Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair (2022)

1. - Okay, gentlemen.

2. - Okay.

3. - Sound speed. - Sound speed, yes.

4. - Okay. This is Ric Flair interview,

5. take one.

6. - What is your name?

7. - Richard Fliehr.

8. - Who is Richard Fliehr?

9. - I don't know.

10. The luckiest—he's the luckiest guy in the world—

11. and who had a chance to become Ric Flair, for good or for bad.

12. That's who Richard Fliehr was.

13. - Who is Ric Flair?

14. - The wildest son of a bitch who ever lived.

15. I've got the style

16. and profile

17. like never before!

18. Let me go on record as telling the whole world,

19. to be the man, you gotta beat the man,

20. and I'm saying, woo!

21. - He was, like, the standard-bearer

22. for what a wrestler should be.

23. - The Nature Boy—woo!

24. Space Mountain in himself!

25. - I think Ric Flair is the barometer

26. of the greatest World Champion of all time.

27. - Ric Flair is the champion again!

28. - He was ahead of his time.

29. He was very colorful.

30. - He was just unbelievably captivating.

31. - It attracts you from the moment that you see him

32. and hear him talk.

33. - I can't help it that I look good,

34. smell good—woo!

35. Can dance all night long.

36. - He was the most exciting, prolific shit-talker

37. that all of sports entertainment has ever seen.

38. - My shoes cost more than your house!

39. - He was a guy that has been willing to do it his way,

40. no matter what the consequences may be.

41. - I got so wrapped up in being Ric Flair

42. that I probably neglected my family a little bit.

43. - I've never seen Ric Flair vulnerable,

44. but I saw it that day.

45. - I don't know how he survived

46. all the things he was going through.

47. I think what he did was just go back into Ric Flair:

48. be a persona, be a character, so he didn't have to feel.

49. It's a battle within him,

50. 'cause he has to be on all the time.

51. - If anything, it was "My dad has to slow down."

52. - Ric lived his gimmick.

53. Ric is no longer Richard Fliehr.

54. He's Ric Flair.

55. - I don't think he knows who Richard Fliehr is.

56. I think that was lost a long time ago.

57. - The Nature Boy,

58. the jet-flying, kiss-stealing,

59. wheeling, dealing son of a gun

60. intertwined with sports, music, pop culture,

61. America.

62. When you say the name, you get a reaction.

63. - 45 years of great entertainment!

64. - Woo! - You're talking

65. to the Rolex-wearing... - Kiss-stealing—woo!

66. Limousine-riding, jet-flying son of a gun.

67. - Now give me two claps and a Ric Flair!

68. Woo!

69. Woo! - Woo!

70. - Woo! - Woo!

71. Woo! - What?

72. Richard Fliehr, to be for real!

73. But your name is Flair to us!

74. It'll always be Flair to us!

75. - Many know that man,

76. but this is the story of a man,

77. the one behind the cameras and away from the limelight.

78. This is the story of a man

79. caught between a character and reality.

80. It begins on Poplar Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.

81. There are abandoned brick buildings here now.

82. Seven decades ago,

83. back in 1949,

84. an orphanage stood here.

85. This is where life began for the man we'd come to know

86. as Ric Flair.

87. What is your given name at birth?

88. - Fred Phillips.

89. I just found that out three years ago.

90. - What was your birth mother's name?

91. - Yeah. - The woman

92. who gave birth to you.

93. - I think it's in my bio somewhere.

94. I think she was a nurse, and I think—I thought

95. he was an architect.

96. - Your birth mom, again, according to the biography,

97. is Olive. - Kay, right.

98. - And Luther— the name of your father.

99. - Luther—that is— that's correct.

100. My brother actually reached out to me.

101. - How did you find out you had a brother?

102. - Someone reached out to Wendy

103. through her social media.

104. I would say about four or five years ago,

105. there was a person who, um, had documents,

106. and he got his adoption papers,

107. and his mother was the same mother.

108. He didn't want anything. He just wanted to let,

109. you know, Ric know that,

110. you know, they had the same mother.

111. - Um, I just—she said, "Do you wanna meet him?"

112. I said no.

113. I don't have any curiosity.

114. Got enough to be curious about

115. without someone I've never met in my life

116. and meet him now at 73.

117. What are we gonna talk about?

118. Ruin our life?

119. You know, he probably only wanna meets me

120. 'cause I'm what I am—

121. whoever I am,

122. if that makes sense.

123. - He's always seen himself as "he's an only child,"

124. and rightfully so. He was raised an only child.

125. So he didn't really connect with the person

126. or find out any more.

127. - Well, tonight's story is about babies right here

128. in the United States in Memphis, Tennessee,

129. in the 1940s,

130. who were taken from their parents

131. and not just handed over to other couples,

132. but sold to other couples with the connivance

133. of a corrupt judge.

134. - Tennessee Children's Home Society.

135. - Yeah. It was a adoption agency

136. that was illegally founded,

137. and they were selling babies, black market babies

138. that had been stolen from the mothers in hospitals.

139. - You may have been stolen or taken

140. from your birth parents.

141. What's your reaction to that?

142. - They put me up for adoption, and I went into an orphanage.

143. And I was sold to the orphanage,

144. and my parents bet—

145. I'm basically a black market baby.

146. I'm adopted and couldn't have been adopted

147. by two finer people.

148. I'm not sure they knew that it was illegal or not.

149. I doubt very seriously that they did.

150. No, my parents were so honest and straight,

151. but that's how it came about.

152. As I got older, they wanted me to know more about it.

153. I just said, "Mom and Dad,

154. "you don't need to tell me anything.

155. I don't need it. I don't care."

156. "I'm happy here."

157. I got two of the greatest people in the world.

158. I was raised by a medical doctor

159. and a mother that had a master's

160. in theater and English.

161. My dad also had a PhD in theater and English.

162. - They were very cultured, his parents,

163. and very smart.

164. Being surrounded in that environment

165. helped boost what was inside of him.

166. - My parents were both so smart.

167. I didn't inherit any of their genes.

168. I'm adopted, so

169. I don't really know where my genes came from,

170. but I didn't inherit theirs.

171. But it wasn't from lack of effort.

172. I had every opportunity to be a well-educated kid,

173. but just a guy who just looked out the window.

174. They called it daydreaming back then.

175. I guess they call it A.D.D. now.

176. - When did you first start drinking?

177. - 15.

178. Regularly.

179. Without a 18-year-old ID,

180. you could drink beer back then.

181. I had a fake ID and drank beer all the time.

182. I was...

183. Playing strip poker...

184. Shit like that.

185. I mean, if it was available,

186. I was doing it.

187. - He was drinking at a young age.

188. He was conforting with females at a very young age,

189. and, you know, this was a source of endless distress

190. to his parents, because it was unthinkable

191. in that family that they would have a child

192. that was that rambunctious.

193. - I was just so different.

194. I was just wild as a kid.

195. So they made the decision to put me in a private school.

196. I went to Wayland Academy my freshman year.

197. All the people in that school

198. came from very wealthy families,

199. huge backgrounds,

200. and my friends were all— at school, it was full of,

201. like, family that owned the Blackhawks

202. in all of Chicago,

203. Campbell soups,

204. I mean, OshKosh B'gosh jeans, name it.

205. That school was loaded with family with a lot of money.

206. So I saw the lifestyle I wanted.

207. I just had to figure out how to afford it.

208. I was a state champion wrestler,

209. all-state in football.

210. All I wanted to do was play football.

211. I mean, that was what I knew

212. I wanted to do in college.

213. I ended up going to University of Minnesota.

214. Back then, they helped you a lot with your academics—

215. like, just go to class, and you'll pass.

216. But I was just there for fun.

217. I didn't give a damn about school.

218. I lived in a fraternity That was the year after—

219. after I flunked out.

220. My parents didn't know.

221. - How did your parents react

222. when you told 'em you'd flunked out?

223. - Uh, they weren't shocked.

224. They weren't shocked.

225. I sold life insurance for a year after that.

226. I never got my license, but I made 40 grand,

227. 'cause I just introduced all the general agents

228. to my friends around town.

229. I never actually passed the test.

230. - In 1971, Richard Fliehr

231. did make a major life decision.

232. He got married for the first time.

233. - Leslie. She's a wonderful lady.

234. We get along to this day.

235. - The next year, they had their first daughter,

236. Megan.

237. Now a father, Ric was trying to find his way,

238. searching for his life's purpose.

239. He found it in a likely location:

240. a bar.

241. - Ric Flair was working as a bouncer

242. in the Minneapolis area.

243. - So I'm bouncing,

244. and I'm sitting here with my elbow

245. on the cigarette machine, on a stool, right?

246. And in walks this guy, and I look—

247. "Holy fuck."

248. He's smoking a Salem cigarette

249. and sits down and orders a double vodka

250. and a soda.

251. I said, "Fuck, that's Ken Patera."

252. - Ken Patera was

253. a very fabled Olympic weightlifter,

254. and this Olympian starts engaging Ric Flair

255. in conversation.

256. - I walk over, and I say, "You Ken Patera?"

257. He said, "Yeah. What's your name?"

258. I said, "Ric. Ric Fliehr."

259. He goes, "How ya doing? You know this town very well?"

260. I said, "Yeah, know it real well."

261. - Before you know it, Ric Flair and Ken Patera

262. are living together,

263. and this Olympian, who was actually training

264. for the professional wrestling world,

265. was being sponsored by Verne Gagne.

266. - Here's wrestling champion Verne Gagne.

267. - Well, here I am. What's up?

268. - Verne Gagne was the promoter

269. for the American Wrestling Association, or AWA,

270. which was a Minneapolis-based promotion.

271. Every year, Verne Gagne would put

272. a class of trainees together.

273. - You still have the same shock that you had

274. the first time someone threw you down,

275. but you're building up a tolerance to it.

276. - Well, I went to the camp, enthusiastic as possible,

277. but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

278. That—two months with those guys,

279. legs were chafed. I couldn't walk.

280. I mean, Gagne, you know, came over and got me,

281. slapped me across the face.

282. - You don't just walk out there,

283. pick him up and lay him down. We wanna see some action,

284. wanna see what you can do.

285. I trained him.

286. I'd start 'em out

287. with just knee bends,

288. and we'd do 50

289. to 100 knee bends.

290. Well, the guys—you know, at 50,

291. they fell on their face.

