Ric Flair: A look into the professional wrestling legend and two-time WWE Hall of Famer

Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Pulse Sports explores the life and in-ring career of the icon.

For many decades, Richard Morgan Fliehr, known professionally as Ric Flair, was one of the leading wrestlers in sports entertainment. His time spent working for Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) are well-known. 

He spent most of his career winning titles in JCP and WCW and has gone by "the Nature Boy” since the middle of the 1970s.

WWE officially recognises Flair as a 16-time world champion (eight-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and two-time WWF Champion). While different sources list him with anywhere from 16 or 17 to 25 world title reigns, he has declared himself a 21-time champion.

Flair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008 by Triple H and the icon became the first two-time inductee when Dusty Rhodes did the honours to admit Flair along with older members of the Four Horsemen in 2012.

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Where is Ric Flair from?

Ric Flair is American, born in Memphis, Tennessee to Luther and Olive Phillips, his birth parents. 

What is Ric Flair’s birth name?

Even though Ric Flair is often listed on records as Fred Demaree or Fred Stewart — because of his birth mother, Olive Phillips, who was also given credit for the Stewart and Demaree surnames — most people still refer to him by his birth name, Fred Phillips. 

Flair was adopted by Richard Reid Fliehr (1918–2000) and Kathleen Kinsmiller Fliehr (1918–2003) because Kathleen was unable to become pregnant after giving birth to a daughter who passed away soon after. 

How old is Ric Flair?

Born on February 25, 1949, in Memphis, Ric Flair was 75 on his last birthday. 

Ric Flair’s height and weight

Ric Flair's billed height is 6 ft. 1 in, which is 185 centimetres and the 75-year-old's billed weight is pounds is 243. In kilograms, this is 110kg. 

Ric Flair’s plane crash

Regarded by some as the plane crash that changed wrestling, Ric Flair's career almost ended before it got off the ground. A twin-engine Cessna 310 aircraft carrying four wrestlers — Flair, Johnny Valentine, Mr Wrestling and Bob Bruggers — and a promoter — David Crockett — took off from Charlotte for Wilmington, North Carolina, on October 4, 1975.

The crash ultimately took the life of the pilot and paralysed Valentine, while Flair broke his back in three places and was told he would not wrestle again. 

Despite doctors' proclamation to Flair at 26, he underwent a meticulous physical therapy schedule that saw him return to the ring three months later, resuming his feud with Wahoo McDaniel for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship in January 1976. 

Flair's wrestling style had to change after the crash from his early power brawling to a more grappling-focused approach, which is how he came up with the "Nature Boy” persona that he would stick with for the remainder of his career.

Ric Flair’s wife

Ric Flair has been married five times, with the icon currently with Wendy Barlow since September 12, 2018. They separated in January 2022 but reconciled four months later. Previously, Flair was married to Leslie Goodman (1971-1983), Elizabeth Harrell (1983-2006), Tiffany VanDenmark (2006-2009) and Jacqueline "Jackie” Beems (2009-2014).

Ric Flair's son

Ric Flair had two sons, David Fliehr — known by the ring name David Flair before retiring — and Richard Fliehr — known by the ring name Reid Flair until he died in 2013. David, born March 6, 1979, mostly appeared in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and had spells in the WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 

Ric Flair’s daughter

The ex-WWE star’s first daughter, Megan Fliehr, took a different path unlike half-sister Ashley Fliehr, popularly known by her ring name Charlotte Flair. 

Charlotte, born April 5, 1986, is a 14-time women’s champion, having held the WWE Divas Championship once — as the last holder — the WWE (Raw) Women's Championship six times — as the first holder — and the SmackDown Women's Championship seven times — now known as the Women's World Championship. 

Ric Flair’s entrance

The Nature Boy’s entrance was never not eye-catching. Simple, yet appropriate for his persona, was his slower music and walk to the ring, which included the occasional strut.

His arrival at WrestleMania 28 in 2008 to battle Shawn Michaels in his final match in the WWE remains memorable. 

Ric Flair's robes

Ric Flair amassed a wardrobe of several dozen robes at different stages of his career, a testament to how large Flair went with everything in his life, each one completely different from the other. 

ESPN described his appearance at WrestleMania XXIV against Michaels as "a deep blue coloured robe, lined in white feathers, seamlessly embodying several of Flair's most iconic looks all rolled into one.”

Ric Flair’s Wooooo!

While the two-time WWE Hall of Famer had several catchphrases during his in-ring career, bellowing “Wooooo!” became his most iconic, arguably becoming professional wrestling’s most popular catchphrase. 

Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen

In January 1986, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, and Ric Flair created the original Four Horsemen stable during an impromptu interview. This line-up changed several times as new members joined and left the group; other well-known members were Dean Malenko, Curt Hennig, Sid, Sting, Lex Luger, and Barry Windham. 

However, the five men who made up their greatest incarnation were Flair, Arn Anderson, Blanchard, Windham, and JJ Dillon, all inducted into the 2012 Hall of Fame, making the Nature Boy the first two-time inductee. 

Ric Flair and The Rock

While Ric Flair and Dwayne "The Rock” faced off in the Main Event of the July 29, 2002, episode of Raw — a fight won by The Rock after hitting the icon with The Rock Bottom before Chris Jericho ambushed Flair afterwards — the Brahma Bull’s involvement in developing a biopic based on the life of the legendary erstwhile WWE superstar recently dominated headlines. 

“As a kid who grew up in professional wrestling, I idolised, ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair,” Johnson said in a statement. “He was a hero to me. And once I broke into the wrestling business and began to spill my own sweat and blood – my reverence for Ric turned to respect.

"Because I realised just how rare and impossible it is to disrupt the wrestling business, culture and truly change the game – and that’s exactly what Ric Flair did. This project is personal, and we can’t wait to tell his unbelievable story. As always, thank you for the house, Ric.”

Ric Flair’s Last Match

The Nature Boy’s Last Match took place on July 21, 2022, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. It saw Ric Flair team up with Andrade El Idolo to take on Jay Lethal AND Jeff Jarrett in a tag team match in front of 6,800. 

In honour of the occasion, July 31 was declared "Ric Flair Day" by Nashville mayor John Cooper, and the fight ended with Flair using brass knuckles to knock out Jarrett after interference from Conrad Thompson. Flair applied his figure-four leglock on Jarrett and referee Dave Miller counted the pinfall with Jarrett's shoulders down on the mat. 

Flair later revealed he passed out twice during the Last Match and has since said he regretted announcing it was his final one. In January 2023, the icon disclosed that he hopes to repeat the fight. 

Is Ric Flair on Twitter?

Yes, Ric Flair is on Twitter, now known as X. At the time of writing, the two-time WWE Hall of Famer's username is @RicFlairNatrBoy, and he has 1.2 million followers.

Ric Flair’s net worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ric Flair's net worth is $500,000, acquired through expert wrestling, pay-per-views, media and public appearances, brand advancement, virtual entertainment, and so on.