When WCW was presented as the antithesis of WWF, which was centered mainly on entertainment and outlandish gimmicks, the person they trusted most to draw in crowd was none other than Ric Flair. The man was, and still is, widely considered to be the greatest wrestler to have ever lived, and his magnetism and charisma as a character, coupled with his amazing wrestling and storytelling abilities, made him essential to WCWs success. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Flair was selling out arenas for Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW like nobody else, as people clamored to come see the Nature Boy with his sequined robes, lavish lifestyle, and realistic wrestling. Maintaining his popularity was of paramount importance for WCW, which is why Jim Herds ridiculous ideas to change him into a gladiator and shave his head have been lambasted as one of the most ridiculous concepts ever proposed in wrestling history. Flairs departure from WCW in 1991 following the Herd incident was a major blow to the company, and it was thanks to his return in 1993 that allowed the company to keep competing with WWF. In the more traditional wrestling-oriented southern states, where WCW had the majority of its fanbase, Flair was the cornerstone of the companys success, wowing audiences with his unmatched wrestling skill. It took an entirely different kind of wrestling Superstar to dethrone Flair as WCW's big draw.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
