Ric Flair Biography, Career, Net Worth, And Other Interesting Facts

Ric Flair, whose real name is Richard Morgan Fliehr, is a legendary American professional wrestler born on February 25, 1949. He currently wrestles for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). People often call him the greatest wrestler ever and he’s been in the ring for more than 50 years from the 1970s till now.

He’s spent a lot of time wrestling for different organizations like Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) World Championship Wrestling (WCW) World Wrestling Federation (WWF now WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Most of his success came from his time with JCP and WCW where he won many titles. He’s been known as “the Nature Boy” since the mid-1970s. Throughout his career, he’s been a big deal in pay-per-view events like Starrcade and WrestleMania.

He’s won lots of awards too like being named Wrestler of the Year six times by Pro Wrestling Illustrated and eight times by Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He’s also been inducted into multiple Halls of Fame including WWE’s twice.

WWE recognizes him as a 16-time world champion winning titles in NWA WCW and WWF/WWE. However, some sources say he’s won even more titles like 17 to 25 championships. He says he’s a 21-time champion. He was the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion and also the first to hold both the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship at the same time. He’s also won different championships in WWE making him a Triple Crown winner there too.

Ric Flair’s Early Life and Education

Ric Flair was born on February 25, 1949 in Memphis Tennessee. His birth parents were Luther and Olive Phillips. However, he was adopted by Kathleen Kinsmiller Fliehr and Richard Reid Fliehr because Kathleen couldn’t have more children after her first baby passed away. The adoption happened through an organization called the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. His adoptive dad was studying to be a doctor in Detroit at that time while his adoptive mom worked for a newspaper.

They all moved to Edina Minnesota where Fliehr grew up. He went to Wayland Academy in Wisconsin for high school where he played sports like wrestling football and track. After high school, he spent a bit of time at the University of Minnesota.

Professional Wrestling Career

From Amateur Wrestler to Iconic Pro

Back when Ric Flair was just starting he was a pretty successful amateur wrestler as a teenager. But he wanted to take it to the next level so he trained with Verne Gagne to become a professional wrestler.

He joined Verne Gagne’s wrestling camp along with some other guys like Greg Gagne Jim Brunzell The Iron Sheik and Ken Patera. They trained in Gagne’s barn outside Minneapolis during the winter of 1971.

Ric Flair had his first official match on December 10, 1972, in Rice Lake Wisconsin. He went up against George “Scrap Iron” Gadaski and the match ended in a draw after 10 minutes. That’s when he started going by the name Ric Flair.

While he was part of the American Wrestling Association (AWA) Flair had some pretty big matches against guys like Dusty Rhodes Chris Taylor André the Giant Larry Hennig and Wahoo McDaniel.

Japan Debut and Iconic Matches

Ric Flair started wrestling in Japan in 1973 with International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) through a deal with AWA promoter Verne Gagne. He took part in IWE’s “Big Summer Series” from June to July, going up against wrestlers like Animal Hamaguchi, Great Kusatsu, Katsuzo Matsumoto, Mighty Inoue, and Rusher Kimura.

Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling (1974–1991)

From Championships to Near Catastrophe

In 1974, Ric Flair switched from wrestling in one region to another. He won his first championship there with a partner but later lost it. He then won another title by himself but lost that one too after a few months. During this time he started a big rivalry with another wrestler named Wahoo McDaniel.

Then something really bad happened. Flair was in a plane crash that could have ended his wrestling career. But he worked hard to recover and came back to wrestling just a few months later. Because of his injuries, he had to change the way he fought in matches.

He had a series of matches with McDaniel losing and winning the title back a few times. He also won some tag team championships with different partners. Flair had a lot of matches for different titles against many wrestlers including Ricky Steamboat.

He won his first major singles title the United States Heavyweight Championship in 1978. He had a feud with another wrestler who also called himself the “Nature Boy” but won solidifying his claim to the name.

Flair also won and lost the World Tag Team Championship a couple of times with different partners. He had a rivalry with Jimmy Snuka over the United States Heavyweight Championship and won it back a few times.