292. - Ugh, it was brutal.

293. That was a— I mean, first of all,

294. I was 300 pounds. I mean, to this day,

295. you take a good athlete and tell him to do

296. 500 free squats, 250 push-ups, 200 crunches.

297. - 200.

298. - And run two miles.

299. How many good athletes can do that right now?

300. Like 1%? Think about it.

301. And we're doing this in 30-degree weather outside.

302. - Come on, dig, dig, dig, dig!

303. - He was training hard to become a pro wrestler,

304. but step one in Fliehr's metamorphosis

305. into the character began with a new name...

306. Ric Flair. - Mm-hmm.

307. - Where did the name come from?

308. - Verne.

309. I was so enamored

310. with Dusty Rhodes.

311. I said I wanted to call myself Rambling Ricky Rhodes.

312. He got up, threw his glasses down,

313. and said, "Rambling Ricky Rhodes?

314. "What is it with you and Dusty Rhodes?

315. "Your name is Ric Flair. That's fucking cool as shit—

316. Ric Flair."

317. I said, "It is?" He said, "Yeah,

318. just call yourself Ric Flair. Change the spot."

319. I had my first match, Minneapolis Auditorium,

320. ten minute draw,

321. longest ten minutes of my life.

322. I was excited about it, but I didn't know what I was doing.

323. - What did you make for your first match?

324. - 50 bucks.

325. I spent it coming home.

326. Man, I have driven 3,000 miles for $210.

327. I would drive to Winnipeg, 500 each way,

328. drive back, get home at 5:00 in the morning, right,

329. and get up at noon and leave for Des Moines, Iowa.

330. - In front of crowds of how many?

331. - Oh, probably—in Winnipeg, it was almost always sold out,

332. but everything else was, like, 50 and 100, maybe 150,

333. but never—

334. I just barely—we lived, basically, off Leslie.

335. She was a dental hygienist.

336. I didn't have the experience.

337. But once I got rolling, I mean, I liked it so much

338. that I—when I wasn't booked,

339. I would travel with Dusty Rhodes

340. and Dick Murdoch, just be their driver.

341. I drove Andre for two years

342. when he was Jean Ferre.

343. He actually broke in

344. the same time I was breaking in,

345. and I drove him everywhere,

346. and when he'd get to the building, he'd go,

347. "Boss, get me wine."

348. One day, David Crockett said,

349. "No, no, no wine till after the match."

350. "Boss, there be no match. Wine."

351. Naw, there was that night

352. he drank 106 beers at The Downtowner.

353. Verne had me drive him. It was great.

354. - Hanging out with Andre the Giant,

355. riding with Dusty Rhodes,

356. Ric Flair was traveling with the best in the business.

357. - So this is 1974.

358. So I get invited to go to the Carolinas, right?

359. And I'm married at this point, and we had just had Megan.

360. So I go to my dad.

361. I said, "Can I have $400 to go down there?"

362. So I flew down there in April of '74

363. with 200 bucks in my pocket.

364. Left Leslie 200 bucks.

365. And I'd met this guy in a bar.

366. He said, "You're Ric Flair?" And I said, "Yeah."

367. He said, "You guys ever thought about flying?

368. I hear you drive everywhere." I said,

369. "Yeah, I thought about it. Why?"

370. He said, "Well, I got a plane."

371. I said, "You got a plane?"

372. So I said, you know, "What are you talking about?"

373. He said, "Well, there's five of you.

374. I can carry five of you, only charge you $100 apiece."

375. I said, "Only $100 apiece to fly?"

376. I said, "How fast does it go?"

377. He said, "250 miles an hour."

378. I said, "You're kidding me. $100 apiece?"

379. So bingo.

380. I got five people, like, right away.

381. - So Ric Flair and some of the other guys

382. decided that they were gonna pool their money

383. and hire a Vietnam veteran who is a pilot

384. to transport them

385. around the Charlotte wrestling territory,

386. and this guy would load up his plane with talent,

387. and these were big dudes, and it was a small plane.

388. So now he had to compensate for the extra weight,

389. and he did that by dumping

390. some of the fuel from the plane.

391. - We were in a six-passenger Cessna 310.

392. We were flying to Wilmington

393. for a night show on Sunday.

394. So we got to what's called "the point of no return,"

395. which I've learned.

396. In other words, he should've refueled in Raleigh.

397. We were 1,400 pounds over gross,

398. and so he compensated for that by carrying less fuel.

399. All of a sudden, we're at 6,000 feet,

400. and we're just starting to descend, and, uh,

401. all of a sudden, the right engine,

402. it went boop-boop-boop.

403. I mean, it pinned. Bingo.

404. Within ten seconds, it was dead, boom.

405. Then he reached down— I saw him grab—

406. he pulled the reserve tanks,

407. forgetting he didn't have any reserve fuel.

408. So the left one just went broop, boom,

409. and man, we're, you know,

410. I would say between 5,500 and 6,000 feet.

411. I remember looking at it.

412. - And at this point, there was real panic going on.

413. The pilot began to freak out,

414. and the great Johnny Valentine

415. was sitting next to the pilot,

416. and he, being a wrestler,

417. he figured, "Well, I'll slap some sense into him,"

418. and he started slapping the pilot

419. to try to get him to focus.

420. - We were going so fast,

421. probably over 300 miles an hour,

422. that normally, when you hit a tree orchard,

423. a small plane—it would cartwheel a small plane.

424. We mowed the tree orchard down.

425. - I think they barely missed the water tower,

426. and they might have even landed safely

427. had there not been some electric lines there.

428. But because of the circumstances,

429. they ended up crashing.

430. - And stuck in a railroad embankment

431. one—or maybe 300 yards on the runway.

432. - It was truly a calamity.

433. - Next thing I knew, I was getting put

434. in one of these old military ambulances,

435. and so the guy goes...

436. "I think you better hurry. I think we're losing this one."

437. Well, I'm sure we all thought the same thing.

438. I thought he was talking about me,

439. and actually, it was the pilot.

440. - The pilot was in a coma

441. and lingered there for about a year.

442. Johnny Valentine was paralyzed

443. from the waist down for the rest of his life,

444. and Ric Flair ended up breaking his back

445. in several places.

446. - I broke my back in three places

447. and tore my stomach apart—

448. compression fracture. I used to be 6'2".

449. So the vertebrae about this far apart,

450. normally, in your back.

451. So I had three of them

452. that were all crunched together,

453. so maybe two inches shorter.

454. - What were you told, initially, in the hospital

455. about your future?

456. - Oh, I'd never wrestle again, never.

457. - What was your first thought when you heard that?

458. - "I'm screwed.

459. "What am I gonna do?

460. I got a wife and kid."

461. I mean, I can remember me and my daughter Megan

462. walking up and down the street in my back brace,

463. and then on that, laid on— all I could do for rehab

464. was I would lay on my stomach and do—

465. arch up. That's all I could do.

466. That's the only rehab you could do.

467. - 1975, the plane crash

468. severely damaged Ric Flair's body.

469. His back was broken and his injuries extensive.

470. He says he lost nearly 100 pounds.

471. Flair had been wrestling for three years by then,

472. and his career was in question.

473. But Flair refused to quit.

474. He worked harder, building back his strength,

475. and within six months,

476. Richard Fliehr had become Ric Flair once again.

477. He was back in the ring.

478. That is when he created the persona

479. that would define him.

480. The Nature Boy.

481. - The Ric Flair who we all have in our mind

482. came in steps.

483. When he started training,

484. he was kind of a chunky brown-haired guy.

485. - Flair did have a couple matches under his belt,

486. but yet he was a rookie,

487. and a rookie is gonna make mistakes.

488. - And then "Superstar" Billy Graham's wife

489. dyed his hair blond.

490. And ultimately, while he was working there,

491. somebody said that he reminded them

492. of the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers.

493. - And started to fly off the ropes

494. but checked himself,

495. and look at that Buddy Rogers strut.

496. - When the good Lord made me, He threw the mold away

497. when it comes to the wrestling business.

498. - Who was Buddy Rogers?

499. - The first Nature Boy,

500. and he was cut,

501. handsome,

502. really good physique,

503. tan all the time.

504. I thought he was cool.

505. - But there's one thing I want everybody to know.

506. And that is, to a nicer guy,

507. it couldn't happen.

508. - That's part of where I got the clothing gig—from him.

509. He was always dressed immaculately.

510. I got that from him and Joe Namath.

511. That's what I grew up on—Joe,

512. and when I met him— and I told him.

513. I got a lot of attitude from him.

514. Here I am, looking better than any man alive,

515. the most gorgeous human being on the face of this earth.

516. The great one,

517. the golden-maned stallion,

518. the new Ric Flair.

519. - How did the character

520. begin to evolve, Ric?

521. - Uh, I don't know. Every day, it just got better.

522. I just got more natural,

523. and I—I felt much better about myself being 240

524. than I did when I was heavier,

525. and it really helped my work too.

526. The more extravagant I was,

527. the more attention I got.

528. The first robe was $3,000—

529. that butterfly robe, the white one?

530. And then I started going.

531. I think the last one I paid for was, like,

532. 20 grand. You can buy these

533. anytime you want for about $10,000, $11,000.

534. I got 15 of 'em.

535. I bought the governor's limousine in 1978

536. and paid a guy 25 bucks.

537. I got him late every night

538. to drive me around in a limousine.

539. You have just begun

540. to find out what it's all about

541. to tangle with the new

542. Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions.

543. Woo!

544. Woo!

545. Jerry Lee Lewis, "Great Balls of Fire"--

546. driving at night, that's all we do, is listen to music.

547. "Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire, woo."

548. That's where I got it from.

549. - Ric "Nature Boy" Flair!

550. By '78, '79, I was really feeling it.

551. Woo, yeah!

552. - He was just loud and could talk and was exciting,

553. and every match he had was amazing.

554. - Well, at first, they hate you,

555. but after a while, if you're just good at what you do,

556. they can't hate you,

557. or you entertain 'em so much,

558. they can't hate you.

559. - Come on, Ric!

560. A or B. In my case, it was both.

561. - Ric Flair has won

562. the World Heavyweight Championship.

563. - Ric Flair defended his title

564. in New Zealand,

565. in Singapore,

566. in Australia,

567. in Japan,

568. and when Ric Flair stepped

569. in front of an audience somewhere,

570. they felt it was like Muhammad Ali coming there.

