The Horsemen Roll Through Athens

In honor of my weekend trip to the "Classic City" this weekend I've decided to post this video from the DVD Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen (which I'll be providing a review for at some point). This excerpt shows Tully Blanchard, one of the original Horsemen, talking about something that happened on one of their trips to wrestle at the University of Georgia. It just makes me wonder where the Horsemen hung out in Athens back then and where they would hang out now. Well, enough pondering, without further ado here's Tully:

Ric Flair And The Four Horsemen - Kid buys a rolex
Uploaded by jeffmartin48

Flair's Birthday Celebration With JR

In a blog entry on his website, Good Ol' JR talked about celebrating Ric Flair's birthday as well as a couple of anecdotes with the Nature Boy and Wahoo McDaniels:

I spent Sunday night in Phoenix celebrating with Ric Flair, not only his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, of which he is sincerely excited about, but also Ric’s 59th birthday. We have actually spent a few of his birthdays together over the years and this one was rather subdued compared to some of our "all nighters," but it did last a few hours on the patio of a local Phoenix establishment. As a matter of fact, we celebrated both Sunday and Monday night before Ric left for Germany to do some public relations work for the WWE and I headed back to Norman to sell some Bar-B-Q. BTW if anyone finds my glasses at the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix please turn them into lost and found. Thank you. Perhaps I am lucky that is all I lost after the birthday celebration.Ric and I got into a discussion with other WWE personnel about legit, tough guys in wrestling and someone asked who was tougher, Harley Race or Wahoo McDaniel, and the answer was an easy one for both of us and especially for Flair, Race.

Wahoo was one bad dude and an amazing athlete who played football at Oklahoma and still holds the record at OU for the longest punt. Wahoo ran with a young quarterback in New York by the name of Joe Namath while both were playing for the NY Jets, until it was discovered that Wahoo was taking the impressionable young QB out virtually every night enjoying the many saloons and lovely ladies of the Big Apple. Linebacker Wahoo would be traded and Namath would eventually lead the Jets to a Super Bowl title.

Back to Harley, Race could be nasty and was a deluxe street fighter with a deadly left hand. Ric also pointed out that Harley was prone to head butt his victims and break their noses in a tavern or two around the globe. They don’t make wrestlers like Harley or Wahoo any more.

One quick Wahoo story, the three of us, Flair, Wahoo, and I, were hurrying to catch the last flight out of Asheville, N.C. on a Sunday afternoon to get us to Atlanta after taping two TV shows for Crockett Promotions, or maybe it was WCW. Wahoo was driving his rental car from the arena to the airport and breaking every traffic law known to man, speeding, running lights, not yielding, honking his horn relentlessly, much to the delight of a hysterically laughing Nature Boy. It was a good thing I was wearing a dark suit and we will leave that matter alone. With no place to park and time running out to catch our flight, Wahoo parked the Hertz rental vehicle on the sidewalk directly in front of the airport and so close to the front doors that the automatic doors at the airport’s entrance kept opening and shutting. Wahoo left the motor running as we grabbed our bags and actually made our flight. True story.

Visit JR's blog here: http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/

A WarGames Classic

While this is a couple of days late as well, February 24th is an important day. It was on February 24, 1991 that the Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Sid Vicious, and Larry Zbysko) took on Sting, Brian Pillman, and the Steiner Brothers in a type of match called "WarGames" at a pay-per-view event called WrestleWar '91 in Phoenix, AZ. (ironically the site of last night's RAW). The match was an instant classic, filled with plenty of action, lots of blood, and a shocker for an ending (You might not want to watch the whole match but the end is amazing). Here is a review of the match by Scott Keith of 411mania.com as well as the match itself from DailyMotion:

February 24, 1991 in Phoenix, AZ
Memorial Coliseum drawing 6,800 ($53,000)

Shown live on PPV (1.2)

Larry is replacing Arn Anderson, who was injured shortly before this. Pillman and Windham start out. Pillman has got a big-ass shoulder tapejob. Windham goes for the Wargames bladejob record by gushing two minutes into the first period. Steve Austin would shatter the record the year after by tapping an artery about 30 seconds in. The cage is so short that Pillman can barely stand on the top rope, something which would come into play later in the match. Pillman is absolutely beating the living hell out of Windham for 5 minutes straight here. Kudos to Windham for selling like a champ. Flair is next in (I think the coin toss is rigged) and Pillman gets the beats put on him. Flair offers a groin thrust to Sting. The Horsemen are just tossing Pillman around the ring at will. Sting makes the save and goes bananas on Flair to a mega-pop. Flair pairs off with Sting and they do their usual match. Larry Z is in next and Sting takes him out with ease. Flair cheats and the Horsemen pound on Sting for a bit and then take care of Pillman. Rick Steiner cleans house for the faces to another hot reaction. Flair joins the bleeding pool. The Horsemen are mercilessly hammering Pillman's shoulder. Sting bleeds. Sid Vicious just pounds the hell out of everything that moves when he gets in. Flair gets rubbed into the cage about 5 times. Rick keeps getting rammed to the cage but no-sells every time. There's big red blotch all over the cage from Flair's head. Big Poppa Pump is last in for the faces. Sid Vicious calls a spot with Rick Steiner while on camera. Vicious rams Pillman into the turnbuckle shoulder-first a few times and then rips off the tape. The faces all get figure-fours on the Horsemen in a very a cool moment. The faces continue the assualt on everyone but Sid Vicious, who won't go down. Vicious takes out Sting and the Steiners, leaving Pillman to take on the Horsemen. Then Sid takes over on Pillman. In the ugliest moment in Wargames history, Sid powerbombs Pillman, hitting his head on the top of the cage and nearly breaking his neck legit, and then he picks up the half-dead Pillman and does it again. Pillman is temporarily paralyzed and El Gigante improvises by running in from the dressing room and throwing in the towel. The crowd is in shock at the sudden ending. Still, an easy ***** match. (21:50)

