The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Series [3]: "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair

[Calderownz]

OKay. This one should get some pretty interesting answers. So, I think we'll give it a try.

THE GOOD:
Some of the most legendary promo work in the history of this business. To me, he's one of the best, clearly. Nonetheless, he has was also able to pull out some very classic matches. I also love the fact that for a man that never looked ripped to shreds, he was able to have 60+ minute matches week in and week out with some of the biggest names this business has seen. Steamboat, Race, McDaniel, Piper. The list could go on and on. If you mattered in this business in the last 30 to 40 years, chances are you faced Flair. Great work ethic.

THE BAD:
Well, the first thing that pops into my mind is the fact that he had a few set moves that you were guaranteed to see in every match. I realize that every wrestler had this and that if you do it well, why change it. Nonetheless, towards the end of his career and even before that point, it almost became a parody of wrestling moves. Enjoyable, but not genuinely technical, so to speak. He also seemed to work best with other great workers. He could always get out a decent match, but it COULD be hit or miss.

THE UGLY:
Well, he did have some backstage politicking. Most of the top guys usually do, but he could really work his angles. He also wasn't the best of bookers, and I think even he would tell you that he wasn't. Also, his partying was legendary, but also got he and the Horsemen into some heat at times. Finally, I think his verbal wars with any other wrestler he didn't consider a friend was a bit pathetic. You'd assume he was sure of his spot by then, yet he still felt the need to rip into guys that at times asked for it (Bret Hart) and other guys who were innocent of those types of things (Mick Foley.)

What about you guys?

 

[mulkeymania]

THE GOOD-- the promo work for sure--he could always seem to get a crowd fired up and very into what he was doing and he done excellent work as a heel--could make you hate him bad enough to want to give anything to see him get his tail handed to him by anybody

THE BAD--it seems that flair is a very insecure man therefore he does badmouth a lot of guys who people consider as good or better than he is.

THE UGLY--hanging on long after he should have hung the boots up--i used to really love watching flair but its kind of embarrassing now--if he would like to hang on as a manager or mouthpiece that is great but stay out of the ring at 61 yrs old.

 

[blackmetalbuick]

The Good - Honestly just from a personal standpoint, I don't like all that much about Flair. I was too young to see him in most of his heyday doing whatever he did for the business. I was mainly a WCW fan throughout the Monday night wars so I did see him when he was still mainly an in-ring talent, and he never did much for me. Year after year of falling face-first, climbing to the top rope and ALWAYS getting thrown off, low blows, and figure fours. He could cut a good promo but by the time I became a fan of wrestling he was overshadowed by all the WCW/nWo stuff that really made up the most of the show and the promos.

The bad - Mainly touched on above already, just didn't do anything all that amazing in his matches

The Ugly - Funny that I'm currently reading "Have a Nice Day" by Mick Foley, reading about how Flair was pretty terrible as a booker, letting guys like Steve Austin get away from WCW. Probably one of the first guys that comes to mind when you think of backstage politics and BS. Also Ugly that he has been one of the guys who milk multiple retirements. Don't like that he plays such a big part in TNA now. He should be a low-key backstage character at most, not still trying to pull of this wheeling-dealing jet-flyin SOB type of stuff.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The good for Flair has to be his record number of world title wins and of course his time with stables such as the Four Horsemen, Evolution, and more recently Fortune. The bad would be the fact that he started wrestling again after the huge sendoff following his so-called "retirement" in 2008 because he broke his promise to Shawn Michaels (and the fans, for that matter) of that being his final match. Then there's the ugly, that would be any match of his in the past 2 or 3 years. He should stick to managing and doing promos for guys like Fortune at this point.