In 1981, he had a big match against Roddy Piper where both their titles were on the line. Flair lost and this title change is not recognized by the WWE. He tried to win the title back from Piper but didn’t succeed.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion’s Rollercoaster Journey

In 1981, Ric Flair became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion by beating Dusty Rhodes. He kept winning the title back after losing it a couple of times including a memorable steel cage match against Harley Race. Then in 1983 Flair lost the title to Race but got it back later.

Around 1985, Flair joined forces with wrestlers Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson to form a group called The Four Horsemen. They caused trouble for popular wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. and they even attacked them with a baseball bat.

As wrestling grew a promoter named Jim Crockett gathered different wrestling territories under one organization called the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Flair was a big part of this and got a special championship belt. But he lost the title to Ron Garvin in 1987 only to win it back later.

In 1989, Ric Flair had a famous match against Ricky Steamboat which he won and later another big match against Terry Funk. He even kicked Sting out of The Four Horsemen but then had to fight him for the title and lost it to him in 1990.

After some wrestling politics and disputes with WCW management Flair left WCW but still held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship until it was officially vacated in 1991.

From Mid-Atlantic to All Japan Pro Wrestling

During his time with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Ric Flair also started wrestling for All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 1978 he tried to win the NWA United National Championship but lost. In the 1980s he fought in Japan defending his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against wrestlers like Genichiro, Tenryu, Riki, Choshu, Jumbo Tsuruta, Harley Race, and Kerry Von Erich.

In 1985, Flair had a match against Rick Martel where he defended his NWA World Heavyweight Championship and also tried to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. The match ended in a draw. Later on, All Japan Pro Wrestling left the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling started working with New Japan Pro Wrestling instead.

NWA vs. IWGP Titles & G1 Climax Challenges

In 1989 Ric Flair and Keiji Mutoh who were wrestling as The Great Muta got into a big disagreement while working together for WCW. Then on March 21 1991, Flair had a match where he defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and also went up against Tatsumi Fujinami for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This was a big deal because it was a double title match at the Tokyo Dome during the WCW/New Japan Supershow. Fujinami ended up winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Flair but later lost it in the US at WCW’s SuperBrawl I on May 19, 1991.

In August 1995, while still under contract with WCW Flair took part in the G1 Climax tournament in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). During this tournament, he beat Shiro Koshinaka had a draw with Masahiro Chono, and lost to Keiji Mutoh. Then on July 17 1996, Flair tried to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Shinya Hashimoto in NJPW but unfortunately, he lost that match too.

From ‘Real World’s Champion’ to Departure and Return to WCW

Flair joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in August 1991 making a big entrance with lots of hype from Bobby Heenan. He showed up on TV with a flashy belt calling himself “The Real World’s Champion” and had Bobby Heenan and Mr. Perfect helping him out. Flair challenged other wrestlers like Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan.

His first match ended in chaos when Piper attacked him and Flair hit Piper with his belt and a chair. He got his first win on TV by beating Jim Powers. At Survivor Series he helped The Undertaker beat Hogan for the WWF Championship. There was some legal drama with Flair’s belt from another wrestling organization but Flair said he owned it fair and square.

In 1992, Ric Flair won the Royal Rumble match becoming the WWF Champion. He lasted a long time and got some help from Hulk Hogan to win. Flair had some matches with Roddy Piper and then lost the title to Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII. Flair and Mr. Perfect stirred up trouble between Savage and The Ultimate Warrior causing chaos at SummerSlam. Flair won the title back from Savage by taking advantage of Savage’s injured knee. He defended the title in Japan but ended up drawing the match. Flair lost the title to Bret Hart in a match in October.

Flair teamed up with Razor Ramon for the Survivor Series in 1992 and appeared in the Royal Rumble in 1993. But he ended up losing a match to Mr. Perfect and decided to leave WWF because he wasn’t happy with his role. He finished his commitments and went back to WCW in February 1993.

World Championship Wrestling (1993–2001)

Championship Wins from 1993 to 1996

In 1993, Ric Flair made a triumphant return to WCW and couldn’t wrestle right away because of a contract rule. So he hosted a talk show called A Flair for the Gold. Eventually, he got back to wrestling and won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship again. Later WCW left the NWA and Flair lost the title to “Ravishing Rick” Rude. But he won the WCW World Heavyweight title for the second time by beating Vader at Starrcade in 1993.

