10 Wrestler Quirks You'll Never Be Able To Unsee

5. Ric Flair Doesn't Bump On His Back

Butch Kofi Kingston
WWE.com

Not whenever he can avoid it, anyway.

It's pretty easy to imagine 'The Nature Boy' flying through the air and landing in a crumpled heap, thanks to the countless time he tried and failed to nail a move off the top rope before getting caught out by the quicker, sharper babyface. But the landing is not quite as flat and flush as it might be in the imagination.

This is the case with any major bump Flair takes thanks to a plane crash that nearly took his life in 1975. 'The Nature Boy' broke his back in three places and at only age 26 was informed by doctors during his recovery that he would never wrestle again.

He proved them wrong (and in remarkable fashion), but had to adjust style accordingly. All those countless backgrops and top rope throws have concluded with Flair landing on his side, absorbing the brunt of the damage there instead of in the normal flat back position. Not something that ever really matters within the context of his classics, but something you can't miss upon realising it.

 
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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, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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