WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.740 How does a kid born into a literal black market 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:07.719 adoption ring grow up to become a global pop 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:10.640 culture phenomenon? Right. A guy who claims 21 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:13.480 world championships, directly influences modern 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:17.190 hip hop, and is... wildly enough, still stepping 00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:19.530 into wrestling rings into his mid -70s. It's 00:00:19.530 --> 00:00:21.910 almost unbelievable. Welcome to today's Deep 00:00:21.910 --> 00:00:24.809 Dive, everyone. We are unpacking a massive 50 00:00:24.809 --> 00:00:27.550 -year saga today, and we're using an incredibly 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:30.789 extensive Wikipedia source file to do it. And 00:00:30.789 --> 00:00:32.689 our mission here is really to look at the life, 00:00:32.750 --> 00:00:35.350 the myth, and honestly, the sheer chaotic reality 00:00:35.350 --> 00:00:38.390 of professional wrestling's most flamboyant and 00:00:38.390 --> 00:00:41.219 controversial icon, Ric Flair. It is a staggering 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:43.539 document to synthesize for you because we are 00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:45.439 looking at much more than just a timeline of 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:47.439 wrestling matches here. Oh, absolutely. This 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:49.320 is a study of a man who essentially became his 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.729 own creation. We're going to connect the dots 00:00:51.729 --> 00:00:54.049 between the absolute glitz of the wrestling ring, 00:00:54.170 --> 00:00:56.609 you know, the robes, the catchphrases, the historic 00:00:56.609 --> 00:00:59.149 championships. And the deeply complex psychological 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:02.030 reality of a performer who quite literally could 00:01:02.030 --> 00:01:04.450 not figure out how to let go of his persona once 00:01:04.450 --> 00:01:06.629 the cameras actually stopped rolling. Which is 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:08.390 a heavy theme we'll see throughout his entire 00:01:08.390 --> 00:01:10.849 life. Okay, let's unpack this by starting right 00:01:10.849 --> 00:01:13.670 at the very surprising beginning. Because long 00:01:13.670 --> 00:01:16.510 before he ever stepped foot in a ring, his origin 00:01:16.510 --> 00:01:18.890 story reads like something out of a true crime 00:01:18.890 --> 00:01:21.950 documentary. It really does. He was born in 1949 00:01:21.950 --> 00:01:25.670 in Memphis, Tennessee. But his birth name wasn't 00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:28.829 Ric Flair. It wasn't even Richard Fleer. Right. 00:01:28.890 --> 00:01:30.890 According to the source, his birth name is actually 00:01:30.890 --> 00:01:34.510 recorded variously as Fred Phillips or Fred DiMari 00:01:34.510 --> 00:01:37.790 or even Fred Stewart. The records are just a 00:01:37.790 --> 00:01:40.819 mess. He was born to a woman named Olive, but 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:43.079 he was placed into the Tennessee Children's Home 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.540 Society. And if you know your mid -century history, 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:48.799 that organization was actually the front for 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.780 Georgia Tann's infamous infant trafficking scandal. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.799 Exactly. It was a black market baby ring, which 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:57.420 is an incredibly heavy start to anyone's narrative. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:00.459 It is. But he was adopted out of that corrupt 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:03.709 system by Kathleen and Richard Fleer. Richard 00:02:03.709 --> 00:02:05.950 was a doctor. He was completing a residency in 00:02:05.950 --> 00:02:07.629 Detroit at the time. And the family eventually 00:02:07.629 --> 00:02:10.229 settled up in Minnesota. And what stands out 00:02:10.229 --> 00:02:12.389 in the source material about his youth is that 00:02:12.389 --> 00:02:15.469 the rebellious boundary pushing streak, the one 00:02:15.469 --> 00:02:18.150 that would define his entire career. was present 00:02:18.150 --> 00:02:20.449 almost immediately oh yeah he admits in his own 00:02:20.449 --> 00:02:24.490 memoir that he had severe undiagnosed adhd tendencies 00:02:24.490 --> 00:02:27.289 growing up he was already partying drinking alcohol 00:02:27.289 --> 00:02:29.750 and having sex by the age of 14. which led his 00:02:29.750 --> 00:02:31.889 parents to eventually send him away to wayland 00:02:31.889 --> 00:02:34.530 academy in wisconsin just to try and instill 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:36.870 some sort of discipline and he actually lettered 00:02:36.870 --> 00:02:39.610 in football track and wrestling while he was 00:02:39.610 --> 00:02:42.849 there after a brief Pretty chaotic stint at the 00:02:42.849 --> 00:02:45.069 University of Minnesota, he found himself at 00:02:45.069 --> 00:02:47.270 a wrestling camp. A camp held in a literal barn, 00:02:47.389 --> 00:02:49.550 right? Yes, literally in a barn. This was run 00:02:49.550 --> 00:02:52.370 by the legendary promoter and wrestler Vern Gagne 00:02:52.370 --> 00:02:56.610 in the winter of 1971. He survives this grueling 00:02:56.610 --> 00:02:59.449 camp, and by December 1972, he debuts in the 00:02:59.449 --> 00:03:02.750 AWA. But the actual turning point for him, the 00:03:02.750 --> 00:03:05.370 single moment that forged the Ric Flair the world 00:03:05.370 --> 00:03:08.270 knows today, happened a few years later. On October 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:11.349 4th, 1975. The plane crash in Wilmington, North 00:03:11.349 --> 00:03:15.150 Carolina. Exactly. A 26 -year -old Flair was 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:17.629 a passenger on a twin -engine plane that simply 00:03:17.629 --> 00:03:20.189 ran out of fuel and went down. It was horrific. 