In 1994, Flair turned into a “tweener” (a bit of a good guy and a bad guy) and had a feud with Ricky Steamboat. He won the title back from Steamboat on WCW Saturday Night. Flair then challenged Col. Robert Parker and beat Barry Windham at Slamboree. He turned into a bad guy and teamed up with Sherri Martel.

In June 1994, Ric Flair merged two championship titles in a match against Sting. This made him a big bad guy especially after Sherri helped him win. He then feuded with Hulk Hogan lost to him in July and lost again in a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc.

After taking a break Flair came back in 1995 and fought with Hogan again. He also managed Vader for a bit and had some wild storylines. Flair wrestled in North Korea in 1995 and later in the year, he formed a new group called the Four Horsemen. They won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship a couple of times.

Flair continued his feud with Savage even joining forces with the Dungeon of Doom. They had a big match against Hogan and Savage but lost. Flair also won the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship during this time. The Four Horsemen changed a bit in 1996 with new members coming in and others leaving.

Battles, Betrayals, and Championship Quests in the ’90s

Ric Flair was a big deal in wrestling during the late ’90s. He was a key player in a storyline called the New World Order (nWo) invasion from 1996 to 1997. Flair and his group the Horsemen fought against other wrestlers like Scott Hall Kevin Nash and Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

There was a match where Flair tried to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Hogan but only won by disqualification. Later in a team match Flair’s group lost to the nWo because one of their members Lex Luger gave up.

Things got complicated when Jeff Jarrett wanted to join Flair’s group. Flair agreed but the other Horsemen didn’t like Jarrett. Eventually, Flair kicked Jarrett out in 1997 because he caused too much trouble.

Flair also had fights with other wrestlers like Roddy Piper and Curt Hennig. Hennig even turned on Flair during a match in 1997 hitting him hard.

In 1998, Flair had legal troubles with WCW and took a break from TV. He came back later to reform the Horsemen and had a feud with Eric Bischoff another wrestler. Flair even fought Bischoff in a match for control of WCW and won.

However, Flair’s luck turned bad when his son David Flair betrayed him during a match against Hollywood Hogan causing Flair to lose the championship.

From Family Feuds to Championship Peaks and Career Twists

Ric Flair and his son had some issues but they agreed to a big rematch at Uncensored. It was a tough match called a First Blood barbed wire steel cage Match against Hogan. Flair put his presidency and Hogan’s WCW World Heavyweight Championship at stake. Even though Flair bled first he won because the referee Charles Robinson helped him by unfairly counting Hogan out.

When Flair became the on-air WCW President he started using his power in bad ways similar to Bischoff. He started supporting bad guys over the good ones and even gave his son David the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship after Scott Steiner got hurt. He did whatever he could to keep his son as champion. Flair also got some tough guys together like Roddy Piper Arn Anderson and the Jersey Triad to help him control things. But his time as president ended when he lost to Sting on Nitro.

Flair’s wrestling career reached its peak in 2000 when he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice. But when WCW was bought by WWF in 2001 Flair became part of a bad group called the Magnificent Seven. His last match on Nitro was against Sting just like in 1995. Flair has talked about how he felt both happy and sad when WCW shut down because it meant people losing jobs but also the end of a tough chapter for him.

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–2009)

Comeback and Championship Quest

When Ric Flair returned to wrestling after a break of eight months it was a big deal. He came back to WWF in November 2001 after a break that started in March. He showed up on Raw after a big match called the “WCW/ECW Invasion” at Survivor Series which WWF won. Flair’s character changed to being a co-owner of WWF because Shane and Stephanie McMahon sold their shares to him. This happened before they bought other wrestling companies. Flair’s storyline involved a feud with Vince McMahon that led to a Street Fight at the Royal Rumble in January 2002 which Flair won. He also faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania X8 in March 2002 but lost that match.