571. - When my name's on the marquee, baby,

572. you know you seen the best there is.

573. - This dude had you magnetized

574. just from looking into the camera

575. and talking to you with his shades on.

576. - Ric Flair is the stuff!

577. - And he could, you know, talk his shit,

578. and he can back it up, which was the coolest part.

579. - He talked major shit.

580. He was talking like that before anybody.

581. Nobody was talking shit like him.

582. - When you're the World Champion,

583. you just don't talk the talk!

584. You walk the walk!

585. - And the feuds with—

586. Who didn't he feud with?

587. - Dusty Rhodes, my friend, if you get in my way—

588. wap! You're gonna get one of those!

589. - Now is the time that the talking stops

590. and the fighting begins!

591. - Steamboat, where are you, punk?

592. I'm right here, baby doll.

593. - I despise everything that you like,

594. everything that you do,

595. and what you represent National Wrestling Alliance

596. as a champion.

597. - I take 'em all on,

598. and brother, when I'm done with 'em,

599. they're all history.

600. - In the early 1980s,

601. Ric Flair had become an attraction

602. across the globe,

603. living his life on jets and runways.

604. The man who survived a plane crash

605. just a few years earlier

606. had another moment that can only be described

607. as cheating death once again.

608. Ric, you're the only person

609. I think I'll ever meet in my life

610. about whom I can ask the following question

611. and have it be marginal,

612. as opposed to utterly central, to your story.

613. When were you struck by lightning?

614. - Well, here's the story.

615. It's a very unusual story.

616. Getting out the plane in Richmond, Virginia,

617. to wrestle Ricky Steamboat. It was '83.

618. So I got out of the plane. I was, like, second.

619. The guy behind me, maybe 10 feet behind me,

620. and all of a sudden, my umbrella went on.

621. I was like, "What's going on?"

622. 'Cause I'm carrying my robe, right?

623. And I'm trying to carry the umbrella and my briefcase,

624. and all of a sudden, I just went like this,

625. and man, I dropped the briefcase,

626. and my thing shot up,

627. literally, you know, 50 feet in the air,

628. and I went, "What the fu—"

629. And everybody starts screaming,

630. and I turn around, the guy behind me—

631. it hit my umbrella, it hit the top of mine—

632. hit him right in the eye and killed him.

633. I just froze. I was embarrassed.

634. Everybody running out there to save the guy,

635. I just stood there, frozen, looking at him.

636. People ask me all the time. They're like,

637. "Are you fucking still alive?"

638. I say, "Yeah, motherfucker, very much."

639. Woo!

640. - Alive and thriving.

641. - Styling and profiling!

642. Tearing it all up!

643. - By the mid-'80s, Flair was increasingly

644. spending money to raise the profile of his character

645. and getting lost in the Nature Boy lifestyle.

646. - When I started earning, I started spending.

647. I spend more money on spilt liquor

648. in bars from one side of this world to the other

649. than you made in the last six months!

650. I was living large.

651. I wanted people to know

652. that I wasn't fucking dicking around.

653. I have to fulfill

654. all the dreams, the desires,

655. and the lusts

656. of thousands of young women all throughout!

657. Diamond ring-wearing, kiss-stealing—

658. woo— wheeling, dealing,

659. limousine-riding, jet-flying

660. son of a gun!

661. And I'm having a hard time

662. holding these alligators down.

663. Woo!

664. - The suits, the Rolex,

665. the ladies, the cars,

666. the lifestyle—

667. he was just unbelievably captivating,

668. and there just wasn't anything about him

669. that didn't ooze charisma and fun.

670. - I got the biggest house on the biggest hill

671. on the biggest side of town!

672. Every time I heard "no,"

673. I proved "yes."

674. So this realtor said to me,

675. "Your credit is never gonna be able

676. to afford a $2 million house."

677. I said, "Really?"

678. I got a realtor and bought the house.

679. I—and I borrowed 200 grand from my dad to help do it,

680. because it was called, um—

681. original, right?

682. And I paid him back, and he went,

683. "I'm really proud of you," 'cause I borrowed money

684. from him over the years and hadn't paid him back.

685. And then, my parents came down from Minneapolis.

686. My dad walked in the house and said, "Really?

687. You need all this?"

688. - They didn't really see the importance in that.

689. - What's the point of the air through here?

690. - That's the gimmick, Dad.

691. - I think that he never felt good enough.

692. - I don't know if they ever got it.

693. They were very conservative.

694. Me, not so much.

695. - How many pairs of shoes?

696. - Oh, in my lifetime?

697. About 200 pairs of alligator leather shoes—

698. skin shoes.

699. I know it's hard to believe,

700. but I didn't want to ever wear the same thing on TV twice,

701. and if you look back on tapes,

702. you're gonna see very few things I wore twice.

703. We taped once a week.

704. So I probably bought four suits a week

705. for 36 years.

706. - He believed in looking the part

707. and dressing for who you were and where you were going,

708. as opposed to where you had come from.

709. - Styling

710. and profiling!

711. - Why is it necessary?

712. - 'Cause I'm Ric Flair!

713. Woo!

714. I wanted to set the bar

715. so high, nobody could ever get it.

716. I represent the American way of life!

717. I lived the gimmick and didn't understand

718. the word "moderation."

719. - How did you afford this?

720. - Because I wasn't paying my taxes.

721. I mean, I didn't— I just didn't slow down.

722. Totally my fault. Irresponsible.

723. Woo!

724. - The money, made and wasted,

725. only added to his legend. - Woo!

726. - Fame became his barometer.

727. - Flair, Ric Flair.

728. Now, like, a flight attendant me how to spell it,

729. I go, "F-A-M-O-U-S."

730. As Ric Flair's name shined brightly in lights,

731. the man once known as Richard Fliehr

732. was nowhere to be found.

733. The thin line separating life inside and outside the ring

734. was no longer clear,

735. and that only increased

736. when Flair's next chapter exploded...

737. nationwide.

738. - We're talking about the cream of the crop,

739. the most successful group of wrestlers

740. anywhere in the world.

741. - The Four Horsemen were a faction

742. that kind of came together

743. rather spontaneously.

744. You had Ric Flair associate

745. with Arn Anderson

746. and Ole Anderson.

747. Then you add Tully Blanchard,

748. and they became

749. the most charismatic faction of their generation.

750. - We are the Horsemen.

751. - The origin story of how you guys came together?

752. - Arn just said it one day,

753. just off the top of his head.

754. You know, it wasn't planned.

755. Arn just said, "This is the apocalypse.

756. We're The Four Horsemen,"

757. and next week, there were guys in suits on—

758. I mean, it was crazy.

759. It was insane, and all because Arn did this.

760. - We're a unit!

761. The Four Horsemen are not four individuals!

762. - We are the studs in professional wrestling!

763. - We'd go into the ring,

764. the whole front row dressed up in suits and ties.

765. And they're yelling, "Horsemen."

766. - So whether you like it or not,

767. learn to love it, because we're gonna be here

768. for a long, long time.

769. - He'd have a match, stay all night,

770. make the plane to the next city,

771. get out, and then he'd go to the gym with me.

772. Sometimes, literally, he and I would go

773. three, four days at a time

774. without sleeping, and wrestling in the night

775. and go to the gym every day.

776. - We walked into a bar that's in Chicago.

777. Ric had walked in first,

778. and he would take his credit card

779. and slap it on the bar,

780. and the bartender would pick the card up and...

781. "You don't need that in here."

782. He said, "You see all those credit cards

783. sitting behind me on the—"

784. he said, "Those are the fans

785. because you said you were coming in here."

786. - I come from the nightclub business, where I drank a lot.

787. Nothing compared to him—

788. every single night.

789. - A thousand times, I had to wheel Ric in

790. on the baggage cart to his room,

791. whether he was naked or just completely drunk,

792. passed out.

793. - We are throwing a party!

794. In other words, JJ Dillon has rented

795. the whole top of the hotel!

796. - Ric Flair lives like Ric Flair

797. every day of the year.

798. - The Four Horsemen faction pushed Flair to the pinnacle.

799. The persona was revered

800. and was eclipsing the person.

801. Flair was the living symbol of the rockstar lifestyle...

802. nonstop and nationwide.

803. Constant drink and countless women,

804. and Flair was telling the world all about it

805. on television,

806. - I wanna inform the tourists,

807. especially all the young ladies,

808. you don't have to go to Disney World

809. to find Space Mountain.

810. It's right here.

811. - When Ric Flair would go on TV

812. and say where he was staying in town,

813. and "Meet me in the penthouse at the Marriott,"

814. that was real!

815. - "I'll be at the Marriott—

816. "18 to 28, no boyfriends, no husbands,

817. you can ride Space Mountain all night long."

818. You know, I—I've been plugging Marriotts my whole life.

819. My wife would say, "Why do you keep saying

820. we're gonna be at the Marriott?"

821. I said, "Oh, they give us a discount on that.

822. Some of them don't even charge us—free drinks."

823. "Why aren't you wearing your wedding ring?"

824. "I can't wear that on TV. That's not my gimmick."

825. When you get on Space Mountain, you'll be like this!

826. - How would you characterize...

827. - Women? - Yes.

828. - I have a disease. I love women.

829. Listen, look.

830. You know—hey.

831. I love women.

832. To this day, I love 'em.

833. Damn it.

834. I have four or five women every day of my life!

835. I don't buy their love,

836. but I know how to talk to 'em.

837. Even at 73, I can be Slick Ric.

838. - Everybody fantasizes about the cars,

839. and you're usually seen with attractive women

840. on either arm. Is that really the life,

841. or is that the gimmick?

842. - Um, well, I think, aside from the fact

843. that my wife is—will be watching this program—

844. - Oh, I did not know that. Oh...

845. - How many times have you been married?

846. - Four.

847. My first wife, Leslie— great woman.

848. I still talk to her today.

849. She just said, "I can't live like this."

850. - By the mid-1980s,

851. Richard Fliehr had two children,

852. a son and daughter,

853. and his family life was collapsing.

854. For whatever was missing at home,

855. Flair went all in at work,

856. building the Ric Flair character without limits.

857. Life on the road was a fantasy.

858. Life at home

859. was real.

860. So he escaped whenever he could.

861. - You know, it was just me and my mom and David.