00:03:20.490 --> 00:03:23.030 The crash killed the pilot and paralyzed fellow 00:03:23.030 --> 00:03:25.669 wrestler Johnny Valentine. And Flair himself 00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:28.509 broke his back in three different places. The 00:03:28.509 --> 00:03:31.110 doctors looked at him and delivered the absolute 00:03:31.110 --> 00:03:34.969 worst possible news for a young athlete. They 00:03:34.969 --> 00:03:37.509 told him he would never wrestle again. But obviously 00:03:37.509 --> 00:03:39.889 he didn't listen. What's fascinating here is 00:03:39.889 --> 00:03:42.729 how that specific... devastating physical trauma 00:03:42.729 --> 00:03:45.569 completely altered the trajectory of professional 00:03:45.569 --> 00:03:48.110 wrestling history. How so? Well, before the crash, 00:03:48.349 --> 00:03:51.009 Flair was a brawler. He tipped the scales at 00:03:51.009 --> 00:03:53.870 nearly 300 pounds and relied on a very power 00:03:53.870 --> 00:03:55.590 -based heavy -hitting style. Right. He was just 00:03:55.590 --> 00:03:57.930 a big bruiser. But with a back broken in three 00:03:57.930 --> 00:04:00.629 places, lifting opponents and relying on brute 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:02.669 force was just no longer mechanically possible. 00:04:02.949 --> 00:04:06.810 So rather than retire at 26, he completely reinvented 00:04:06.810 --> 00:04:09.189 his in -ring technique. He had to, physically. 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:12.060 Yeah. He shed a massive amount of weight. He 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:14.719 shifted away from power and focused intensely 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:17.899 on grappling, on endurance, targeted limb work, 00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:20.600 and ring psychology. That physical limitation 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:23.620 is essentially what birthed the cunning nature 00:04:23.620 --> 00:04:26.680 boy persona. Exactly. He couldn't overpower his 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:28.860 opponents anymore, so his character had to outsmart 00:04:28.860 --> 00:04:32.000 them, outlast them, and more often than not, 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:34.779 blatantly cheat to win. Here's where it gets 00:04:34.779 --> 00:04:37.060 really interesting, because that pivot from a 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:40.220 generic brawler to a strategic tactician didn't 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:43.199 just save his career. It skyrocketed him to a 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.079 level of fame that is genuinely hard to comprehend 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.439 today. It really is. I mean, he miraculously 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:50.920 recovered from that broken back in just three 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.779 months. And over the next two decades, he just 00:04:53.779 --> 00:04:56.420 went on an absolute tear across the globe. The 00:04:56.420 --> 00:04:58.480 championship dominance that followed is historic, 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:00.519 though there is a longstanding debate over just 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:02.579 how many world championships he actually won. 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:05.220 Right. The numbers. get fuzzy. WWE officially 00:05:05.220 --> 00:05:09.379 recognizes 16 reigns spread across the NWA, WCW, 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:12.259 and WWF. However, during the territory days of 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:14.959 the 1970s and 80s, titles often changed hands 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:17.120 -off television. Yeah, or in unrecorded matches 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.420 just to pop the local crowds, only to be switched 00:05:19.420 --> 00:05:22.300 back days later. Because of that, Flair himself 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:26.149 claims 21 world championships. And given the 00:05:26.149 --> 00:05:29.009 sheer volume of 60 -minute time limit draws he 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:30.769 wrestled night after night across the country, 00:05:31.310 --> 00:05:34.009 21 is the number most widely accepted by his 00:05:34.009 --> 00:05:36.509 peers in the industry. Just to put his global 00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.389 draw into perspective for you, in April 1995, 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:43.189 Flair wrestled the Japanese icon Antonio Inoki 00:05:43.189 --> 00:05:46.009 at an event called Collision in Korea. Which 00:05:46.009 --> 00:05:48.689 took place in Pyongyang, North Korea. And the 00:05:48.689 --> 00:05:51.569 attendance for that single match was a staggering... 