Flair then challenged Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the Undisputed WWE Championship but lost. He then got into a rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin which led to matches at different events. Flair also had a match with McMahon for full control of WWE which he lost due to interference from Brock Lesnar. Flair continued wrestling facing various opponents like Eddie Guerrero Lesnar again Chris Jericho and Triple H. He had some wins and some losses during this time.

Ric Flair also wrestled in Japan a few times between 2002 and 2008 under the WWE banner. He defended the World Tag Team Championship with Batista and had matches against wrestlers like Shawn Michaels Mr. Kennedy and William Regal. There was a stipulation in some of these matches that if Flair lost he would retire.

Rise and Fall of Wrestling’s Evolution

Back in 2002 at an event called Unforgiven, there was a big wrestling match. Triple H was defending his championship against Rob Van Dam. During the fight, another wrestler named Flair got involved and helped Triple H win by hitting Van Dam with a sledgehammer. This made Triple H a “bad guy” in the wrestling world and Flair became his manager. Later on, Batista joined their group and they called themselves Evolution.

They were successful for a while winning a lot of matches and championships. At one point they had control over almost all the male championships in their wrestling league. But things started to change when Batista won a big championship and got the attention of Triple H. This led to some conflict within the group.

Eventually, Batista decided to leave Evolution and fight Triple H for the championship. They had a big match at WrestleMania and Batista won becoming the new champion. This caused the group to break up.

Afterward, Triple H took a break from wrestling and Flair became a good guy again. He even won a championship of his own. But then Triple H came back and attacked Flair starting a rivalry between them. They had some intense matches but in the end, Triple H came out on top.

So Evolution was a powerful group in wrestling for a while but like all good things it came to an end with lots of drama and excitement.

From Championship Feuds to Hall of Fame Glory

In 2005, Ric Flair had a big fight with Edge for the WWE Championship. Flair lost in a Tables Ladders and Chairs match in early 2006. He also lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin after 155 days.

Later in 2006, Flair took a break to rest and get married. When he returned he faced Mick Foley a real-life rival in a storyline based on their actual animosity. Flair won against Foley at Vengeance and SummerSlam.

Then he had a feud with the Spirit Squad winning the World Tag Team Championship with Roddy Piper but losing it to Rated-RKO later. He also had a match at Survivor Series where he was the last one standing in his team.

After that Flair teamed up with Carlito but they split after some conflicts. Flair moved to SmackDown in 2007 and had feuds with Montel Vontavious Porter and The Great Khali. He returned to Raw later and announced he would never retire but his next loss would force him to retire. He won several tough matches got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and had a memorable match at WrestleMania XXIV against Shawn Michaels which was voted the best match of 2008.

Wrestling’s Iconic Tribute and Dramatic Returns

On the March 31, 2008 episode of Raw Ric Flair said goodbye to wrestling. Triple H then brought out many wrestlers to thank Flair including Shawn Michaels Ricky Steamboat Harley Race and Chris Jericho followed by The Undertaker and Vince McMahon. The fans cheered and clapped for Flair. This was a special moment because both the good and bad guys in wrestling came together to honor Flair. Flair returned on June 16 2008 to talk to Chris Jericho about something Jericho did to Shawn Michaels. Flair wanted to fight Jericho outside the ring but Triple H stopped it.

The next year on February 9 Flair again talked to Jericho on Raw. Jericho was being mean to Hall of Famers so Flair told him to stop and then punched him. Flair came back a month later to mess with Jericho during a match. Jericho then challenged Flair to come out of retirement for WrestleMania 25. Instead, Flair managed other wrestlers in a match at WrestleMania but they lost.

On May 17, Flair helped Batista during a fight at the Judgment Day show. Then on June 1, Flair fought Randy Orton in a parking lot. Orton’s friends helped him and the fight ended with Flair getting hurt.

Ring of Honor Debut and Australia Tour Showdowns

Ric Flair joined Ring of Honor (ROH) in March 2009 and showed up at the Stylin’ And Profilin’ event. He helped clear the ring after a big match for the ROH World Championship got messy. Shortly after he started representing the company and had a role of authority on their TV show Ring of Honor Wrestling in May. There was a match to decide who would challenge for the championship but it ended in a tie and the next week nobody won again so Flair decided to make the next match a four-way showdown for the title.