862. We didn't live in a fancy house,

863. and we didn't drive fancy cars.

864. So it was—

865. you know, my mom worked two jobs,

866. and it was almost like you felt abandoned—

867. would maybe be the best word,

868. and it wasn't by choice.

869. We just never had that one-on-one time.

870. - I got so wrapped up in being Ric Flair the last ten years

871. that I probably neglected my family a little bit,

872. but it's been successful for me in promoting myself

873. and making me successful in professional wrestling.

874. - His occupation has made it difficult at times

875. to have a family.

876. Now he is in the final weeks of an expensive divorce.

877. - They grew up on their own without me.

878. It was horrible.

879. And I missed the shit.

880. Megan, I mean, we laugh about it now.

881. We don't laugh about it, but she—

882. I told her I'd be at a basketball game,

883. and I didn't make it.

884. And she had never forgotten that.

885. - He spent more time being Ric Flair

886. than he did Richard Fliehr,

887. and so even when he would come home off the road,

888. it was people reaching out for autographs

889. or, "Can we do this? Can we do that?"

890. - I'm conscious of the fans,

891. and I'm conscious of their support,

892. and I'm conscious of what they've made possible

893. for me in my life.

894. - What kind of father do you think you are?

895. - When I was there, as good as could be.

896. But how often was I there?

897. So how can I—not even a fair—

898. I can't be judged on what I— something I didn't do.

899. I wasn't there.

900. If you're Ric Flair for so long,

901. how do you ever go back to being Richard Fliehr?

902. I don't wanna be Richard Fliehr.

903. Maybe when I'm dead.

904. - I don't think he knows who Richard Fliehr is.

905. I think that was lost a long time ago.

906. - They get a glimpse of Richard when he cries,

907. when he's emotional around 'em,

908. but it doesn't last long.

909. He's Ric Flair.

910. He wants the world to always know who he is.

911. - You can't have a family and be a pro wrestler.

912. You can be married, but you're never home,

913. and if you're the World Champion like I was—

914. 365, twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday

915. for ten consecutive years.

916. - Back in the day, when there were more than two dozen

917. professional wrestling territories

918. that were under the umbrella

919. of National Wrestling Alliance,

920. being the traveling champion meant he was expected to be

921. in different parts of the world every day,

922. and sometimes, different cities, twice a day.

923. - Hello, everyone.

924. Welcome to "Championship Wrestling."

925. At ringside, this is Vince McMahon

926. along with Mean Gene Okerlund,

927. and this week—

928. - Vince McMahon saw an opportunity

929. with cable television

930. to promote the entire country

931. off of

932. one or two television shows.

933. - Welcome to WrestleMania!

934. - He was looking to expand, and did.

935. At the end, it was pretty much just WWE and Jim Crockett

936. out of Charlotte, North Carolina.

937. Ted Turner ended up buying

938. what Jim Crockett had, the NWA,

939. and turned it into World Championship Wrestling,

940. and they became, pretty much,

941. the last two standing

942. of any prominence

943. in the business.

944. - WWE was a family business,

945. and people who came from the McMahon family

946. were making the decisions in WWE.

947. WCW was part of a larger corporate entity,

948. and so you had executives,

949. who didn't necessarily have wrestling backgrounds,

950. making decisions that impacted the lives of the talent,

951. and I believe that Ric was a bit hurt by this.

952. - It was frustrating for him, because, I mean, obviously,

953. you're a wrestling organization producing TV,

954. and the next day, you're a TV organization

955. producing wrestling.

956. Things were changing.

957. - Having new people come in

958. and Jim Herd not knowing anything about the business—

959. they just tried to change my character.

960. They wanted to call me Spartacus.

961. They cut my hair.

962. I didn't even know who I was anymore.

963. - You know, they just kept trying to reinvent the wheel,

964. and this was a guy that was kind of a proven entity,

965. and it was just, like— to him, it was baffling.

966. It's just like, "Well, I'm the Nature Boy, Ric Flair."

967. Like, "What are you doing?"

968. - He was asked to take a pay cut.

969. This deeply hurt Ric Flair,

970. and I think he actually experienced

971. legitimate anxiety.

972. He was having panic attacks.

973. He couldn't believe that he was being treated like this.

974. - I cut my hair.

975. I walked into the Charlotte airport.

976. Nobody knew me.

977. I didn't know myself. I mean, it just—

978. it killed me. That was it.

979. I lost all my self-confidence that day.

980. I mean, I was—

981. I—I literally—I—

982. I fell out that day

983. because I gave in to a fucking idiot.

984. I was lost.

985. I was—I was just lost.

986. - He couldn't be Ric Flair

987. or the Ric Flair that he wanted to be

988. in WCW anymore

989. and felt he needed to go elsewhere,

990. and there was only one place, really, for him to go,

991. and that was WWE.

992. - Well, it was the only alternative,

993. and I—you know, I got to talk to Vince on the phone

994. and said, "I'm not crying wolf.

995. I will come if you want me."

996. He said, "I don't believe you."

997. I said, "I got the belt."

998. He said, "Send it, and I'll believe you."

999. I overnighted it to him.

1000. - Everything's gonna run smooth tonight.

1001. The real World Champion, Ric Flair's on my show.

1002. The real World Champion, you got it?

1003. Let's go.

1004. - Why don't we start from the top?

1005. First of all,

1006. I'm Ric Flair!

1007. The real World's Heavyweight Champion.

1008. Woo!

1009. - I remember feeling chills.

1010. Like, Ric Flair has actually come to the competition.

1011. The man who was the symbol

1012. of everything that was supposed to be

1013. the counterpoint to WWE

1014. was now part of WWE.

1015. - I didn't have any guarantees from Vince on anything.

1016. I just was Ric Flair.

1017. He took me the way I was,

1018. and I'm lucky.

1019. Exact words, he goes,

1020. "Everybody knows who you are.

1021. You don't need to impress anybody."

1022. - 1991, behind the scenes,

1023. Flair the man had been experiencing self-doubt.

1024. At age 42, Flair joined

1025. the largest sports entertainment company

1026. in the world, WWE.

1027. Now a father of four, he was poised for his apex,

1028. his self-proclaimed greatest moment in his life.

1029. - It's time to rumble!

1030. It's time for the Royal Rumble!

1031. - Welcome to the jam-packed Knickerbocker Arena!

1032. - 1992, the WWE Championship is suspended,

1033. and it's determined that a new titlist will emerge

1034. from the Royal Rumble.

1035. - The Royal Rumble is a match where it starts out

1036. with two competitors in the ring,

1037. and then another competitor joins every 90 seconds.

1038. - Tell me, Mr. Flair, how did you fare

1039. in the Royal Rumble draw?

1040. - Lord Alfred, I drew number three.

1041. That means I'll be in there close to an hour.

1042. It makes no difference.

1043. - He has to go through so many more competitors.

1044. Can he really go that long?

1045. - Oh, yes! It's Ric Flair!

1046. No one ever, in the history of the Royal Rumble,

1047. has drawn numbers one through five

1048. and been there at the end!

1049. Oh, yes, yes!

1050. The new World Wrestling Entertainment Champion,

1051. Ric Flair!

1052. - With a tear in my eye,

1053. this is the greatest moment

1054. in my life.

1055. Oh, I just said, "Without a doubt,

1056. this is the greatest day of my life."

1057. You know, winning that thing that night,

1058. and the next day, you know, being their champion,

1059. I mean, I was a new man.

1060. I don't know why. I'm lucky they chose me,

1061. but I don't think but a few people understand

1062. how much that impacted my life.

1063. Woo! - You did it!

1064. I was never so impressed with—

1065. - To some people, it was a big deal.

1066. But to the WWE audience,

1067. Ric wasn't that big of a deal.

1068. Because it was an audience that only knew WWE.

1069. To the WWE fan,

1070. WCW was an inferior product.

1071. Ric is an unbelievable performer

1072. and one of the top ever in the world.

1073. But at that time, he hadn't proven himself

1074. to the WWE audience,

1075. and it was too much, too fast, I think.

1076. Ric had impact, but I don't know

1077. that he had as big of an impact

1078. as those inside the business thought it would be.

1079. Ric thought he was gonna come in and be the top guy,

1080. and he just wasn't.

1081. - During this period, there was what WWE

1082. was marketing as a youth movement.

1083. and that meant that

1084. some of the more established superstars

1085. were not going to be spotlighted anymore.

1086. - Vince said that he was gonna go younger,

1087. and I think I was, like, 43 then

1088. or something like that, 44,

1089. and I said, "Yeah."

1090. He said, "They want you back in WCW."

1091. 'Cause they never stopped calling from the day I left.

1092. They wanted me to come back.

1093. He said, "You can stay. I'll have to, you know,

1094. push you down the card, or you can leave on top,"

1095. and I said, "I'll go back. I appreciate the opportunity,"

1096. and left on good terms,

1097. and I was out of there.

1098. - The Nature Boy is back to rock and to roll!

1099. - Well, Tony, they're on their feet!

1100. They're standing here in Charlotte!

1101. - One, two, three!

1102. - He won!

1103. - I don't mind telling you

1104. this locker room is absolutely ecstatic.

1105. Nature Boy here with your family—

1106. Beth, good seeing you. Happy holidays,

1107. and what a happy holiday it turned out to be.

1108. You, uh—you really...

1109. - In 1993, Flair won the WCW title once again,

1110. but this time, it was different,

1111. as his family was there to see it.

1112. This rare backstage moment

1113. was not the Ric Flair character talking.

1114. It was Richard Fliehr as a husband and father

1115. of four children.

1116. - Well, I'm kind of taken by the moment, obviously,

1117. but I—I was, um,

1118. really overwhelmed by the support,

1119. and, uh, you know, first,

1120. I never had my family on TV, so it's a big deal for me,

1121. and thank you. - Woo!

1122. - I'm the middle child.

1123. My oldest sibling is my sister, Megan,

1124. then my big brother, David,

1125. then my little brother, Reid.

1126. He had Reid and I later on in his career.

1127. So he was home a lot more for Reid and I

1128. than my sister and my older brother.

1129. He had a different relationship

1130. with all four of his kids.

1131. The relationship we have

1132. is different than the one he has with my sister.

1133. The one he had with my little brother

1134. is different than he has with me.

