Flair drew lots of college age kids to his show when he was the leader of the Horsemen. That's a hot demographic called the 18-25 crowd, one of the highest targeted demos in entertainment. And acting like Flair is second tier is just foolish. Being the second biggest wrestling organization in the world in 1986 carries a LOT more weight than being the second biggest promotion in 2014. TNA can barely draw 500 fans to their arenas. Flair and JCP could draw that many people to a random pasture in NC on less than a hour's notice through word of mouth.
Yeah it might be true that it carried more weight but Flair also saw the downfall of the NWA. When he first won the NWA title, it was the top fed in the US. By the time he was done, the company was practically out of business. Needing to be bought out by turner just to survive. While Misawa took two feds to the top in Japan, one in which he was the owner of and had no history.
Cable vs Broadcast TV is apples and oranges. Being on NBC on Saturday night is way different than being on cable on primetime. In the USA, broadcast TV was carried over antenna's back in those days and anyone could get that broadcast. To get TBS, you had to have cable or the strongest antenna or satellite known to man. I'll even concede that the WWF was much bigger than a flailing WCW that had Jim Herd at the helm ready to turn Flair into friggin' Spartacus and cut his hair.
You should concede that flair wasn't a big draw and did nothing but hold the belt because the NWA couldn't get a top star like Hogan at the time. And once WCW had Hogan what happened? Hogan took over and Flair was second fiddle (if not 4th fiddle).
Was Flair even brought into the WWF to draw huge houses? To me, Vince brought him in because Flair was a major star in the NWA and would be a great fit with Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Piper, etc. Flair wasn't asked to carry the ball for the WWF. He was given the WWF title because he could be trusted with a great match while Hogan had other obligations to fill. Flair wasn't asked to be a savior for the WWF.
So your argument is that Flair wasn't expected to be a huge draw in the WWF? Of course not because everyone knew he wasn't. Flair wasn't a huge draw, and nobody expected him to be so, as you said yourself. Flair was just a second fiddle guy at best. And no Flair wasn't billed as the savoir, you know why? He wasn't good enough to be. If WWF could have done that, they would've. Vince wasn't going to lose money. Once he saw what Flair was capable of, he let him go back. Showing Flair's true worth.
He was merely signed to a contract to get his mojo back. WCW on the other hand signed Flair because without him, their programs were terrible. Flair gave WCW credibility again and caused Ted Turner to invest millions upon millions of dollars in purchasing WCW. Hogan didn't cause Ted to do that. Flair did.
No Ted Turner just wanted a wrestling company, if Vince would've sold WWF, Turner would've bought it instead. It was just the fact JCP's were falling apart with flair at the top.
That's because they had an established audience already. Many factors played into JCP's demise. Flair isn't the cause of that.
That's just fucking bullshit. Flair is the exact reason that happened. Flair wasn't a national draw and JCP went national (which btw is considered the biggest mistake they made) Flair drew in the south, it's pretty much fact. When the NWA tried to get away from the territories and into the big time they fell apart. Why? Because Flair wasn't a national draw. Never really was. He was again at best a second tier guy.
Bad spending, Vince threatening to cut out Wrestlemania to cable companies if they carried Starrcade 87, and piss poor management caused that company to fail. Flair helped them tread water for close to five years before they finally went under and were bought by Ted Turner.
The bad spending they talk about is the choice to go national. Why weren't they able to go national? Because Flair wasn't a national draw. He was a b-rate star, it an B plus rate company.
And being highly regarded by your peers is the ultimate complement to be paid in any industry. Flair's reputation among wrestlers is unparalleled. And that carries more weight with me than not filling up an arena sometimes.
I think Misawa can claim the same thing. I don't see many Japanese wrestlers saying Ric Flair was their inspiration but I can tell you a bunch that say Misawa is theirs in America. Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Chris Hero. Yeah I think Misawa is just as respected if not more respected than Flair world wide. And considering his death was covered by AAA, TNA, WWE, BCW, and world wide in about every important fed, most of which he was never associated with, I'd say that he's a HUGE f'n deal. I would say that your statement of "unparalleled" is just more crap from a flair mark.