Ric Flair's Long, Steady Decline

[x24hrs2livex]

I was browsing ESPN.com when I came across a very very intersting Article on 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891795/the-wrestler-real-life

Some of the stories in the article I had previously heard of like, The plane ride from hell incident which resulted in WWE settling out of court with a few flight attentdants. Or the one about him suing WCW and Eric Bischoff back in the late 90s.

Others though I had not, such as Ric being deep in debt with the IRS among other creditors. I had also never heard about the crazy stalker chick who had his supposed love child, making threatning calls from the McDonalds that she worked at.

Even though Ric has been through some rather crazy situations I guess he has made the best of a bad situation.

If anyone gives the article a read did, you know of these troubles before?

 

[akrassikauda]

I just read the article it took me twenty minutes and all I can say is WOW and with all his problems why does anyone give him money. Someone has to say no. It goes back to the Horsemen days he was spending money he didn't have because Richard Fliehr had to live up to the persona of Ric Flair.

Four wives and a stalker to boot. Didn't know about the stalker. The plane ride from hell knew about that boy that one won't go away. The Bischoff stuff is well known and it did make good tv.

Let this be a reminder for those who cannot separate the talent from the real individual. When the lights go out in the arenas the real lights come on, when your heroes real lights come on you will wish the arena lights never go off.

 

[wrestler36]

well, the stuff about his kids being arrested and fighting amongst themselves is pretty public, as you can easily find mugshots. The divorces are pretty well known as well. With him still regularly active, there were clues that he needed some cash, but I didn't think it was nearly this bad. I don't think anyone knew about the alcoholic cardiac myopathy or whatever. I didn't know how much people took advantage of him, so in that respect I do have some sympathy. On the flipside, the dude is so deep in debt and he's STILL spending lavishly. I hate to say it, but his attitude and lifestyle is Hardy-ish, and this is coming from a huge Flair fan. It's sad, but Flair needs some psychological help bad.

 

[smalltownfan]

Ric Flair is really screwed up right now. He needs help of any kind that he can get but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. The first thing Flair needs to do is to stop his spending and stop living such a lavish lifestyle, but once again, hard to teach an old dog new tricks. He's lived that way all his life and he will continue until he's so deep in debt he can't buy dinner off the dollar menu. He needs a huge payday and lots of help and it's sad.

 

[tcannon2007]

WOW just WOW. The only thing I knew about prior to reading this article was the Bischoff stuff because most of that played out on tv. However the rest just WOW. Ric realllly needs to get his act together before it's too late. Or maybe it already is for him.

 

[slushpuppy53]

Actually - sounds like most of this article came right out of Ric's book tbh ... I havent read it recently, but he did address the 2 incidents when he was behind on his taxes and they were dealt with at the time (once by Vince, once by Jim Crocket iirc). The 2nd and 3rd divorces werent mentioned, since they hadnt happened yet, and it wasnt one woman claiming to be having his baby, but 2 (both proved false). Some of the article may be more recent, but still sounds to me like trying to hash up old stuff on a slow news day.

 

[boozinjedi]

Not to sound preachy,But take out Flair's name and insert almost any "old-time" wrestler and it fits so well.
That's why Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" hit so close to home for so many guys.

After you hear the cheers of tens of thousands....It's a long hard fall!!

 

[ChiefAlot]

Flair is one wild dude. So he is living the life of his character. I find it dishartening to read about this. I see him wrestling till no 1 will book him anymore. He needs to stay working and its a real shame. Does any 1 see him & Hogan going to ROH when they make their t v debut? Obv they both will maintain working due to poor choices and lack of $$ management.

 

[jholcomb22]

While reading the article, you find out immediately why Flair is still wrestling, even after his retirement match.

A couple of things I found particularly interesting was the fact that TNA hadn't paid him royalties for six months as of February. They don't mention any payment after February, but with different reports about people not getting paid by TNA, it seems like they are in more trouble financially as days go on.

The other thing, they reported that he put up a watch that Shawn Michaels gave him . I can only assume this was the watch Michaels got him for his HOF/last match/retirement. I don't know if it's common sense to just me, but it seems like something like that should have so much more sentimental value and be nearly priceless. It saddens me to think that, not only did Flair spit in Michaels face by coming out of retirement after their classic match, but he probably gave away everything he owned that had anything to do with that night.

His lifestyle is a drug. An expensive one. It seems to have left a trail of despair and wreckage for decades. It's sad that it take an article like this, well written and well researched, to make us realize how "living the life" might not be all it's cracked up to be. I wish Flair the best, even though I think what is best for him is to get out of the limelight, live a simpler life, and disappear from the public eye for a long time.