1135. - Dad would leave and go out of town.

1136. You know, I'd wanna be with him.

1137. I'd wanna go out of town with him,

1138. you know, 30 days.

1139. If my mom would've let me, I would have.

1140. - Come here, boy. - Good luck, Daddy.

1141. - Okay. - Mm-hmm.

1142. - I'm gonna miss you guys.

1143. - He's my role model, I guess you could say.

1144. I'd love to—I'd love to do

1145. everything just like him

1146. if I could.

1147. He loved me.

1148. You couldn't scare Reid. He was tougher than shit.

1149. On top of that, he was a real good amateur wrestler.

1150. - Yes! Yes! - Whoo!

1151. - I won the gold medal, wee!

1152. - Reid won the gold medal— state championship, AAU.

1153. Can I show a nervous daddy?

1154. - You're doing so good.

1155. - He's got all the athletic ability.

1156. He just keeps moving. He never stops.

1157. Keep your head on your shoulders, buddy,

1158. you'll go a long way— Reid Fliehr.

1159. - There's a mountain. Who wants to go

1160. this winter, kids, to ski up and down the mountain

1161. right there. - Dad, move your hand.

1162. - Isn't this fun? - Yeah.

1163. - Ric Flair was back in WCW

1164. as a main-eventer.

1165. He was a box-office star once again,

1166. working with legends Randy Savage,

1167. Rowdy Roddy Piper,

1168. and Hulk Hogan.

1169. - In the mid-'90s, Eric Bischoff was put in charge

1170. of WCW, which meant he was making creative decisions,

1171. booking decisions, and business decisions as well.

1172. - I mean, some of the best times

1173. I've ever had in this industry

1174. has been with Ric Flair when he was the Nature Boy.

1175. - Woo! - Some of the worst times

1176. I've ever had in this business

1177. were with Richard Fliehr.

1178. - Hulkamania lives

1179. in World Championship Wrestling!

1180. - Ric Flair was instrumental in Hulk Hogan coming in,

1181. and then once Hulk got there,

1182. of course, we had the first match

1183. with Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan.

1184. - They are standing.

1185. They are jammed to the rafters

1186. at Orlando's Arena, awaiting the match of a lifetime.

1187. - You know, I kind of stacked the deck

1188. and brought Shaq in with me,

1189. and I had a bunch of celebrities

1190. kind of come in when I wrestled Ric that first night.

1191. And Ric put me over, which gave us

1192. that huge shot in the arm we needed.

1193. - Ric was ecstatic.

1194. He couldn't have been happier.

1195. But '96 comes around,

1196. and this nWo thing starts catching fire,

1197. and...

1198. that's where all of the attention went.

1199. - The new World order is taking over

1200. professional wrestling!

1201. - That was the new bright, shiny object

1202. that was really, really working well.

1203. All of a sudden, the focus goes from Ric Flair to the nWo,

1204. and Ric Flair's character becomes a victim.

1205. - It's tough when you're the man,

1206. and you go by "the man,"

1207. and then you're not the guy?

1208. Tough to swallow sometimes.

1209. - He took one for the team.

1210. You know, spray-painting Ric

1211. or spray-painting his hair

1212. or whatever chicanery we were doing.

1213. He helped get that nWo thing going,

1214. because to punk out a big star like that,

1215. you know, it was just a setup for us—whoa.

1216. I'll get you too!

1217. - Ric was on the wrong side of that equation

1218. at that particular time.

1219. Everybody was getting punked. Everybody was getting beat.

1220. Everybody was being disrespected.

1221. - This is our show!

1222. We're doing it our way!

1223. - I wish I would've been better and more aware

1224. of how talent is sometimes affected by certain things,

1225. because to me, it was just all business.

1226. - The nWo, not finished making a statement right here

1227. to Ric Flair.

1228. - He couldn't think of enough ways

1229. to fuck me around.

1230. That's all he did.

1231. - Now they're shaving Ric Flair's head!

1232. - What is the deal with, you know, shaving my head?

1233. What did that accomplish?

1234. - Well, what do you mean

1235. you don't want to get your head shaved,

1236. spray-painted black,

1237. drug through town on the back of a pickup truck,

1238. beat with sticks? What do you mean

1239. you don't wanna do that?

1240. That's money. That's a story!

1241. Of course you wanna do that.

1242. No.

1243. Sometimes he didn't,

1244. and there were a number of occasions

1245. where we went too far.

1246. Ric, in particular, took it real hard,

1247. and it took its toll on Ric,

1248. did some— did some damage there.

1249. I didn't know it at the time.

1250. I wish— I really wish I would have.

1251. - In 1998, Ric Flair did something

1252. he hadn't often done before.

1253. He chose his family

1254. over the professional wrestling business.

1255. On a spring night, Flair didn't show up

1256. to a WCW show, and instead,

1257. went to his son Reid's amateur wrestling match.

1258. - Ric and I got into a little bit of a debate.

1259. He wanted some time off.

1260. He, to this day, swears he requested it.

1261. Everybody on my side of the equation said...

1262. "Didn't hear anything

1263. about this request."

1264. Anyway, he just took the time off.

1265. It escalated, and it got out of control.

1266. - I am taking my son to an AAU national tournament

1267. in Detroit. Of course, once I got there,

1268. they decided I didn't have the time off.

1269. Oh, it was a nightmare.

1270. I've never been more fucked in my life

1271. than Bischoff fucking me.

1272. - I basically said, "Ric, either you show up,

1273. "or I'm gonna sue you for breach of contract,

1274. and I'm gonna sue you for every dollar you have."

1275. - He fucked me out of millions.

1276. One guy fucking your whole life up.

1277. I mean, really—

1278. cost me a fortune.

1279. - There were stories

1280. in "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"

1281. about it, you know?

1282. Everybody knew it.

1283. Decided, "Okay, well, we can either pretend

1284. "it didn't happen

1285. "and hope people forget,

1286. or..."

1287. "We can turn this into some money,"

1288. and we both decided to go with it

1289. with a storyline.

1290. - This is real!

1291. This is not bought and paid for!

1292. It's a real-life situation!

1293. - It was some of the best work—

1294. not the best— but some of the best work

1295. that Ric's ever done, because it wasreal.

1296. - You suck!

1297. You, I hate your guts!

1298. - Now, granted, we shook hands,

1299. we put it behind us, and we agreed to make it

1300. a part of a storyline, but the emotion didn't go away.

1301. You're history!

1302. - You are a liar!

1303. You're a cheat!

1304. You're a scam!

1305. You are a no-good... - You're history!

1306. - Son of a bitch!

1307. - Why'd he sue me for going,

1308. and try to bankrupt me

1309. for going to a wrestling tournament with my son?

1310. Think about it.

1311. You don't forget about shit like that.

1312. - I know who this is.

1313. Being a friend of Ric Flair, I know exactly who this is.

1314. It's his youngest son, Reid.

1315. - Since he's been the center of all this controversy—

1316. would like to tell you why we're here.

1317. Tell 'em, Reid.

1318. - Since I heard you been cracking on my dad,

1319. me and my uncle Arn came down here

1320. so I can hit him with that light work.

1321. - Wh—

1322. - In 2001, due to WCW's poor ratings,

1323. questionable booking decisions,

1324. as well as the AOL merger,

1325. Turner sells WCW to Vince McMahon and WWE.

1326. WCW was going out of business.

1327. - When WWE finally purchased WCW in 2001,

1328. the final "Nitro" took place,

1329. and the decision was made

1330. to have the two legends of WCW,

1331. Ric Flair and Sting, get in the ring together.

1332. - Woo!

1333. - Thing was that cosmetically,

1334. Ric Flair didn't even feel like he should be in the ring.

1335. Ric Flair kept his T-shirt on

1336. because he didn't think he looked good enough,

1337. and he didn't feel like he was even close to 100%.

1338. - Sting defeats Ric Flair here

1339. on the final telecast of "WCW Monday Nitro"!

1340. - When WCW closed, I was flat out.

1341. I thought it was over.

1342. I started—

1343. they call it day drinking.

1344. Warner left WCW,

1345. and then WWE didn't hire me for a year.

1346. And then Vince called me and said,

1347. "You wanna go back to work?" I said, "Oh, please.

1348. "Absolutely. When and where?

1349. "I'd been waiting for a year, motherfucker.

1350. Where've you been?"

1351. - Welcome, ladies and gentlemen

1352. around the world,

1353. to WrestleMania!

1354. - When Ric came back to the WWE,

1355. Ric was a shell of the man that he was before.

1356. - I remember Vince coming to me and saying,

1357. "Who do you wanna work with? You wanna work with this guy,

1358. or you wanna work with Ric Flair?"

1359. And I was like, "I wanna work with Ric Flair.

1360. Are you kidding me?"

1361. - "'Taker wants to work with you at WrestleMania."

1362. I said, "You're kidding me."

1363. He said, "No, so what do you think?"

1364. I said, "I don't know. Do you think I can do it?"

1365. He said, "I know you can do it.

1366. "You can do anything you wanna do.

1367. You're the only one who doesn't get it."

1368. Actually, when I got out there,

1369. it turned out to be a hell of a match.

1370. But you couldn't tell me that getting out there.

1371. Self-confidence is such a big part of life in general.

1372. - It was later on in Ric's career,

1373. and I was like, "That's a no-brainer."

1374. I mean, how many more opportunities am I gonna get

1375. to work with Ric Flair, you know?

1376. So that—I mean, that was special

1377. for a whole 'nother reason.

1378. - Not a Tombstone—no! - Ooh!

1379. - 2002, WrestleMania X8.

1380. Undertaker pinned the Nature Boy

1381. in front of nearly 70,000 fans

1382. at the Toronto SkyDome.

1383. Not a headliner as much as a legend,

1384. Ric Flair still needed the spotlight.

1385. WWE had gone global,

1386. and even at age 53,

1387. Flair was traveling around the world once again.

1388. - When he returned to WWE for this run,

1389. he was a bit older,

1390. and he was scared that he couldn't live up

1391. to the standard people expected.

1392. - No, you fucking loser!

1393. You big fucking loser!

1394. You're a loser! Go home!

1395. - Go home!

1396. - Perhaps this goes back to his birth.

1397. - He always kind of felt like

1398. he wasn't worthy of something.

1399. - When he came in the door here,

1400. it was a different Ric Flair,

1401. very, very unsure of himself,

1402. unconfident.

