How Good Was Ric Flair Actually?

5. Rivalries

Ric Flair had the Midas touch when it came to any rivalry he was in, especially during the 1980s and '90s. The Nature Boy was such an expert at getting fans riled up with his insulting words and nefarious actions that anyone he stood opposite in a ring or with a microphone would automatically become a hero to an audience desperate to see Flair get his comeuppance. 

Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair were perfect for each other. As one man represented everything that was good about the blue-collar life of working hard and loving your family, the other represented corporate greed, materialistic exhibitionism, and unapologetic misogyny. Their promos were magic, the battles between Dusty and both Flair and the Horsemen are excellent to this day, and it's a shame that their Starrcade encounters had questionable finishes because everything else about their rivalry was immaculate.

Flair's '80's work with Ricky Steamboat is jaw-droppingly ahead of its time. The WCW YouTube channel has a three-and-a-half-hour video dedicated to their unbelievable work together, with the tagline "WCW's greatest in-ring rivalry". This isn't hyperbole. Their trio of matches for the then-NWA World Championship in 1989 are mind-blowing to this day, with Flair's grueling two-out-of-three falls victory over The Dragon at Clash of Champions in Louisiana the pick of the bunch.

We mentioned Flair's hardcore pedigree, and his 'I Quit' match with Terry Funk for the NWA title in 1989 is the definition of a war. The pace and intensity of the match are unrelenting, with the microphone being used as a weapon over and over. Ric emerged victorious, with his Figure Four proving too much for Funk, and the match would later be referenced in another great Flair rivalry with Mick Foley in the mid-2000s.

Ric Flair's feud with Randy Savage for the WWE Championship in 1992 was The Nature Boy at his brilliant best. Goading the Macho Man with stories of Miss Elizabeth riding Space Mountain in her lewd past, their WrestleMania 8 encounter is one of the best World Championship matches in WrestleMania history. 

Despite this excellent work, it's impossible not to ponder what could have been had Vince McMahon had the grapefruits to book Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan against one another when he had the chance in the early '90s. Hulkamania was running at its wildest, and Flair had worked his whole life to be given the crowning moment of pitting his dastardly ways against wrestling's all-conquering hero. They had a solid rivalry during Hogan's initial red and yellow run when he signed for WCW, but the moment had passed. This will forever be wrestling's biggest missed opportunity.

As it stands, Flair did great work with establishing Sting as WCW's great hero of the late 1980s and early '90s. Taking the young prodigy under his wing, Flair and Sting's first match at Clash of Champions 1988 in Greensboro, North Carolina is an absolute classic. As Sting chased his first-ever World Championship, both men put on an absolute clinic that drew a fanatical, deafening reaction from the audience. As Sting hit the Stinger Splash and slapped the Scorpion Deathlock on Flair for what was a sure victory, Ric held on for dear life to earn a time limit draw. Sting would win his first World Championship from Flair in 1990 at The Great American Bash, and the pair faced each other 14 times in WCW, including being the final match on the last ever Nitro.

Ric Flair was a dream for any babyface to work against. Say what you will about Ric's arrogance; he earned the right to be that cocky by selling for every opponent he faced as if his life depended on it, and his lack of selfishness is something every professional wrestler should aspire to.

9/10