In November 2009 Flair returned to the ring as a bad guy during the “Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin” tour in Australia. He faced Hulk Hogan and lost in the main event using brass knuckles. They had a couple more matches during the tour and Flair lost those too.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–2012)

Dramatic TNA Debut and Eventful Year in Wrestling

On January 4, 2010, Ric Flair showed up on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s (TNA) Impact! TV show for the first time. He arrived in a fancy car and watched the main fight between A.J. Styles and his old rival Kurt Angle. News came out later that Flair had signed up to work with TNA for a year. Flair had always said he wanted to finish his career with WWE but they hadn’t talked to him since June 2009. So after waiting for six months, he decided to join TNA instead.

At a TNA event called Genesis on January 17, Flair helped Styles cheat so he could keep his TNA World Heavyweight Championship title by beating Angle.

Besides Styles Ric Flair also kind of looked after other wrestlers like Beer Money Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) and Desmond Wolfe. But things didn’t go well for Flair and Styles. On March 8 they lost a fight against Hulk Hogan and Abyss. Then Jeff Hardy came back and helped Abyss and Hogan against Flair Styles and Beer Money Inc.

At another event called Lockdown Flair’s team lost to Hogan’s team in a big fight. Then on April 26, Flair had to fight Abyss for his WWE Hall of Fame ring and he lost. Hogan ended up with the ring but he gave it back to Flair through Jay Lethal who Flair later attacked.

After all that Flair started focusing on a new wrestler Kazarian as his top guy kind of replacing Styles. They even made a group called Fourtune with some other wrestlers.

On June 17, Ric Flair said he’d bring back the famous Four Horsemen group but with a new name: Fortune. Then on July 11 Flair came back to wrestling at Victory Road but lost to Jay Lethal. He managed to win against Lethal in a rematch on August 5 with some help from Douglas Williams.

More wrestlers joined Fortune like Matt Morgan and Douglas Williams. And they changed their name to Fortune. But things didn’t end well for Flair. On October 7, he lost a big match against Mick Foley.

Dramatic Return, Betrayal, and Retirement

In the next episode of Impact! something big happened. Fortune joined forces with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff’s new team Immortal. Then on another episode, Ric Flair returned to wrestling and had a match against Matt Morgan. But things got messy when Douglas Williams betrayed Fortune helping Morgan win. Flair left a European tour early due to money issues but returned later apologizing for missing a show. He wrestled one more match on the tour tearing a muscle in his shoulder.

While Flair was away Fortune turned against Immortal. But then Flair surprised everyone by returning and turning on Fortune joining Immortal. He won a match against A.J. Styles and Matt Hardy but it was more like a two-on-one fight. At Lockdown Flair’s team lost and he was written off TV because he needed surgery for his shoulder. However, he decided against surgery because the recovery would take too long.

Ric Flair came back to TV in May but didn’t wrestle. Then in August, he challenged Sting to a match putting Sting’s career on the line. Flair lost that match and tore a muscle in his arm. He appeared at Bound for Glory in Hogan’s Corner and continued to show up on TNA until April 2012. But things went sour when he tried to leave TNA leading to legal issues with WWE and eventually getting fired. After a heart attack scare involving another wrestler Flair decided to retire for good in 2012.

Return to WWE (2012–2021)

Hall of Fame Double Induction and Memorable Moments

On March 31, 2012, Ric Flair made history by becoming the first person to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice. This happened while he was still under contract with TNA but was allowed to appear at the WWE event called Slammiversary 10. Later that year in December he returned to WWE as a non-wrestling personality to present an award at the Slammy Awards.

In 2013, Flair made occasional appearances on WWE’s main roster mostly as The Miz’s mentor. He also showed up on NXT accompanying his daughter Charlotte to the ring.

Things took a turn in 2014 when Flair endorsed The Shield turning against his former allies in Evolution. He even received the World Heavyweight Championship belt from John Cena as a symbolic gesture at Battleground.

In 2015, Ric Flair had an encounter with Jon Stewart and he later returned to congratulate Sasha Banks on winning the Raw Women’s Championship in 2016. Flair’s relationship with Charlotte became more prominent especially when she became Divas Champion.

