10 Great Wrestlers Who Totally Reinvented Themselves

In what's probably a dumbfounding moment for those who haven't seen much of the '70s territories days, Ric Flair wasn't always a peroxide-loving, chops-throwing party animal.

In his earlier days, fresh out of AWA kingpin Verne Gagne's hellish training camp, Flair was a big, burly brawler. In place of bleach, his surprisingly dark hair was on full display and his charisma, while not non-existent, was not anywhere near what it would become. Operating as a power brawler, Flair had passable success but was not on the level of top draws like Harley Race, Jack Brisco and Dusty Rhodes.

It took a life-threatening plane crash in 1975 for Flair to gradually find the road to superstardom. Sporting a broken back, Flair was told by doctors he'd never wrestle again. Refusing to quit, Flair returned to the ring with a few modifications to his work in order to keep his now damaged body safe.

Slimming down and full embracing a technical, mat-based wrestling style, Flair played up the theatrical side of wrestling to further compensate for the lack of power moves in his repertoire. As the new 'Nature Boy', Flair was tipped to be the next big thing in the NWA and even picked up a win on the original 'Nature Boy' Buddy Rogers.

By the early '80s, Flair was the ace of the NWA and one of the most praised, popular wrestlers in the world. Had it not been for that disastrous setback in '75, Flair's whole career could've been completely different.