1403. I had no idea how much of a fragile

1404. true ego that Ric had

1405. and what a fragile human being he was,

1406. that a lot of the Ric Flair persona was,

1407. you know, a persona that he put in front

1408. of being this really sensitive and anxious

1409. and everything-else guy

1410. that he truly is.

1411. - If you don't have it here, nothing else works.

1412. It just doesn't connect.

1413. I had it here,

1414. never lost it.

1415. But if this isn't connected to this—

1416. and this connects to everything.

1417. So many times since I lost my self-confidence,

1418. walking back up the ramp, I'm going,

1419. "God, this is the coolest thing in the world,

1420. "but why couldn't I just

1421. be me, be better?"

1422. - I just wanted to help him and try to get him back

1423. to being what he could be, you know?

1424. I used to say to him all the time,

1425. "You're the only guy here that doesn't know you're Ric Flair.

1426. What's the matter with you?"

1427. - It's the truth. He said it to me all the time,

1428. and I said, "You can tell me that

1429. all day long. I still don't."

1430. I mean, that's five solid years of Eric just pounding me.

1431. - Well, I guess being around the business when I was young,

1432. just listening to my—

1433. like, hearing my mom and dad's conversations,

1434. like, yeah, he was pretty not—

1435. didn't feel like the man anymore.

1436. - I think Ric Flair is the barometer

1437. of the greatest World Champion of all time.

1438. You are Ric Flair, 16-time World Champion,

1439. and I respect that.

1440. You know, it's hard to look at a guy like that

1441. and think that there could be anything wrong with him,

1442. because you kind of put him on a pedestal.

1443. - He had so much, still, to give to the business,

1444. and then, you know, when you're around him,

1445. you can see guys wanting to pick his brain,

1446. and guys wanting to work with him,

1447. but he didn't have his confidence to help them,

1448. and so it just started as something as simple

1449. as me thinking, "Well, if we took a couple of young guys,

1450. "and put us all together as a group, made a faction,

1451. it can be incredibly good."

1452. And what you see in this ring before you

1453. is the greatest example of evolution you will ever see.

1454. - Triple H says that his entourage

1455. is the evolution of our business.

1456. - That was a very unique quartet.

1457. You had Ric Flair, who represented legacy.

1458. Then you had Triple H, who was the present,

1459. and then you had the future.

1460. You had Randy Orton

1461. and Batista— future Hollywood star.

1462. - I picked those guys' brains.

1463. I was like that annoying little kid in the back seat.

1464. I never rode up front.

1465. I was always in the back seat.

1466. - Wow, you got something special.

1467. - I can tell you with complete honesty,

1468. if I hadn't had access to their brains,

1469. I never would have made it to the level that I did—

1470. not a chance.

1471. - We are the best of the best.

1472. Woo!

1473. - I was young, and I didn't know

1474. what it was to be champion.

1475. You know, it got thrust upon me,

1476. and I had a lot of learning on the job,

1477. but I was around the best guys in the business for that.

1478. - No fear, man. Let's go.

1479. - I would stand in the backstage

1480. with Richard Fliehr,

1481. but when the curtain opened up, and we walked through,

1482. I was with Ric Flair,

1483. and he could feel it.

1484. He just couldn't carry it all the time then.

1485. But it was definitely— as time went on,

1486. he was definitely becoming the Nature Boy again.

1487. - I'm 55 years old, and I'm in Evolution,

1488. and I'm walking down the aisle.

1489. It was almost like a rib with Hunter, Dave, and Randy—

1490. you know, immaculate,

1491. and I'm physically,

1492. I mean, "Please, this is a joke."

1493. I just wore my robe as much as possible.

1494. I never got it back totally.

1495. It gave me life again.

1496. It gave me life,

1497. and I was ready.

1498. - Flair's done it! Flair's done it!

1499. The Nature Boy is the Intercontinental Champion!

1500. - Where are we going?

1501. Woo! It's LA, Vince.

1502. We're going down to the strip.

1503. It's a party! Woo!

1504. With the champ!

1505. - It was easy to assume that at that time,

1506. there just couldn't be that much gas left in the tank,

1507. and yet, man,

1508. it turned into a special next six, seven years

1509. with so many memorable moments.

1510. - And I love being the Nature Boy!

1511. - I don't remember the actual circumstances,

1512. but, you know, it was getting to a point

1513. where, you know, Evolution had kind of run its course,

1514. and he was still kind of doing the things he was doing,

1515. but I think he was getting to a point where people were

1516. starting to worry about him in the ring.

1517. - Ah, shit!

1518. - I'm not sure he was fully,

1519. in his mind, ready to retire.

1520. I think Vince sort of broached

1521. the subject with him.

1522. Vince was like, "Look, there's a reason

1523. "they put a jockey on a racehorse.

1524. "Somebody's gotta pull the reins,

1525. or they will run until they die."

1526. So the decision was made.

1527. Like, we'll put you in the Hall of Fame,

1528. and then do your last match,

1529. but that was tough for Ric.

1530. Everything about Ric is the Nature Boy Ric Flair.

1531. - It's at a moment like this

1532. when guys like me...

1533. Say to themselves for all we've done wrong,

1534. we must've done something right.

1535. So I can't tell you how much

1536. all this means to me.

1537. I just wanted everybody to know along the way,

1538. people in my life— and I've had a long life,

1539. a lot of people say "thank you."

1540. Shawn Michaels,

1541. I want to wrestle you at WrestleMania.

1542. - I think anybody that commits their life to something,

1543. um, no matter what line of work it is,

1544. but certainly, I think,

1545. in the athletic field, it's a big and major decision.

1546. I honestly wanted to honor all of that

1547. in that last match.

1548. - It would be my honor

1549. to wrestle you at WrestleMania.

1550. - Woo!

1551. - Programs!

1552. - Woo!

1553. - My life is one incredible happening after another.

1554. You know, it's like I said— for all I've done wrong,

1555. I must've done something right somewhere to get all this.

1556. It's hard to say goodbye and leave

1557. something you've done for so long.

1558. - The decision for Ric to retire

1559. may have been more Vince's than it was Ric's.

1560. But also, at the same time,

1561. I don't remember Ric fighting it too vigorously either.

1562. Vince looked at it as,

1563. "You've had a hell of a career,

1564. "but you don't need to be taking bumps anymore.

1565. "You don't need to be in the ring anymore,

1566. "and let's give you the send-off

1567. that's worthy of your career."

1568. - 2008, WrestleMania XXIV.

1569. After 36 years of wrestling,

1570. the WWE ending for Ric Flair was upon him:

1571. retirement,

1572. and his family was ringside to see it all.

1573. - He is the best at what he does,

1574. and the word "proud" doesn't even describe,

1575. you know, I guess,

1576. how any of us feel in the family

1577. about what he's done.

1578. - He'll go down in history

1579. as the greatest wrestler of all time.

1580. - It's a great feeling to know that you have someone

1581. that's in your family that's appreciated

1582. by more than just you.

1583. I mean, he's appreciated by so many people.

1584. Woo!

1585. - Ric Flair, baby! Woo!

1586. - Woo!

1587. - He'll be happy, but at the same time,

1588. you know, sad, remorseful

1589. that, you know, what he's done his whole life,

1590. it's coming to an end.

1591. - I'm in Orlando, getting ready to wrestle Shawn,

1592. and I was just nervous

1593. and insecure as I've ever been in my life.

1594. - It was something that I really took seriously:

1595. his image and his legacy, all of those things.

1596. I understood and appreciated

1597. how important those things were to him,

1598. and I honestly wanted to honor all of that

1599. in that last match.

1600. - He said, "Just shut up and listen to me tonight.

1601. Don't say a word."

1602. I went, "Well, okay."

1603. No wrestler's ever said that to me.

1604. And we—we're standing there, and he said, "Let's do this."

1605. Woo!

1606. - Went out there and made music.

1607. Woo!

1608. People were going crazy.

1609. I started crying on the way down.

1610. - I really don't think I realized

1611. how important my dad was to the wrestling world

1612. until he retired.

1613. To see 70,000 people crying

1614. over this man was incredible.

1615. - Woo!

1616. - Everybody's eyes watered up.

1617. It is still one of those hallmark moments

1618. that everybody who watches it

1619. went back to where I went to,

1620. which is being that 15-year-old wrestling fan.

1621. - Woo!

1622. - There it is: vintage Flair.

1623. Vintage Nature Boy!

1624. Oh, look out!

1625. Flair wanted to be in the ring with the best.

1626. - And now Flair climbing to the top!

1627. - Look at this!

1628. - To me, it was mostly trying to stay focused

1629. and relatively unemotional.

1630. - Uh-oh. - Oh!

1631. - I know how much that match meant to Shawn,

1632. 'cause he felt the same way,

1633. growing up, about Ric that I did.

1634. I usually don't have the chance

1635. to watch other matches at WrestleMania.

1636. I watched every second of that match.

1637. - Michaels said that he was gonna

1638. take Flair out behind the barn

1639. and put him out of his misery,

1640. but in the heart of Shawn Michaels,

1641. can he do it?

1642. - What does Shawn say to you

1643. before the match concludes?

1644. - "I'm sorry."

1645. "I love you."

1646. - It is real, raw emotion,

1647. and in a line of work

1648. where we're all a bunch of grown freaking men

1649. that are paid, sometimes, to put up walls and act tough,

1650. that was just me, Shawn Hickenbottom,

1651. telling Richard Fliehr,

1652. "I think the world of you."

1653. - Man, that reception...

1654. I couldn't believe the response.

1655. I looked to my right, and there's my family.

1656. - It was the first time that my siblings

1657. had all been together in a long time,

1658. and seeing my dad wrestle—

1659. just what an emotional roller coaster,

1660. and just seeing my little brother just, like, bawling

1661. and my dad kissing him, and...

1662. Like, I don't think many wrestlers

1663. get to have a farewell like that.

1664. - My heart just hurt for him.

1665. I mean, I was so proud of him,

1666. but knowing how he's dealt with some insecurities

1667. about himself, it's like,

1668. "First of all, I'm already older and doing this,

1669. and what do I do now?"

1670. It's like—it was just sad.

1671. It was like the end of a movie.

1672. - Over 70,000 fans paying their respects

1673. to the greatest to ever lace a pair of boots.