However, their relationship turned sour in 2016 when Charlotte betrayed Flair. They reconciled briefly in 2017 when Charlotte won the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

In 2019, WWE celebrated Flair’s 70th birthday but the celebration was interrupted by an attack from Batista. Flair later helped Triple H defeat Batista at WrestleMania 35.

Flair continued to make sporadic appearances including a toast with other wrestling legends on the Raw Reunion episode in 2019 and a brief stint managing Randy Orton in 2020.

In 2021, Flair was involved in a storyline with Lacey Evans but it was abruptly ended when Evans announced her real-life pregnancy. Flair eventually requested and was granted his release from WWE in August 2021.

Late career (2021–present)

From Triplemanía to NWA Return and Retirement Reversal

On August 14, 2021, Ric Flair appeared at a wrestling event called Triplemanía XXIX with his daughter’s fiancé Andrade “El Ídolo”. He even got involved in a match giving a good ol’ chop and putting his signature Figure Four leglock on someone.

Then on August 29, 2021, Flair popped back into the NWA scene after a long break since 2008. He thanked both NWA and WWE for the great times and talked about how cool it is to have different wrestling companies.

Fast forward to May 16, 2022, when it was announced that Flair was going to have his last match on July 31 in Nashville. It was supposed to be a big deal with him teaming up with his son-in-law Andrade El Ídolo against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. But before the match, there was some drama. Lethal got mad for not being included in the match and attacked Flair. Jarrett tried to help but ended up turning on him too. In the end, Flair and Andrade won.

But things didn’t go smoothly in Flair’s last match. He passed out twice and later regretted saying it would be his final match. After that, he showed up at another event with Andrade but things got messy when he got into it with Primo Colón and Andrade lost the match.

Then on September 26, 2022, during celebrations for his 50th anniversary in wrestling Flair said he wasn’t retiring after all. But in January 2023 he changed his tune saying he didn’t want to wrestle again except maybe to redo that last match.

From Surprise Gift to Ring Dominance

On October 25, 2023, during an episode of AEW Dynamite Flair showed up on TBS for the first time since March 21 2001 as a surprise gift from Tony Khan one of the founders of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) to Sting who was about to retire soon. Both Flair and Sting had previously wrestled on the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro back on March 26, 2001. Then on November 2, 2023, it was announced that Flair signed a contract with AEW for multiple years.

His first AEW PPV appearance happened on November 18, 2023 at Full Gear where he joined Sting Darby Allin and Adam Copeland in the ring. He got physical delivering chops and a low blow to Christian Cage. On January 6 2024 during AEW Collision Flair once again accompanied Sting and Allin to the ring and later did a promo with Sting that night. Then on January 10, 2024, Flair was with Sting and Allin during their match against Powerhouse Hobbs and Konosuke Takeshita. This time he unleashed his signature chops but this was the first time he did it inside an AEW ring.

Things got a bit tense on February 21, when Ric Flair expressed his dissatisfaction with his role in Sting’s retirement and wanted more involvement. He barged into The Young Bucks’ office. The next week on February 28 during Sting’s final appearance on Dynamite Flair made a dramatic entrance from the rafters and went after The Young Bucks with punches and chops.

On March 3, 2024, during the Revolution pay-per-view at the Greensboro Coliseum the same place where Flair and Sting had their iconic clash for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in March 1988 Flair was by Sting and Allin’s side once again. But this time he faced superkicks from The Young Bucks during the match.

What Is Ric Flair’s Net Worth?

Rick Flair’s Net Worth is estimated to be $500 Thousand as of 2024, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Legacy

Ric Flair was a wrestling legend known for his flashy style and rule-breaking antics. His famous catchphrase “Woooo!” was inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis’s song “Great Balls of Fire” and became a trademark of his persona. Whenever wrestlers copied his moves or finished a match with his signature leglock fans would shout out “Woooo!” in tribute.

Hulk Hogan another wrestling icon even admitted that Flair was the greatest of all time ranking himself second.

Flair’s flamboyant entrance included wearing elaborate robes and being accompanied by the music from “2001: A Space Odyssey”. He described himself as a jet-setting kiss-stealing playboy adding to his larger-than-life image.

