10 Wrestlers Who Left And Returned More Badass

3. Ric Flair

Super Liger Chris Jericho
WWE.com

Ric Flair cites $25,000 and one Jim Herd as the two reasons he departed WCW in 1991.

Herd felt Flair, near enough in his prime as the greatest to ever do it, required a reboot to get over under his drastically misjudged, sports entertainment-inspired vision for the company. Flair removed the projected earring and Gladiator loincloth to make the shock jump to the WWF, in which his brilliance proved itself the rule-proving exception to Vince McMahon's fatal tinkering. That the promoter of the WWF had a more faithful idea of how to present an inbound WCW talent than WCW itself remains the over-powering example of Herd's legendary idiocy.

Flair had a choice WWF run - his storyline with Randy Savage restored him to more or less his extravagantly d*ckheaded, shag-happy best - but, before they botched him twice, Flair was always a 'WCW guy', and when he returned, he had no choice but to do so as a badass. He was set for a date with Vader ar Starrcade '93.

That match was a stunning war, pitting the wily, master technician opposite his most formidable ever threat in the form of a massive, destructive colossus. Flair overcame this philosophical battle in a spirited, emotional - and badass - performance

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!