Ric Flair

Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee), better known by his stage name "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler currently with WWE on its RAW brand, and is currently its Intercontinental Champion for his first ever reign. He has been one of the leading personalities in professional wrestling since the mid 1970s, is a 16-time world champion, and is considered to be among the elite names in the history of the industry.

Profile

• Hometowns: Edina, Minnesota & Charlotte, North Carolina
• Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
• Weight: 243 lbs
• Trained by: Verne Gagne
• Previous Gimmicks: "Ramblin" Ricky Rhodes, Black Scorpion (masked), CEO of WCW (storyline), GM of RAW (storyline)
• Factions: Four Horsemen, Evolution, Yamasaki Corporation, Alliance To End Hulkamania, Team Package, Millionaires Club, Magnificent Seven

Trademark quotes

• "Wooo!"
• "To be the man, you've got to beat the man!"
• "Diamonds are forever, and so is Ric Flair!"
• "Hey baby! Do you want to ride Space Mountain?"
• "If you mess with me, you'll have two crease marks up yo back; one for ME, and one for ma HOMIES!"
• "I'm a limousine-riding, jet-flying, kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing son of a gun, who's kissed all the girls and made them cry."
• "Whether you like it, or you don't like it, learn to love it, because it's the best thing going today."
• "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it still has the longest line!"
• "Step back and see what's causin' all this!"
• "The ladies are always in line to ride Space Mountain all night long!"
• "Because I'm Ric Flair - and you're not!"
• "Does the Tin Man have a sheet metal cock?!?"
• "This is Flair country!"
• "Three words: all night long!"
• "I'm every woman's dream and every man's nightmare."
• "We drink a little harder, stay a little longer, party 'til dawn, and keep going strong."
• "Shut up, fatboy!"

Finishing and signature moves

• Figure-Four Leglock
• Chop Block
• Backhand Chop
• Kick to Groin
• The Low Blow
• Thumb to the eye
• Knee Drop
• Stalling Butterfly Suplex
• Back Suplex
• Elbow Drop to the knee
• Inverted Atomic drop

Flair's "dirty" moves

Ric Flair has a history of using illegal techniques in order to gain the upper hand on his usually younger, more athletic opponents. When he is being physically outclassed by an adversary, Flair will usually cower in a ring corner, pleading his opponent for mercy, or he will back away from his opponent while waving his hands before him and pleading, "Nooooo!" As his opponent stands bewildered at the spectacle of watching a 55 year old man cringe and beg like a coward, Flair then stuns his opponent with one or more moves from his arsenal of illegal maneuvers, usually a thumb to the eye or low blow. As his opponent staggers around in pain from the unexpected attack, Flair then capitalizes on the tide of battle turning, and executes his famous figure-four leglock, or, if he is willing to toy with his opponent, some more entertaining chops to the enemy's chest.

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Flair's "failing" moves

• Flair has gained a measure of notoriety for his (kayfabe) inability to successfully execute certain moves without being thwarted. Whenever Flair scales the top turnbuckle, he is almost inevitably pushed off the top rope to the floor below, knocked off balance so he crotches himself on the turnbuckle, or, most commonly of all, bodily hurled from the top rope to the mat. There are at least five instances in which Flair has successfully performed an aerial manuever:
• , when he executed a flying body press on Harley Race to win his second NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
• Flair defeated Barry Windham at Slamboree 1994 with the flying body press to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title.
• The May 19, 2003 episode of WWE RAW, when Flair hit Triple H with a flying double axe handle during a match for HHH's World Heavyweight Championship.
• The 2005 Unforgiven pay-per-view, when he executed a flying clothesline on Carlito during a match where Flair would go on to win his first WWE Intercontinental title. Much to the delight of the on hand fans, Flair celebrated with "Fargo Stuts" and "Whoo"s as if he'd just won the world title for the 17th time upon completion of this one.
• The September 19, 2005 episode of RAW, the night after Unforgiven, when he executed a flying clothesline on Carlito during a successful Intercontinental Title defense.

:Another famous "failing" move for Flair is when he goes over the top rope and lands on his feet on the ring apron. He then invariably attempts to run along the apron to a turnbuckle. Almost invariably, he will either be clotheslined by his opponent before reaching the turnbuckle, or will make it to the turnbuckle and climb up it, in which case the previously described scenario applies.

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• The "Flair Flop": Flair, after attempting but failing a strenuous move or because he's "tired", will execute a face-first bump, often followed by a "begging-off" routine preceding a low-blow / eye poke.