He also made history by drawing the biggest crowd ever for a wrestling event in 1995 with 165000 people attending a match in Korea.

Throughout his career, Ric Flair received numerous honors including having days named after him in various cities and being inducted into multiple wrestling halls of fame.

In 2008, he was the first active wrestler to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and in 2012 he became the first person to be inducted twice.

Outside of wrestling Flair’s influence extended into pop culture with his famous “Woooo!” chant referenced in songs by artists like Pusha T and Offset.

His legacy as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time is widely recognized by fans and experts alike.

Reaction to Later Career

Some people didn’t think Ric Flair’s wrestling career was as great after the late 1990s. Wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin even said in 1998 that Flair should retire because he hadn’t been good for a while. A writer named John Molinaro wrote an article in 1999 saying Flair was ruining his reputation as a wrestler. Another writer in 2006 said Flair seemed to be fighting against his legend. But Flair kept wrestling until he officially retired in 2008 at 59 years old.

Even though some people didn’t like that Flair kept wrestling some of his matches later in his career were good. His match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24 in 2008 was even called the best match of the decade by a popular wrestling magazine.

But Ric Flair didn’t stay retired for long. He came back to wrestling in 2009 and signed to wrestle for TNA the next year even though he said he would never wrestle again. Some people including wrestler Axl Rotten NFL writer Adam Rank and many fans thought Flair was hurting his reputation by wrestling in TNA. Another wrestler Shane Douglas said in 2011 that Flair had been ruining his legacy since 1990.

In the same year, a writer named Kevin Eck criticized Flair for not being able to leave his flashy wrestling persona behind when he wasn’t wrestling. He said it was sad to see Flair damaging his reputation both in and out of the ring. Wrestler The Honky Tonk Man said in 2015 that people would only remember the bad parts of Flair’s later years as a wrestler.

But not everyone thought Flair was ruining his legacy. Wrestling announcer Jim Ross said in 2012 that Flair was just passionate about wrestling and needed to make a living. And in 2016 Flair himself said that wrestling in TNA was the biggest regret of his career.

Other media

Ric Flair has been on TV a lot. In 1996, he and some other wrestlers from WCW were on an episode of Baywatch as themselves. Then in 2013, he acted as a character named Dr. Roland Grayson on a show called Stuff You Should Know. He also voiced himself in an animated show called Uncle Grandpa in 2014 and in another show called The Cleveland Show in 2011.

He wrote a book called “To Be the Man” in 2004, which comes from one of his famous sayings.

In 2009, Ric Flair was the voice for a character in a video game called Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising.

In 2012, Flair was supposed to host an event called Insane Clown Posse’s 13th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos, but he got hit by a water bottle from the crowd, so he left early.

He appeared in a movie called Magic Mike XXL in 2015 and hosted a podcast called “WOOOOO! Nation” from May 2015 to April 2016. Then he started another podcast called The Ric Flair Show in July 2016 but stopped it in December 2016 because he couldn’t stay neutral about WWE.

In 2017, there was a documentary about him on ESPN called Nature Boy.

In 2017, he was in a music video for a song called “Ric Flair Drip” by Offset and Metro Boomin, and another music video called “Chambea” by Bad Bunny.

He worked with TickPick, an online ticket exchange, in 2018. He also did ads for CarShield in 2021, but they paused them because of some accusations against him. They started airing them again later in the year.

He brought back his podcast “WOOOOO! Nation” in 2021, but renamed it “Wooooo Nation Uncensored” and then changed it to “To Be the Man” in 2022.

He started working with Nu Image Medical in 2022 to promote men’s health products.

And WWE and Peacock made a documentary about him called Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair, which came out on December 26.

Business ventures

Ric Flair is selling his stuff on his website. He teamed up with Scout Comics in 2021 to make a comic book series called Code Name: Ric Flair. But when people accused him of bad stuff on a TV show, Scout Comics said no to the comic. So, Flair sold it himself. But later, in December 2022, Scout Comics changed its mind and decided to sell it. The series started in April 2023 and was written by the boss of Scout Comics, James Haick III.