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.699 190 ,000 spectators. That is massive. To this 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:57.879 day, it remains the largest crowd in professional 00:05:57.879 --> 00:05:59.879 wrestling history. But back in the United States, 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.079 his dominance and his cultural footprint were 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.540 really cemented a decade earlier. In 1985, with 00:06:05.540 --> 00:06:08.000 the formation of a very specific group. The Four 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.100 Horsemen. Yes. This was a faction consisting 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:12.959 of Ric Flair, Arne Anderson, Ole Anderson, Tully 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.540 Blanchard, and their manager, J .J. Dillon. They 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:18.180 were the absolute pinnacle of 1980s wrestling 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:20.379 villains. They wore these custom -tailored suits. 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:23.000 They flaunted. excessive wealth, and they brutally 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.100 dismantled fan favorites. They famously cornered 00:06:26.100 --> 00:06:28.959 Dusty Rhodes, who was the ultimate working class 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:31.660 hero in a parking lot, and broke his leg with 00:06:31.660 --> 00:06:34.120 a baseball bat. If we connect this to the bigger 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:38.000 picture, the Four Horsemen fundamentally revolutionized 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.060 how wrestling factions operate, both structurally 00:06:41.060 --> 00:06:44.160 and psychologically. Because before them, villain 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.139 alliances were usually temporary, right? Right, 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:48.699 or just loosely affiliated. But the Horsemen 00:06:48.699 --> 00:06:51.920 were presented as a cohesive, corporate -style 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.019 unit. They used strength in numbers to completely 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:57.560 monopolize a wrestling promotion's championships. 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:00.660 At their peak, they held the world title, the 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:03.120 tag team titles, and the television titles simultaneously. 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:05.939 And they weaponized the greed and the excess 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:09.279 of 1980s capitalism to generate intense anger 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:11.500 from working -class audiences. They essentially 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:14.019 created the blueprint for the villainous wrestling 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:16.319 stable, which is a template every major wrestling 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:18.829 promotion still relies on today. And as the leader 00:07:18.829 --> 00:07:21.230 of that group, Flair's personal aesthetic became 00:07:21.230 --> 00:07:23.990 undeniably ingrained in the broader pop culture. 00:07:24.089 --> 00:07:26.670 Let's just look at the sensory overload of this 00:07:26.670 --> 00:07:28.790 character. It was a lot. First, you have this 00:07:28.790 --> 00:07:31.790 signature woo shout, which he actually adapted 00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:34.250 after hearing Jerry Lee Lewis sing Great Balls 00:07:34.250 --> 00:07:36.589 of Fire. Then you have the entrance. He would 00:07:36.589 --> 00:07:39.110 walk down the aisle in these extravagant fur 00:07:39.110 --> 00:07:42.529 -lined sequined robes that cost tens of thousands 00:07:42.529 --> 00:07:45.519 of dollars. All while the booming classical music 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.420 of Richard Strauss's also sprake Zarathustra 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:50.860 played over the arena speakers, which most people 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:54.540 know is the theme from 2001, a space odyssey. 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:57.360 He paired that visual excess with legendary microphone 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.779 skills. He constantly referred to himself as 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:02.160 the limousine riding, jet flying, kiss stealing, 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:04.279 wheel and dealing son of a gun. He was selling 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:06.319 a lifestyle just as much as he was selling a 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:08.759 wrestling match. He really was. And I want to 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:11.439 ask you, the listener, what stands out to you 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:14.529 about how this 1980s wrestling gimmick somehow 00:08:14.529 --> 00:08:17.350 transcended the sport entirely because it heavily 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:19.470 influenced modern hip -hop in a way you wouldn't 00:08:19.470 --> 00:08:22.230 expect. The cultural footprint is massive. Rapper 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:24.550 Pusha T famously paid homage to him in the song 00:08:24.550 --> 00:08:28.110 Sweet Serenade, utilizing that signature. Killer 00:08:28.110 --> 00:08:30.649 Mike released a track simply titled Ric Flair. 