1674. - After three decades in the business,

1675. Ric Flair celebrated with his family,

1676. who were sitting ringside,

1677. embracing him as he reflected

1678. on his hall-of-fame career.

1679. It was an ending, but also the beginning,

1680. as Richard Fliehr poured more of his time

1681. into his son's career aspirations.

1682. - Reid's goal was to be in the WWE.

1683. That was his goal.

1684. - He just had the character.

1685. He just had the perfect character for it.

1686. Like, he was just built for it.

1687. I feel like he was just made for it.

1688. - I put him in a private prep school.

1689. When you go to a place

1690. like Blair Academy— it's in New Jersey—

1691. 21 national championships—

1692. and prep-school wrestling

1693. is tougher than high-school wrestling.

1694. He wanted to do pro wrestling right away.

1695. - I know Ric felt like he had a lot of potential,

1696. but Ric was going to make him earn it, so to speak,

1697. um, and not just hand everything over to him.

1698. - Thank you. Thank you so much.

1699. He's a good boy. - Thank you.

1700. - Very good boy, yeah.

1701. - He was doing a real, real, real good job

1702. with the Shin Nippon Pro Wrestling,

1703. New Japan Pro Wrestling.

1704. If you can do a good job there,

1705. believe me, you can wrestle anywhere.

1706. - Second-generation wrestler Reid Flair.

1707. If he's gonna follow in his father's footsteps,

1708. though, he's got some big shoes to fill.

1709. - I know I'm gonna have to work harder.

1710. People are gonna be looking at me.

1711. You know, they're gonna, I guess, expect a lot more

1712. from me, in coming from this background,

1713. but also at the same time, you know,

1714. I've been around it my whole life.

1715. I feel like it gives me an extra edge.

1716. - Here comes Reid Flair!

1717. - He had it. He's tough.

1718. He's good-looking.

1719. Girls love him—

1720. ton of personality.

1721. He'll nail it.

1722. - He is the son of the Nature Boy, Ric Flair,

1723. but make no mistake about it,

1724. he is his own man.

1725. - As Reid entered his 20s,

1726. he wanted to be like his father,

1727. who had crossed over from the wrestling world

1728. to pop culture.

1729. - Ric Flair is unquestionably

1730. one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

1731. - I think he did a good job of keeping up with the times,

1732. keeping his name relevant.

1733. - He made a lot of people happy.

1734. He made me happy,

1735. and he made people all over the world happy.

1736. - Everything about him said,

1737. "I'm here to make sure you are entertained."

1738. - He made appearances on TV shows.

1739. - You can't do that.

1740. - Oh, little lady, that's where you're wrong.

1741. I'm the Nature Boy.

1742. - Cartoons.

1743. - Woo, woo, woo, woo!

1744. - Video games.

1745. - Looks to me like a trainee

1746. who could use a few pointers.

1747. - Even in Hollywood.

1748. For Reid, his father was his hero.

1749. - Ric liked to have Reid around all the time,

1750. but that also meant if you're with Ric

1751. all the time,

1752. you've got to deal with the persona,

1753. and Reid wanted to be Ric Flair.

1754. - The Figure Four,

1755. just like his daddy always taught him.

1756. - For Reid, there was some big push for him

1757. to get him into WWE, I think, at that time.

1758. - Reid was like, "We can do this together.

1759. You've gotta do this."

1760. I had no prior wrestling experience.

1761. I don't know what made me say "okay"--

1762. whether it was all Reid's encouragement,

1763. whether I thought that Reid and I were

1764. gonna do this together...

1765. I do believe he had a tryout prior to this

1766. to be in the WWE.

1767. - But, you know,

1768. Reid had flunked two or three drug tests,

1769. so they couldn't take him.

1770. He had to sit home for a year.

1771. - He was really, really close

1772. with my daughter, Morgan,

1773. but he would start showing up to things

1774. after using whatever it was he had used that day,

1775. and he just—she—she just couldn't be around him.

1776. I kind of just had to draw the line.

1777. I had to set up boundaries.

1778. - He had been out of every rehab center.

1779. I mean, I could— every six months,

1780. he would have a meltdown and go off.

1781. As I'm saying it, you come to realize

1782. it's not a addiction.

1783. It's a disease.

1784. You know when I finally realized how bad it was?

1785. All he ever wanted was to wear my dad's Rolex watch,

1786. which I had in a safety deposit box

1787. for him. Actually, his mom did.

1788. And he goes, "Dad, I—I," you know,

1789. "I'm responsible enough now."

1790. When he sold that to buy drugs,

1791. I knew how bad it was.

1792. We were leaving the next day for WrestleMania.

1793. He went back to the hotel,

1794. and you know, he had his own room.

1795. - Reid had called me and said, "Come into town.

1796. "I'll meet you at the restaurant.

1797. My dad will be there. Let's just all go together."

1798. - He was there, and he wasn't drinking.

1799. He was drinking water,

1800. but a bag of pills fell out of his pocket.

1801. So I picked up the pills,

1802. and I just put 'em in my pocket.

1803. - He was eating next to me,

1804. and he just was out of it. He was not feeling good.

1805. He said, "I'ma go back to the room."

1806. Before he left the restaurant,

1807. when he stood up, he said,

1808. "Wendy, do me one favor."

1809. I said, "What's that?" And he goes,

1810. "Please take care of my father."

1811. - I went back, and there he was.

1812. Um, I knock on the door,

1813. and he was laid back like this,

1814. like I've seen him a thousand times.

1815. So I just picked him up, laid him down on bed,

1816. and I just had made up my mind—

1817. "I'm just not even gonna wake him up in the morning.

1818. I have to finally do what they've been telling me to do."

1819. They call it kicking him to the curb,

1820. where you just cut 'em off.

1821. - I stayed back, and I wish I would've gone in the room,

1822. because then I would've saw the needle on the floor.

1823. - The next day, my dad met my daughter and I at Starbucks,

1824. and he was so mad at Reid.

1825. He's like, "He got messed up last night."

1826. - Ric was mad, and he was like,

1827. "We gotta get going. Reid's not up.

1828. "You know, if he doesn't get going,

1829. we're gonna leave him."

1830. - I said, "I'm just gonna go see what he's doing,"

1831. and I walked in, and he was purple,

1832. and I...

1833. - And that's when Ric started screaming.

1834. Ric knew right away. He knew.

1835. - I just— the guy came in and said,

1836. "Ric, you need to leave the room for a minute,"

1837. you know?

1838. And the guy walked out, and he said,

1839. "Ric, he didn't make it."

1840. I walked down the stairs to the lobby and bar.

1841. I walked behind the bar,

1842. and I threw a six pack down,

1843. and I—I didn't stop.

1844. - A professional-wrestling legend's world

1845. shattered today, after police confirmed

1846. Ric Flair's 25-year-old son

1847. was found dead at this SouthPark hotel.

1848. Reid Flair was found dead inside a room

1849. at the Residence Inn around 10:30 this morning.

1850. - My dad called me that Reid passed away.

1851. Like, part of me kind of always knew,

1852. like, maybe that was his fate.

1853. Like, maybe I was in shock.

1854. Maybe I didn't know how to—

1855. I—I don't know. I go—

1856. even to this day, I still think I put it in a drawer,

1857. and I just closed the drawer.

1858. Like, how do you—

1859. your brother, right?

1860. - I'm always gonna feel guilty

1861. that I didn't call the ambulance that night.

1862. You can't ever forgive yourself.

1863. Shit, he was—

1864. he may have been my best friend.

1865. I've come back to Charlotte.

1866. It's really hard to go see Reid.

1867. This will be the first time

1868. since I went with Megan, um...

1869. four years ago.

1870. You know, I used to go all the time,

1871. but I just...

1872. It brings back so many memories.

1873. It seems like a long time ago,

1874. but it wasn't.

1875. - My dad was still in Charlotte, where I was,

1876. and, um,

1877. he was bad.

1878. - I don't know how he survived

1879. all the things he was going through.

1880. I think what he did was just go back into Ric Flair—

1881. be a persona, be a character,

1882. so he didn't have to feel.

1883. - And when...

1884. Reid passed away,

1885. there were never any doubts

1886. whether I was gonna keep doing it.

1887. My focus was, "I'm gonna do this."

1888. I don't know how, but I will.

1889. - Because of Reid.

1890. She's all there for Reid.

1891. - I had started to make friends,

1892. figure out,

1893. like, "Oh, I really like this.

1894. "I fit in.

1895. This is really cool," but at the same time,

1896. like, this is everything that he wanted to be doing.

1897. I'll make you proud. - And you always do.

1898. - Charlotte Flair has furthered her father's legacy.

1899. He had the Figure Four.

1900. She did him one better, and she does the Figure 8.

1901. She has the beautiful robes,

1902. and she has that charisma.

1903. There is nobody who wants to miss

1904. Charlotte Flair's ring entrance,

1905. because no one ever wanted to miss

1906. Ric Flair's ring entrance.

1907. - This is how you make an entrance.

1908. - I think there's a little bit of a guilt for her with that,

1909. because that was something

1910. Reid wanted so, so, so bad,

1911. and she got it.

1912. - I'm living his dream, and he never got to be there.

1913. That is very hard at the time

1914. to not think about those things.

1915. I just think it put certain things in my mind

1916. in motion that maybe hadn't

1917. necessarily been there before.

1918. Like, now I'm not just fighting for myself.

1919. I'm fighting for him.

1920. - So excited for her.

1921. I love it—

1922. the greatest honor a father could ever have.

1923. - Woo! Woo!

1924. - Woo! - Woo!

1925. - Woo!

1926. Whoa! - Ah!

1927. - My dad—and this is where he spent his whole life.

1928. You know, he had two boys that wrestled.

1929. So I don't think that he pictured, you know,

1930. walking out at WrestleMania with his daughter,

1931. and my robe tonight has pieces of his last robe

1932. that he retired in—in it.

1933. Like, this is from his WrestleMania XXIV robe.

1934. This is what he—

1935. you know, this is what he lived for—

1936. and I get to be an extension of that.

1937. - 2016...

1938. Dallas, Texas.

1939. 30-year-old Ashley "Charlotte" Fliehr

1940. had made it to the big time: WrestleMania.

1941. Ric was there, in his mid-'60s,

1942. by his daughter's side, mentoring her

1943. on a rise to superstardom.