In July 2022, Flair opened a virtual restaurant called “Wooooo! Wings” in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s not a real place, just online. The name comes from Flair’s famous shout. Other restaurants cook the food, and the company behind it expanded to six more cities in August 2022. Flair’s friend, Conrad Thompson, helped make it happen.

Flair also worked with Mike Tyson and a company called Verano Holdings Corp. to make his weed called “Ric Flair Drip”. It came out in October 2022 in a few states.

In July 2023, Flair joined up with Carma HoldCo and LGNDS to make an energy drink with mushrooms in it called Wooooo Energy!.

Personal life

A Journey Through Marriages and Family Ties

Ric Flair’s been through a lot when it comes to love and family. He first got married to Leslie Goodman back in 1971. They had a daughter named Megan and a son named David but sadly they split up in 1983 after being together for twelve years.

Then on August 27, 1983, he tied the knot with Elizabeth Harrell with wrestling promoter Jim Crockett Jr. as his best man. They had two kids together Ashley and Reid. You might have seen Beth and their kids on TV between 1998 and 2000 when they appeared in WCW.

But like many couples Flair and Beth ended up divorcing in 2006 after almost 23 years of marriage. Soon after Flair married his third wife Tiffany VanDemark a fitness competitor in May 2006. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long and they split up in 2008.

Moving on in November 2009 Ric Flair walked down the aisle for the fourth time with Jacqueline “Jackie” Beems in Charlotte North Carolina. But even that marriage didn’t go the distance as they divorced in 2014.

Then came Wendy Barlow who Flair affectionately called Fifi his “maid” from WCW. They got married on September 12, 2018, in Florida. But even their relationship had its ups and downs as they announced their separation on January 31, 2022. However, they patched things up and got back together in May 2022.

Flair’s eldest son David followed in his dad’s footsteps and was a wrestler for WCW and made a couple of appearances in WWF in 2002. His younger son Reid also got into wrestling signing with WWE in 2007. Sadly Reid passed away on March 29, 2013, due to a drug overdose.

In 2012 Flair’s daughter Ashley joined WWE going by the name Charlotte later adding the Flair surname in honor of her dad’s legacy.

From Road Rage to Financial Woes and Legal Battles

In December 2005, a judge ordered Ric Flair’s arrest because of a road rage incident in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s said that Flair got out of his car, grabbed another driver, and damaged their vehicle. He faced charges of damaging property and physically assaulting someone. WWE even poked fun at this incident, especially wrestler Edge.

Then, in September 2007, Flair started a finance business called Ric Flair Finance. But by July 2008, that business had to file for bankruptcy. Later, after Flair joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, his old employer, Ring of Honor, sued him in 2010. They claimed he owed them over $40,000 and hadn’t shown up to events he was supposed to attend as per his contract. This lawsuit was never settled.

Highspots Inc. said Flair had given them the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt as collateral for a loan. They even got a warrant for his arrest in May 2011 because he didn’t follow court orders related to this matter. He could have faced jail time if he didn’t comply. But then, on June 25, Highspots announced on Facebook that someone had paid off Flair’s debts.

From Potential Governor to Presidential Ambitions

Ric Flair known for his wrestling prowess has been a vocal supporter of Republican politicians in North Carolina for a while. He even thought about running for governor in 2000 but never went through with it. He once told Jesse Ventura that he’d racked up 143 speeding tickets in his life and Ventura advised him against running for office.

In 2008, Flair publicly endorsed Mike Huckabee for president praising him as a self-made family-oriented leader with a strong vision for the country.

During the 2016 presidential race, Flair threw his support behind Ted Cruz.

In a surprising move in 2016, Ric Flair announced his bid for the presidency with rapper Waka Flocka Flame as his running mate. However, he didn’t take the necessary steps to officially enter the race.

Battling Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy and Surviving Surgery

Ric Flair has a heart problem called alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

In August 2017 Flair had surgery in Georgia to remove a blockage in his bowel. This caused a lot of problems like kidney failure. He needed dialysis and had to stay in the hospital for a while. He got out of rehab and went home in September.

During his last match on July 31, 2022, Flair had a heart attack.