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:34.580 And we absolutely cannot forget the massive multi 00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:38.179 -platinum hit song Rick Flair Drip by Offset 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:41.340 and Metro Boomin, which actually featured Flair 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:44.299 himself wearing his jewelry and robes in the 00:08:44.299 --> 00:08:47.080 music video. For an entire generation of musicians, 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:49.879 the character of Rick Flair became shorthand 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:53.139 for ultimate unapologetic swagger. But that level 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:55.860 of swagger, when it's lived 365 days a year, 00:08:55.960 --> 00:08:58.860 casts a very long shadow. It does. The source 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:01.039 material documents how the line between Richard 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:02.940 Flair, the man, and Ric Flair, the character, 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.000 began to dissolve entirely. And as we transition 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.980 into his life outside the ring, we see a timeline 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:11.980 marked by intense backstage conflicts, legal 00:09:11.980 --> 00:09:15.019 troubles, and a serially chaotic personal life. 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:17.639 Now, before we dive into the controversies and 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:19.740 his political involvement, we need to make something 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:22.919 very clear. Yes, absolutely. As we always do 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:24.779 when discussing heavily charged or political 00:09:24.779 --> 00:09:28.139 topics, we are maintaining strict, absolute impartiality 00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:30.179 here. We are just reporting what is in the source 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:32.220 material without endorsing any views or taking 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:34.440 any sides. We're simply laying out the facts 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.259 of his life. Perfectly said. So looking strictly 00:09:37.259 --> 00:09:39.779 at the factual timeline provided in the source, 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:42.899 Flair frequently flirted with the political arena. 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:46.179 In 2000, he seriously explored a run for governor 00:09:46.179 --> 00:09:48.379 of North Carolina. But that run was allegedly 00:09:48.379 --> 00:09:50.820 derailed after a candid conversation with former 00:09:50.820 --> 00:09:53.460 wrestler and governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:57.039 This is a wild detail. Flair admitted to Ventura 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:00.360 that he had accumulated 143 speeding tickets 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.600 in his lifetime. And Ventura strongly advised 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:04.899 him that the media scrutiny over that would be 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:08.009 insurmountable. So he backed out. He did continue 00:10:08.009 --> 00:10:10.110 to dip his toes into political endorsements later 00:10:10.110 --> 00:10:12.570 on, though, publicly supporting Republican candidates 00:10:12.570 --> 00:10:15.789 like Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Ted Cruz in 2016. 00:10:15.970 --> 00:10:19.669 And in a bizarre turn that same year, he teased 00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:22.590 a presidential run alongside rapper Waka Flocka 00:10:22.590 --> 00:10:25.070 Flame, though he never actually filed the official 00:10:25.070 --> 00:10:27.730 paperwork. It was the strange mix of genuine 00:10:27.730 --> 00:10:30.490 political ambition and character -driven publicity 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:33.519 stunts. But the publicity wasn't always played 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.879 for laughs. No, not at all. In 2002, he was involved 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:38.940 in an incident widely known in wrestling history 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:43.419 as the Plane Ride from Hell. During a WWE chartered 00:10:43.419 --> 00:10:46.299 flight, Flair was accused of wearing only his 00:10:46.299 --> 00:10:48.620 signature wrestling robe while naked underneath 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:52.200 and allegedly forcing two female flight attendants 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.639 to touch him. The flight attendants subsequently 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:57.879 sued the WWE over the incident. The source notes 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:00.039 that the case was ultimately settled out of court. 