10 Wrestlers Who Suffered A Crippling Crisis Of Confidence

by Jamie Kennedy

1. Ric Flair

Miss Elizabeth Ric Flair Lex Luger
WWE.com

Nobody was more confident than Ric Flair in the 1980s. His expensive suits, opulent lifestyle and bragging set the blueprint for braggart heels to come, and it was 100% authentic. The 'Nature Boy' lived as he preached, and he was very much the alpha male sort amongst his peers.

By 2000, some of that swagger was replaced by crippling fear.

Watch most of Flair's work from latter-day WCW between 2000-01 and you'll see him wrestle in street clothes. This wasn't some repackage job or new gimmick. Ric deliberately avoided working without a shirt because he was self-conscious about how he looked. He was less 'Woo' than 'Woo-rry'.

Bruce Prichard said on a recent flashback episode of his pod that Flair was even hesitant to wrestle Sting topless on the final episode of Nitro. It wasn't until Ric re-joined the WWF and worked Vince McMahon at Royal Rumble 2002 that he returned to his more classic look.

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What other wrestlers suffered severe confidence wobbles? For more WWE, check out 10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE No Way Out 2000 and 10 Things We Learned From Bret Hart On Stone Cold’s Broken Skull Sessions Podcast!

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Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.