Wargames Ric Flair's Team vs Sting's Team Part 1
Uploaded by TSteck160

Wargames Ric Flair's Team vs Sting's Team Part 2
Uploaded by TSteck160

Happy Belated Birthday

Lost in the shuffle of last night's big WrestleMania announcement and my hangover was the fact that Ric Flair turned 59 yesterday. I guess HBK gave Naitch the best present of all by accepting his challenge to a match at WrestleMania XXIV. From all of us here at Diamonds Are Forever, we'd like to wish Mr. Flair a happy birthday and many happy returns! Here's a happy birthday WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

59 and still kickin' ass...

Flair-HBK at WrestleMania

Last night on RAW, after Shawn Michaels played a little Sweet Chin Music on both Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, the Nature Boy made his way down to the ring to drop a bombshell on HBK. The 16 times World Champion and one of Michaels' closest friends (he intorduced Flair as the first inductee of the 2008 WWE Hall of Fame class) challenged him to a match at WrestleMania XXIV down in Orlando. Michaels was very apprehensive at first, telling Flair he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that he ended the career of the greatest wrestler of all time because the next match Ric loses signals his retirement from professional wrestling. Flair, however, was quick to point out that he wasn't going to WrestleMania to lose and that he would do everything he could to pull out a victory on the "grandest stage of them all." After hearing this, Michaels accepted the challenge, telling Flair it would be an honor. The men shook hands as a sign of mutual respect and left the ring together. This is a very interesting match-up because Flair is fighting for his career and Michaels must wrestle with the thought of potentially ending the career of a man who he's looked up to all of his life and was "the reason he got into this line of business." It's the Showstopper and the Nature Boy. It's WrestleMania XXIV. It should be fun to watch and if anybody is going to end Flair's career, Michaels would be my pick. However, I'm putting my money on Slic' Ric.

SuperStar Of The Week

"Good Ol' JR" Jim Ross named Ric Flair his Superstar of the Week for last week. Here's what JR had to say on WWE.com:

Greetings friends and neighbors from under the 200X, black Resistol hat from your barbeque-lovin’ Okie, who is happy to be home from an exciting trip to the Pacific time zone that resulted in more surprises than I ever expected at No Way Out and on Monday Night RAW.

The winner of this week’s coveted Raw Superstar of the Week award is an easy choice. No, it’s not the lovely and talented actress Lindsay Lohan, who spent the afternoon at Raw in Anaheim, Calif. and who certainly would have gotten Jerry “The King” Lawler’s vote (King loved Ms. Lohan’s freckles.), but another individual with a “party reputation” of sorts and who just happens to be the greatest wrestler of all time – the first announced inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2008, Ric Flair.

Ric’s going into the WWE Hall of Fame is a no-brainer as the 16-time World Heavyweight Champion long ago earned the distinction of being the best in-ring performer ever in wrestling. Some of my most cherished and memorable moments involve the “Nature Boy” who is just as much fun to be around outside the ring as he is to watch do what he was put on Earth to do – and that is wrestle. Ric’s influence on generations of wrestlers is far-reaching, much like many basketball players of today were motivated as youngsters to play in the NBA by watching Michael Jordan.

Ric Flair is a Rembrandt in tights, and as I said long ago, is painting with oils on his canvas while others are utilizing water colors. There have been many memorable moments at WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies over the years, but none may approach the emotion many of us will feel when Ric takes the stage in the Amway Arena in Orlando, Fla. the night before WrestleMania XXIV.

Ric, who gave yours truly a signed pair of red, patent leather, game-worn wrestling boots that are framed and hanging in J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Norman, Okla., will receive a box of products from JR's Bar-B-Q, where we are getting plenty of your e-mails about “Naitch” going into the Hall.

There isn’t a day that passes by that I don’t count my many blessings that WWE and the wrestling business in general have provided my family and me. Now with Ric Flair joining “the HOF club,” inclusion in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 has taken on a whole new significance.

Congratulations Ric. No one has ever done it better.

This And That

Here are some interesting tidbits people might not know about Ric Flair:

On April 29, 1995, in North Korea, Ric Flair wrestled Antonio Inoki in a match attended by 190,000 people. The number is believed to be the highest ever to attend a professional wrestling card.