00:11:00.330 --> 00:11:02.789 And Flair has vehemently denied the allegations. 00:11:03.230 --> 00:11:05.649 He released a formal statement completely refuting 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:08.429 them. However, the legacy of that flight caught 00:11:08.429 --> 00:11:10.730 up with him nearly two decades later. Right, 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:13.350 in 2021. When the Canadian documentary series 00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:15.669 Dark Side of the Ring aired an episode covering 00:11:15.669 --> 00:11:17.929 the flight, the corporate fallout was immediate. 00:11:18.269 --> 00:11:20.389 The insurance company, Carshield, temporarily 00:11:20.389 --> 00:11:23.090 paused a major advertising campaign that featured 00:11:23.090 --> 00:11:26.330 him. And WWE temporarily removed his iconic, 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:29.070 whoa, from their television introductory signature. 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:31.840 So the consequences were very real, and his backstage 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:34.559 feuds during his career were often just as intense 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.679 as his legal troubles. Definitely. WWE Hall of 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:39.980 Famer Teddy Long alleged that Flair directed 00:11:39.980 --> 00:11:43.279 racist language at him during the 1980s. Long 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:45.720 claimed Flair walked up to him and used a racial 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.519 slur while aggressively asking if he liked working 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.519 there. According to Long, Flair never apologized 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.870 for the incident. Moving into the 1990s, he clashed 00:11:54.870 --> 00:11:57.350 heavily with other major stars over the philosophical 00:11:57.350 --> 00:12:00.070 direction of the business. He had a bitter, long 00:12:00.070 --> 00:12:03.049 -running feud with Bret Hart. They traded serious 00:12:03.049 --> 00:12:05.950 insults in interviews and autobiographies over 00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:08.629 wrestling styles and drawing power. Hart criticized 00:12:08.629 --> 00:12:11.610 WCW as a minor leaguer and questioned Flair's 00:12:11.610 --> 00:12:14.629 psychology. While Flair countered by criticizing 00:12:14.629 --> 00:12:17.570 Hart's ability to consistently draw large crowds 00:12:17.570 --> 00:12:19.710 in the United States compared to his own record, 00:12:19.870 --> 00:12:22.919 he also clashed with Mick Foley. Foley criticized 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:25.820 Flair's time acting as a booker, which is the 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:28.440 industry term for the person writing the storylines, 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.259 deciding who wins, and managing the roster. Foley 00:12:31.259 --> 00:12:33.220 wrote that Flair was an awful booker who misused 00:12:33.220 --> 00:12:35.820 talent, and Flair responded in his own book by 00:12:35.820 --> 00:12:38.139 dismissing Foley as nothing more than a glorified 00:12:38.139 --> 00:12:41.320 stuntman. He also had a notoriously bitter feud 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:43.720 with Shane Douglas, though the source does note 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:46.139 that Flair eventually reconciled and became friendly 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:48.440 with both Hart and Foley in their later years. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:51.259 But the animosity during their primes was visceral. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:53.700 The controversies even extended into intellectual 00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:56.200 property disputes much later in his life. In 00:12:56.200 --> 00:13:00.120 2019, he engaged in a major legal trademark dispute 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:03.360 with WWE and star Becky Lynch over the moniker, 00:13:03.460 --> 00:13:06.159 The Man. Flair had used the catchphrase, to be 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:08.399 the man, you gotta beat the man, for decades. 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:11.539 While Lynch had recently adopted The Man as her 00:13:11.539 --> 00:13:14.620 wildly popular character nickname. Flair threatened 00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:17.100 legal action against WWE which caused a highly 00:13:17.100 --> 00:13:19.620 publicized rift with his own daughter, Charlotte 00:13:19.620 --> 00:13:22.019 Flair, who was actually wrestling Lynch in main 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:24.019 events at the time. Flair eventually transferred 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:27.460 the rights to the nickname to WWE in 2020 and 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:30.480 publicly apologized to Lynch in 2023. But when 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.440 you look at all of this together, the lawsuits, 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:35.500 the backstage vitriol, the controversies, his 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:38.340 off -screen life was arguably far more chaotic 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:40.580 than his scripted storylines. It's a heavy toll. 00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:43.039 He has been married and divorced four times. 