It's hard to think of Ric Flair as lacking confidence but, in 2001, that was the situation. Flair, after years of poor treatment by WCW higher-ups, had lost faith in himself as a performer and as a man. He even wrestled his last WCW match against Sting while wearing a t-shirt, too ashamed to go topless. When WCW closed, Flair was not immediately hired for the Invasion angle. Instead he spent time doing commercials and watching his son Reid in amateur wrestling competitions. A lot of people assumed that Flair was happily retired from wrestling, never to return. On the post-Survivor Series Raw, the familiar strains of Also Sprach Zarathustra rang out from the arena sound system as Vince McMahon was in the middle of a speech and Ric Flair strutted down the aisle. Fans in the arena were gob-smacked. Nobody knew Flair would be there and they figured they had had their fill of surprise returns with Jerry Lawler's reappearance earlier in the show. Flair, who was to feud with Mr. McMahon, was full of energy and claimed that he was the co-owner of the WWF. The fans went wild and it was an incredible moment. Flair hadn't been seen in a WWE ring since 1993 and few expected to see him back, especially now that the Invasion was over. It took Flair a little while but he eventually regained his confidence and became 'The Nature Boy' once more.
