10 Dirtiest Players In WWE History

4. Ric Flair

Ric Flair Lita
WWE.com

'The Dirtiest Player In The Game' may not have been able to unleash his full bag of tricks during his relatively short WWE runs, but he brought with him a reputation as the sneakiest and most successful heel in the history of the industry.

Flair was a magnificent wrong-doer in the 1980s as the NWA's counterpart to Hulk Hogan's sickly sweet babyface presentation in Vince McMahon's empiric WWE. Surrounded by his rotating cast of Horseman, Flair stooped to unseen lows in an effort to keep or regain his title against legendary opponents such as Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Lex Luger and Sting.

Travelling North in 1991, Flair was a revelation in the ring in high quality battles with Hogan and Roddy Piper that relied on his old-school skulduggery in league with Bobby Heenan and Mr Perfect.

Bathed in the glow of his Royal Rumble WWE Title victory, Flair was an insufferable creep, harnessing his position at the top of the card to manipulate Randy Savage with doctored photos that depicted a previous relationship with Elizabeth. 'She was mine, before she was yours', bellowed the 'Nature Boy', in an effort to defeat the Macho Man with headgames before they'd even met face-to-face.

His 2001 return as a babyface didn't last, with an abrupt 2002 heel turn on Steve Austin parked after the 'Rattlesnake' departed the organisation, but Flair became the quintessential cheating sidekick first for Evolution and later his own daughter Charlotte, protecting her Divas/Women's title during the early stages of her reign.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett