nonstop Action (TNA, now Impact Wrestling), and most recently with the WWF/WWE.
Ric has fought everybody who’s anybody. His signatures are iconic; glitzy robes, his trademark “woooo!,” everything Ric Flair does, he does big. His wrestling style is similar as well. He struts to the ring, he poses with his flashy robe. To say that Ric Flair is entertaining to watch is an understatement.
Early on – The Nature Boy
In the early 1970’s, Flair trained for professional wrestling under Verne Gagne. His spent some time competing in Japan promoted by Gagne with the American Wrestling Association (AWA). In 1974, Flair left the AWA and joined Jim Crockett’s National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In 1975, Flair was in a serious plane crash that broke his back in 3 places. He was told by doctors at the age of 26 that he would never wrestle again. After a rigorous physical therapy schedule, Flair returned to the ring just 8 months later. The crash meant that he had to change his wrestling style from the brawling he has uses to the “Nature Boy” style he would use throughout his career.
A “nature boy” style, popularized by the original “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers is a persona of a smooth style. The competitor is good at what he does, stays smooth, and keeps an air of greatness through their look and attitude. Flair faced Buddy Rogers for the right to use the name “Nature Boy,” in 1978. With his win, he became the “Nature Boy” going forward.
Championship and career highlights
Ric Flair has held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and WWF World Heavyweight Championship. He has feuded with Sting with his tenure in The Four Horseman, and has been a major player in promotions across the world.
In one of the most memorable times of his career, Flair returned to WWE to announce that he would never retire. Vince McMahon set it up that the next match Flair has would result in a force into retirement. Flair went on to win several “career threatening” matches, but it couldn’t last forever. Flair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008. The next day, at WrestleMania XXIV, Flair would lose to Shawn Michaels in one of the most memorable career ending performances ever witnessed.
Need I say more?
The ESPN 30 for 30 special on Ric Flair shed a lot of light on his personal life and his rise in the wrestling world. Ric stated in that special an idea about professional wrestling that has always stuck with me. Ric has been called the greatest seller of all time. Other wrestlers have said that Ric was the best at making any move look like the most debilitating move ever done. Ric has shed some light on this.
He reports that while he was training for his matches, he had to work on throwing a punch as hard as he could without landing it. To do this, he hung a sting in a doorway and would practice hitting it over and over until he could throw a punch without making the string move. Talk about dedication!
I challenge anyone to argue how Ric could not be the greatest of all time. To defend this pick for the top spot even more, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has also indicated that he thinks Ric is the greatest of all time.
So there’s the start. Tune in this week to see more of my picks for the greatest wrestlers of all time.
And for those interested, according to Ric Flair’s biography, “woooo!” is officially spelled with 4 o’s.
Who made the list at number 2?
[…] of the wrestling world, there are not many people who would know Ric Flair or Chris Jericho. And if I say the name Sting, most people would think I’m talking about […]
[…] Want to see who made the list at #1? You know what happens to people who ask questions instead of just looking around on a wrestling website for information? You know what happens? You just made the list! […]
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