 

[GameOver]

Flair is one wild dude. So he is living the life of his character. I find it dishartening to read about this. I see him wrestling till no 1 will book him anymore. He needs to stay working and its a real shame. Does any 1 see him & Hogan going to ROH when they make their t v debut? Obv they both will maintain working due to poor choices and lack of $$ management.

um not likely since ROH is scheduled to air on September 24th and Hogan and Flair are in TNA. Though they could do a special appearance, i just don't see it being any use as they have nothing to do with the product

as for Hogan i don't think he necessarily made bad choices as it results to finances, bad choices as results to screwing people and having a failing body, but he just get's screwed because he was wealthy so his ex and his kids are living of his name/fame in the 80-90's which is a drain on his riches that once existed. But we don't really know if he's still wealthy enough to live comfortably and just using TNA for an extra buffer.

Flair on the other hand is his own worst enemy, he chose to do what he does to ruin his life financially and be a total dick backstage, i'd put him in the same boat as The Ultimate Warrior in that respect. He just coasts along thinking everyone owes him because "I Am God." Sorry to burst your bubble Ric but you are not god, you are just another guy in along line of successfull people that have hit rock bottom and the longer he keeps going the worse he's screwing his legacy not enhancing.

 

[Luminous]

HOLY ISH! Really? Really?! REALLY?!? I knew Ric was always "spending" money but I would not have guessed that he's practically dead broke. Such a shame though. To me, he's still one of the greatest. But seriously, if he kept spending money & he knew he owed money...why would he continue? Good thing he didn't deal with mobsters or he'd be dead a long time ago.

 

[Defekt]

This article is interesting, but really seems like an unwarranted attack to me.

Flair seems to have made some very poor financial and family decisions, but most of this stuff is relatively minor. Lots of people out there accrue too much debt and live a lifestyle they can't afford.

It's a shame Flair is in the situation he's in, but I don't think he deserves to have his personal shortcomings exposed.

 

[baufan2025]

Flair has always been my hero. With the age his is at and his Cardio Myapathy, he really can't have too much longer left on this Earth. So I say the man should live how he wants to. As long as people keep financing him then he is going to keep doing it, might as well go out having fun.

 

[neildittmar]

Looking back in time, particularly during his retirement angle in WWE, I remember Flair saying that he would "never retire" and that he would likely die in the ring. Assuming the information in the article is accurate, and the way Flair has carried himself in recent years, I honestly believe both of those statements are bona fide truth. It would not surprise me in the least to read that Flair was either critically injured or outright killed during or after a match.

Personally, I wouldn't want that outcome to happen though. I've been watching Ric Flair for the better part of 20 years. Although quite different in persona, I always saw him as an equivalent to Hulk Hogan... a larger than life personality that was on a different level than most men, let alone wrestlers. Akin to guys like Jake Roberts, Flair was (and still is) his character despite his advanced age and level of ability (or lack thereof). As long as one person is still watching, the man will always be "Ric Flair" in both his actions and demeanor.

Therein lies the problem though. Despite Flair outright refusing to let his age, inability, or even medical conditions catch up with him, the fact remains that they will eventually. Life doesn't care if you are (or were) a limousine riding, jet-flying, wheeling dealing, kiss stealing, son-of-a-gun for decades. When the day comes that your card is pulled you simply have no choice but to go, even if you do consider yourself a wrestling god.

As for Flairs "decline", I think that can be looked at in one of two ways. Ric could be the guy that will do what he loves until the day that he dies, no matter what anybody says or thinks, simply because he wants to. On the other hand, Flair could be the guy that will do what he knows until the day that he dies, simply because he has no other choice. I'd like to think that reality lays somewhere closer to the former, but given some of the decisions Flair has made as of late, it probably leans much closer to the latter.

 

[Kitten Cutter]

What's sad is that the article reveals not only Flair's money problems, but his other side...a selfless nature.

Maybe Ric Flair loves the carefree, wealthy lifestyle that he portrays, but no one can argue that Ric Flair was always about building up other wrestlers. The guy is responsible for Sting being a household name. Every match, Ric Flair would make his opponent look like a million dollars, and whether he won or lost, you'd never walk away and say "Flair dominated that match." Maybe none of us would be dumb enough to believe certain people with our money, and it's Flair's own fault for getting married so many times (especially to crazy ass bitches!), but that article also brought to light how he gave to his friends, his family, his other fellow wrestlers and business associates. Ric Flair is mainly guilty of A. being too open and giving with his money, B. believing the lie of his professional wrestling persona, and C. not being picky enough with the people he creates a family with.