10 Wrestlers Whose Careers Started In The Worst Way Possible
2. Ric Flair's Plane Crash Hell
A guaranteed fixture in any "Greatest Wrestler Of All Time" debate, Ric Flair was incredibly lucky to be able to continue his career beyond 4 October 1975.
Flair was involved in a plane crash near Wilmington, North Carolina that night. It took the pilot's life, paralysed fellow wrestler Johnny Valentine, and saw Ric break his back in three places. Doctors told him that, at 26 years old, his wrestling days were likely over. He was done, 'The Nature Boy' was never rise to prominence, and his career would've peaked with a meek Mid-Atlantic TV Championship win over Paul Jones eight months prior.
It's hard to even fathom what the past 30 years of wrestling would look like had Flair been made to give up in '75, but he battled back through a rigorous rehabilitation period. Though forced to dramatically alter his style around his new physical limitations, Flair returned just four months after the crash, resuming his feud with Wahoo McDaniel, then ascending to first-class status after taking his 'Nature Boy' monicker from Buddy Rogers, whom he bested in 1978, becoming the NWA's brightest star a few years later.