10 Great Wrestlers Who Started Out With Terrible Gimmicks
6. Ric Flair As Rice Lake
Ric Flair’s “Nature Boy” persona is rightly considered one of the greatest wrestling gimmicks of all-time. His flamboyant heel character has been ripped-off countless times over the years, and promoters will be trying to recreate his incredible success for as long as wrestling exists. Nobody has ever come close to Flair’s portrayal, however, and while he wasn’t the first wrestler to use the “Nature Boy” monicker, he’s certainly the finest.
Things could have gone very, very differently, however. Flair was a big, bulky wrestler when he debuted in 1971, and weighed somewhere in the region of 300lbs. He initially pitched the idea of wrestling as Ricky Rhodes, Dusty’s storyline brother, but the AWA’s Verne Gagne told him this’d be a stupid idea. Thus, he became Rice Lake: a tough, bruising competitor with short, brown hair.
Rice Lake wasn’t long for this world, however. He became Ric Flair shortly after debuting, though his aesthetics were still a million miles away from the slick, blonde-haired showman he’d later become. Flair eventually shed 60lbs, bleached his locks, cranked up the intensity, and started dressing in the finest suits and snakeskin boots. The Nature Boy was born, and Ric Flair became the most decorated world champion in wrestling history.