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:45.580 He faced severe financial problems, including 00:13:45.580 --> 00:13:48.559 his business, Ric Flair Finance, filing for bankruptcy 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:50.759 and having warrants issued for unpaid debts. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:54.100 And amidst all of this, he suffered unimaginable 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:57.500 family tragedies. In 2013, his son Reed died 00:13:57.500 --> 00:13:59.820 from an overdose of heroin and prescription pills. 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:03.620 And just recently, in October 2024, his stepson 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:06.340 Sebastian died by suicide. The man behind the 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:08.860 million -dollar robes has lived a life marked 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:12.299 by extreme, dizzying highs and devastating, tragic 00:14:12.299 --> 00:14:15.590 lows. So what does this all mean? When you have 00:14:15.590 --> 00:14:18.350 a life that intense, a body that has absorbed 00:14:18.350 --> 00:14:21.330 50 years of physical punishment and a legacy 00:14:21.330 --> 00:14:24.350 that is already universally cemented, why not 00:14:24.350 --> 00:14:26.350 just stop? That is the million dollar question. 00:14:26.570 --> 00:14:28.610 Why not walk away and rest? The final part of 00:14:28.610 --> 00:14:30.809 our deep dive looks at his absolute inability 00:14:30.809 --> 00:14:33.529 to retire. It represents a profound psychological 00:14:33.529 --> 00:14:36.679 block. He has had multiple massive retirement 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:39.240 ceremonies that were designed to be the perfect 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:41.700 ending to his story, but he subsequently walked 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:43.519 back every single one of them. The most famous 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:47.279 attempt was in 2008 at WrestleMania 24. He wrestled 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.700 Shawn Michaels in a highly emotional match, where 00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:52.200 the stipulation was that if Flair lost, his career 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.580 was over. Michaels famously mouths the words, 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:56.679 I'm sorry, I love you, before delivering the 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.340 final blow. It was a masterpiece of storytelling. 00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:02.320 Voted the match of the decade by Pro Wrestling 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:05.049 Illustrated. The very next night on television, 00:15:05.309 --> 00:15:07.850 the company gave him a lavish send -off that 00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:10.730 completely broke character boundaries. All the 00:15:10.730 --> 00:15:12.870 heroes and villains came out together to applaud 00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:16.250 him. It was the perfect ending. But he simply 00:15:16.250 --> 00:15:18.750 couldn't stay away. He eventually returned to 00:15:18.750 --> 00:15:21.230 the ring, signing with Total Non -Stop Action 00:15:21.230 --> 00:15:24.769 Wrestling, or TNA. A move many of his peers and 00:15:24.769 --> 00:15:26.950 wrestling critics felt actively tarnished his 00:15:26.950 --> 00:15:29.970 legacy. He was wrestling into his 60s, bleeding 00:15:29.970 --> 00:15:32.490 heavily in matches and sustaining further severe 00:15:32.490 --> 00:15:35.789 injuries, including a torn triceps. The financial 00:15:35.789 --> 00:15:38.409 necessity was certainly a factor given his bankruptcies 00:15:38.409 --> 00:15:41.090 and divorces. But even Flair admitted in 2016 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:43.649 that continuing to wrestle in TNA was his number 00:15:43.649 --> 00:15:46.929 one career regret. Yet even that regret wasn't 00:15:46.929 --> 00:15:48.549 enough to keep him out of the ring permanently. 00:15:49.019 --> 00:15:52.899 Fast forward to July 2022. Flair is 73 years 00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:55.320 old, and he promotes an event literally titled 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:57.899 Ric Flair's Last Match in Nashville. He teams 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:00.620 up with his son -in -law on Drodd. And during 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:02.820 this match, the terrifying reality of his age 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:04.879 and physical condition caught up to him on live 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.139 pay -per -view. He later confirmed that he passed 00:16:07.139 --> 00:16:09.919 out twice during the bout. Worse, he revealed 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.080 afterward that he suffered a legitimate heart 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.100 attack during the match. A heart attack in the 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:17.519 ring at 73 years old. And he still didn't completely 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.120 walk away from the business. Bringing us right 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:23.820 up to the present day, late 2025. In late 2023 00:16:23.820 --> 00:16:27.620 and early 2024, he showed up in AEW to be part 00:16:27.620 --> 00:16:30.220 of the retirement tour for his old rival, Sting. 