In 1997, (then) Minnesota governor, Arne Carlson declared a one-day 'Ric Flair Day' in the state. A year later, in 1998, Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles-Belton proclaimed a one-day 'Ric Flair Day' in the city.

Late in 2003, WWE released a three-DVD retrospective of Flair's career (focusing mainly on his career prior to 1993), The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection. It became WWE's fastest-selling video package up to that time.

Survived a plane crash in Wilmington, N.C., on Oct. 4, 1975. Suffered a broken back as a result and was told by doctors he would never wrestle again.

Flair's autobiography, "To Be The Man," reached #5 on on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Considered a run for Governor of North Carolina but dropped out of the race when Jesse Ventura told Flair, a notorious partier, that the press would have a field day with his personal life.

Roddy Piper was the best man at his wedding.

In 1984 40,000 fans packed Texas Stadium to see him wrestle Kerry Von Erich at the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, the 2nd largest live wrestling audience in U.S. history at the time.

In 2006, Jack Nicholson expressed interest in inducting him into the WWE Hall of Fame, being his all time favorite wrestler.

Ric has appeared in three movies, The Wrestler (1974), Body Slam (1987) and Sting: Moment of Truth (2004).

Ric is sometimes seen attending the Carolina Hurricanes NHL hockey games. At many home games when the Hurricanes score a goal, a trademark Ric Flair "Carolina Goal! Wooo! Wooo Wooo!" is played.

Flair has been active in North Carolina Republican politics and hit the campaign trail with Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to show his support.

Flair is involved as a business partner in Ric Flair Finance; check out the website: http://ricflairfinance.com/

The Man Behind The Man

To start things off, I'd like to give a little background information to Ric Flair the person, instead of Ric Flair the wrestler. Here's a mini-biography I've compiled from various Internet sources:
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee), does not know his full birth name. In the opening chapter of his autobiography "To Be the Man," titled "Black Market Baby," he notes that his birth name is given on different documents as Fred Phillips, Fred Demaree, and Fred Stewart. The chapter title is a reference to the fact that the Tennessee Children's Home Society, the agency with which he was placed for adoption, was revealed in 1950 to have fraudulently induced thousands of mothers to give up their children for adoption. The future Ric Flair was adopted when he was six weeks old by a physician (father), Richard Reid Fliehr, and a theater writer (mother), Kathleen Virginia Kinsmiller. At the time of his adoption, his father was completing a residency in gynecology in Detroit. Shortly afterwards, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota, where the young Richard Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. He later attended Wayland Academy, a coeducational boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Ric Flair played football at the University of Minnesota while in a pre-medical academic program. In 1966 and 1967 he was Minnesota state high school wrestling champion. He then worked as a bouncer before meeting Ken Patera, a former Olympic weightlifter who had established himself in professional wrestling. Patera encouraged Flair to pursue a pro wrestling career, and Flair soon joined the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association (AWA), working his first match for that promotion on December 10, 1972.

He has four children from two marriages. His daughter Megan and son David Fliehr are children from his first marriage, his daughter Ashley and son Reid Fliehr are children from his second marriage to Elizabeth Fliehr. His oldest daughter Megan is married and has her own young daughter. His younger daughter Ashley is attending Appalachian St. on a volleyball scholarship.

Flair's son David is a semi-retired professional wrestler. Flair's younger son Reid, who signed a developmental contract with WWE near the end of 2007, is an accomplished high school wrestler and made several appearances on WCW television along with his sister Ashley and half-sister Megan. Flair is not related to the Andersons, though he was billed as their cousin in the various NWA territories and WCW.

Flair became a grandfather in 2004 when his eldest daughter, Megan Fliehr-Ketzner, gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Morgan Lee Ketzner on May 9. On May 27, 2006, Ric married his third wife, fitness competitor Tiffany VanDemark.

Ric Flair- WWE Hall of Famer

It has been a long time coming but Ric Flair will finally be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at a ceremony held on Saturday March 29, 2008, the night before WrestleMania XXIV. Shawn Michaels introduced "The Nature Boy" as the first inductee of the 2008 class this past Monday night on RAW. As Good Ole' JR said, this man deserves his own wing in the Hall of Fame.



Congratulations Slic'...

Introduction

This may seem like an odd blog to start up now because it is apparent Ric Flair is about to retire. However, the real point of this blog is to remember the man, the myth, and the legend that is "The Nature Boy." Wrestling fans today have no idea what greatness is with the exception of Shawn Michaels who I think is definitely one of the greatest of all time and continues to prove it. The man has made a huge impact on my life and has impacted the lives of millions of people. Just because he may be hanging up his wrestling boots for good in a couple of months doesn't mean he should be forgotten (and I know he won't be by many people). This blog may not get many, if any, hits but if just one person can see what real wrestling is like and that Ric Flair personifies greatness it will all be worth it. Just like the blog title implies, "Diamonds are forever, and so is Ric Flair." Thanks for everything Naitch!