Can someone tell me

[Milkyway!]

Who made Ric Flairs career? I'm saying its Harley Race, TM's calling me an idiot because of this. I always though, from my perspective, that Race made Ric Flairs career. He gave him his first big push, and put him over big time. Granted Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat had a lot to do with Ric Flairs career, I say Race, overall, made Ric Flair. What do you guys think?

 

[ztwhite]

I think it could be a combination of all three. Flair definitely had some epic encounters with Race, Steamboat and Rhodes.

The younger generation of wrestling fans probably have no idea who Harley Race is outside of seeing him sitting ringside at WWE events. But he and Flair's first cage match where Flair won his first world title was downright fucking epic.

The Steamboat / Flair rivalry spawned dozens of televised matches and probably hundreds of house show matches. IMO, it's one of the greatest rivalries ever in wrestling.

As for Dusty and Flair, while their matches were fantastic, their promos on each other made the feud that much more incredible.

I would say Race provided Flair his path towards becoming a 16-time champ by passing the torch in essence, even though Race continued to wrestle for several more years.

Steamboat provided Flair a chance to show his in-ring ability.

Rhodes provided Flair a chance to show his skill set behind the mic.

 

[tomerlinshawn]

i think you all right. however i think that sting had something to do with it to. maybe not in the beginning but as flair got older. They both made each other better. in fact when flair talks about the greats his name is always included. and not to mention flair and sting closed the last nitro. thats just my thought on it.

 

[hater]

As far as competition goes, you're all right.(Race,Rhodes,Sting,Steamboat) Let's not forget what Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, and J.J. Dillon meant for him.

 

[kingofmyworld]

Ric Flairs career was originally made by a bunch of different people like the Gagnes who brought Flair into the business, Wahoo Mcdaniels (whom he his first big feud with after he came back from the plane crash), and guys like Jim Crockett and the NWA who felt that Flair could carry the load, and of course Buddy Rogers who was the Nature Boy before Flair ever was and who put Flair over and allowing him to use and master the "Nature Boy" gimmick.
If your specifically speaking of who "made" Flairs career as in just what feud put him over the top then yeah I'd agree and say Harley because Harley was the guy who was on top and allowed Flair to take that spot when the time was right. Also the fact that Harley chose to drop the title to Flair in the cage match eventhough he was in a dispute with the NWA and didn't want to drop the belt to I forget who it was and Flair was given the belt. That to me I guess really stands out because through the 80's the NWA tried to put the belt on many different guys and they kept going back to Flair because it worked. So I would say Harley because his feud with Harley solidified his spot on top, but the Dusty and Steamboat feuds have certainly helped make Flairs legacy what it is today

 

[klunderbunker]

I'd say that the main guy is Race. Yes, Flair was a former world champion, but Randy Orton was a world champion before 2007. That was his first big reign with it. Flair's first reign is more or less forgotten. It was the crowning moment at Starrcade 83 that made him the legend he is today. Now, there certainly were others that contributed, but Race got him the big push to the top by passing the torch onto him. It's Race as the biggest, then the rest are up for debate.

 

[happyjack]

i believe harley race beat flair before the flair for the gold match. so they had a feud going. but race did put flair over. flair cemented his status by having the classic feuds with steamboat and rhodes.

 

[RVDgurl]

Ric Flair made Ric Flair's career. You can list a bunch of guys who he worked well with. Opponents such as Harley Race, Magnum TA, Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat really elavated Flair status, as did working on the same team as Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson and Tully Blanchard. The fact that list could go on and on right up until the end of his career shows that he could work a good program with just about anyone.

 

[y2empleh]

Ok, now granted a feel to get to the level of a Ric Flair or a Steve Austin, it takes several people to "make a career". But this question is "what person is MOST responsible for Flair's career?". IMO, it's Steamboat. Yes, Race gave him the first initial push, but it was Flair's rivalry with Steamboat that made him "the man". Steamboat was to Flair what Vince was to Austin. Where as Race was to flair what Bret Hart was to Austin, just as you can compare Dusty and Flair to Rock and Austin.