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:34.279 And just recently, in November 2025, he appeared 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:37.350 at AEW's Blood and Guts event. The source explicitly 00:16:37.350 --> 00:16:39.990 notes that he had to leave the arena early because 00:16:39.990 --> 00:16:42.389 he was in immense pain from a recent rotator 00:16:42.389 --> 00:16:45.070 cuff injury. Add to that the fact that in June 00:16:45.070 --> 00:16:48.409 2025, he revealed he had been diagnosed with 00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:50.830 skin cancer for the second time in three years. 00:16:51.029 --> 00:16:53.570 His body is constantly aggressively failing him, 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:55.450 yet he keeps finding his way back to the cameras. 00:16:55.690 --> 00:16:58.009 This raises an important question about the psychology 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:00.610 of the performer and something many athletes 00:17:00.610 --> 00:17:03.529 struggle with, though rarely to this extreme. 00:17:03.649 --> 00:17:07.279 Why do it? Why does a man risk his life literally 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:09.759 having a heart attack in front of a paying audience 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:12.660 instead of resting on his laurels? It speaks 00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:16.240 to a powerful, dangerous psychological addiction. 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:19.440 The roar of the crowd. Exactly. When you spend 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.700 50 years feeding off the visceral roar of a stadium, 00:17:22.900 --> 00:17:25.539 that external validation becomes your oxygen. 00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:29.160 His entire self -worth became inextricably tied 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:31.460 to the audience's reaction. Without the crowd, 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:34.079 the persona has no mirror to reflect back its 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.700 greatness. Right. He isn't just addicted to wrestling. 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:38.859 He's addicted to the relevance that only the 00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:42.059 ring can provide. It is an incredible, exhausting, 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:44.480 and truly fascinating journey we've unpacked 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.109 today. We started with a baby caught up in a 00:17:47.109 --> 00:17:49.829 1940s black market adoption ring. We tracked 00:17:49.829 --> 00:17:51.869 him through a horrific plane crash that forced 00:17:51.869 --> 00:17:54.390 him to invent the Nature Boy, transforming a 00:17:54.390 --> 00:17:56.670 broken back into a legendary career. We watched 00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:59.349 him claim at least 16 world championships, inspire 00:17:59.349 --> 00:18:02.109 hip hop royalty, and shout a catchphrase that 00:18:02.109 --> 00:18:04.430 is still echoed in arenas all over the globe 00:18:04.430 --> 00:18:07.809 today. Ric Flair's story is the ultimate example 00:18:07.809 --> 00:18:10.950 of the power of creating a larger than life personal 00:18:10.950 --> 00:18:15.240 brand. But also the extreme danger of letting 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:17.920 that brand consume your entire existence. It 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.839 certainly is a cautionary tale of identity. And 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:22.799 I want to leave you with a final lingering thought 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.400 to mull over as you digest all this. We've talked 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:28.299 a lot about Flair's addiction to the crowd. But 00:18:28.299 --> 00:18:30.079 what about the crowd's role in this dynamic? 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:32.720 That's a great point. If you spend 50 years playing 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.099 a character who is a grandiose, rule -breaking, 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:39.240 jet -flying playboy, does the mask eventually 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:42.619 become your actual face? When the stadium lights 00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:45.339 finally shut off, what happens to a person when 00:18:45.339 --> 00:18:47.799 the character they created completely erases 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:50.059 the person they were born to be? A heavy question 00:18:50.059 --> 00:18:52.299 to end on, but a vital one when we look at the 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:54.700 culture of celebrity. Thank you so much for joining 00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:56.759 us on this deep dive. We hope you found as much 00:18:56.759 --> 00:18:59.500 insight in this staggering saga as we did, and 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:01.619 we can't wait to unpack the next topic with you. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.400 Stay curious, and we'll catch you next time.