1944. He was back on the road.

1945. - The life on the road for Ric Flair was tough,

1946. and it was filled with some demons too.

1947. - Ric was going through a lot that time.

1948. He had lost his son,

1949. and we— from the outside looking in,

1950. we don't know what that's like.

1951. A parent losing a kid has to be the hardest thing

1952. you could ever imagine.

1953. I watched Ric.

1954. He put himself through hell,

1955. um, after that.

1956. It was almost like he wanted to die.

1957. It was almost like he wanted to just end it all.

1958. - If I drank a lot before my son died,

1959. I drank wa—

1960. I drank 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m...

1961. every day—

1962. 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.

1963. I didn't work out. I didn't do anything.

1964. - The only way he really knew how to deal with it

1965. was to drown himself in liquor

1966. and just get to the point

1967. where he didn't have to think about it.

1968. - I've never seen anything like it.

1969. He, uh,

1970. you know, enjoys drinking.

1971. Um, but at this point,

1972. it was from the time he woke up

1973. to the time he went to bed.

1974. He was just in a really bad place.

1975. Like, he was not even taking care of himself.

1976. He wasn't showering.

1977. I mean, I just was like,

1978. "I don't even know who this man is."

1979. - I ended up calling WWE and reporting him,

1980. and Hunter called me and said,

1981. "Do we need to help him?" I said, "Yes."

1982. - Hunter calls me, and he goes,

1983. "Hey, where are you?"

1984. I said, "In my car."

1985. "Turn around, and go back to the airport."

1986. "For what?" Does he want—

1987. I'm thinking he wanted me to go to "Raw"

1988. or something, right?

1989. "You're going to rehab."

1990. I said, "No, I'm not.

1991. I'm not going to rehab." He said, "Yes, you are.

1992. You're gonna go to rehab, or never work here again."

1993. I go, "Oh, boy."

1994. I got a six-pack to go back to the airport—

1995. drank it before I got there.

1996. I had three hours before the flight left.

1997. I went into a bar there,

1998. and I drank

1999. ten double tequila cranberry and soda—

2000. ten doubles.

2001. Right?

2002. Got on airplane and drank eight Bloody Marys

2003. to Tampa,

2004. got off the plane and drank a six-pack,

2005. and, uh, pulled into this place

2006. at 2:00 in the morning.

2007. I called Hunter and said, "I don't need to be here."

2008. He said, "Don't call me again. Take his cell phone."

2009. And so—

2010. - How long were you there?

2011. - 35 days.

2012. I got the coin. I walked across the street...

2013. And walked into a bar,

2014. put it on a corner and said,

2015. "I know you won't take this for a beer,

2016. so I'll give you 10 bucks."

2017. Had a Miller Lite less than a block away.

2018. Fuck you guys.

2019. Screw this shit.

2020. - Hey, guys.

2021. Thank you for having me.

2022. I'm honored to be here in Shenzhen,

2023. and, um, I'm ready to do it with flair in China.

2024. I was in China. Wendy called and was like,

2025. "Your dad's sick. You need to go home."

2026. - I get a call. I had my phone there,

2027. and he's downstairs. He's like,

2028. "Wendy, something's not— something's wrong."

2029. Um, you know, "We gotta go to the hospital."

2030. I'm like, "What are you talking about?"

2031. He's like, "I don't feel good. Something's not right,"

2032. and he's just, like, vomiting,

2033. like, green stuff.

2034. - They took me to the hospital,

2035. and no matter what they did,

2036. Wendy said they could hear me screaming.

2037. I don't remember any of it.

2038. - They immediately take him back,

2039. and they say it's his intestines,

2040. but then they go, "Wait a minute.

2041. His heart's failing. His kidneys are failing."

2042. Like, all of a sudden, his whole body was shutting down,

2043. and he's in severe pain.

2044. Like, we're, like, talking massive pain,

2045. and Ric never feels pain.

2046. So I'm thinking, "There's something wrong."

2047. - Ruptured intestine, pneumonia—

2048. septic was the worst part—

2049. total kidney failure,

2050. and, uh, respiratory failure

2051. all at once.

2052. - The doctors come in, and they said,

2053. "He's slipping into a coma.

2054. We're gonna have to do surgery right away."

2055. I called Hunter, Ashley, Megan, and David.

2056. - I drove, and it was about four hours,

2057. and when I got there, he was not intubated yet.

2058. So he—I don't know.

2059. I maybe got five minutes with him.

2060. - The nurses were explaining

2061. to me, my sister, and my brother,

2062. you know, that my dad might not make it.

2063. Again, you go into, like,

2064. self-preservation.

2065. You go into survival mode.

2066. I could not, like, mentally process that.

2067. They gave us, like, all an opportunity

2068. to say goodbye to him.

2069. - They said, "There's probably

2070. about 15% chance he's gonna make it through this,"

2071. and they wheeled him away.

2072. - I just sat on the floor outside the ICU room

2073. and just sat there crying.

2074. - Everybody was worried.

2075. You're talking about trending number one worldwide.

2076. Everyone was prayers up for Ric Flair.

2077. - We wanna pass on our best

2078. to former pro wrestler Ric Flair,

2079. who remains in critical condition.

2080. - The 68-year-old's agent said he does have a long road

2081. to recovery.

2082. - He was in a coma.

2083. I was with him for 31 days, just sitting there.

2084. They set me up a little corner bed,

2085. and I just—that was my home.

2086. He, um, came out of the coma.

2087. He was delusional.

2088. - He was out of it.

2089. He didn't recognize people.

2090. He was, like, telling me to go to Taco Bell,

2091. and telling Ashley to go.

2092. I mean, it was just really random.

2093. - In the hospital, he was going through massive detox...

2094. Shaking— I mean, violently shaking.

2095. We're talking a man who was drinking

2096. about 30 or 40 vodkas a day.

2097. - I mean, he's had other health issues,

2098. really minor health issues,

2099. but nothing that would've led to—to that.

2100. So it's just kind of all...

2101. It's from drinking.

2102. - It was a tough room.

2103. You know, this one dude's in one corner,

2104. and his daughter's in the other, and...

2105. I was sitting there, just holding his hand,

2106. just, you know, talking to him.

2107. And...

2108. he would open his eyes, looked up, and he went,

2109. "Hogan, Hogan,

2110. go get me a six-pack."

2111. And I looked at him, and I said,

2112. "Are you out of your mind?"

2113. - How long were you in the hospital?

2114. - 32 days, ICU,

2115. and then I was in a rehab facility

2116. for another 30 days,

2117. learning how to walk.

2118. I'd gone from 240 to 202.

2119. I lost 40 pounds.

2120. I had no strength at all.

2121. I could not pop a top off a Diet Coke.

2122. Isn't that amazing?

2123. They thought that was because of drinking.

2124. It wasn't at all—

2125. because of bowel obstruction.

2126. - And it's an amazing thing

2127. to be able to ask somebody this question

2128. multiple seasons and moments in his life.

2129. Why did you survive?

2130. - I don't know.

2131. Why am I here?

2132. Strange.

2133. But like I said,

2134. after you've gone through something like that,

2135. you just need— it's very important,

2136. I think, to let people that you care about

2137. know how much you care about 'em.

2138. - What did it mean to you that your daughters were there?

2139. - Everything.

2140. Ashley came from China.

2141. It took her 22 hours to get there.

2142. Between Ashley and Megan and Wendy,

2143. how do I ever forget that?

2144. - We have good news tonight.

2145. WWE star and Atlanta favorite Ric Flair

2146. is out of the hospital.

2147. - How's he doing? - He's doing much better.

2148. To be honest, it's a miracle.

2149. - Hey, to all my fans out there,

2150. let it be known worldwide that Nature Boy—

2151. woo! Is back up and running,

2152. looking as only I can look.

2153. I wanna tell all my fans out there,

2154. thank you for all the love, support,

2155. and I will see you

2156. in the very, very, very, very, very, very

2157. near future.

2158. Woo!

2159. - When Ric got out of ICU, it took about 18 months

2160. from ICU on, where he started

2161. to feel like he wanted to be the life of the party.

2162. - Given what you'd been through,

2163. why drink?

2164. - Because I enjoy it.

2165. Why play golf?

2166. Why drive my boat?

2167. After I work out, there's nothing to do—

2168. Just waiting for 5:00.

2169. I'm on a time frame. 5:00,

2170. Ultra—Michelob Ultra till 7:00.

2171. Vodka, Ketel One soda,

2172. cranberry, and a lime,

2173. and at 8:00, red wine

2174. till 10:00— upstairs to bed.

2175. Sometimes alone,

2176. sometimes with...

2177. company.

2178. I'm a guy that's gonna go over and...

2179. meet somebody and have fun again tonight.

2180. - In his late 60s,

2181. he'd somehow cheated death yet again.

2182. The Nature Boy character had become his legacy,

2183. and it began impacting the music industry.

2184. There were songs written about him.

2185. The lifestyle, the bling, the drip—

2186. it was pervasive.

2187. Singers, musicians, the rap world—

2188. they couldn't seem to get enough

2189. of Ric Flair.

2190. - Ladies and gentlemen— - Capture this on film.

2191. - To the great Post Malone!

2192. Took the time out of his very busy schedule

2193. to come out to my home with my wife and her children

2194. to visit me... - Woo!

2195. - When I had just gotten out of the hospital.

2196. I couldn't drink then, but I'm drinking now.

2197. Post Malone, my man!

2198. - Always. - Woo!

2199. Woo!

2200. - He's just the coolest dude

2201. that you'll ever meet in your life.

2202. Ric Flair transcending into, like, pop culture,

2203. hip-hop culture,

2204. he's always been the coolest motherfucker

2205. in the room.

2206. - Ric Flair is probably

2207. the swaggiest of them all.

2208. He—he transcended to this era.

2209. - Woo!

2210. - I was a fan, you know?

2211. You know, who did I look up to?

2212. You know, limousine-riding, jet—

2213. I wanted to be that too.

2214. Ric Flair lived a superstar life.

2215. Man, it's that Ric Flair drip—

2216. limousine-riding, jet-flying.

2217. Ric Flair was talking about that before any of these guys.

2218. - They all wanna be—woo!

2219. like the Nature Boy,

2220. but there can only be one.

2221. - People are gonna look at Ric and say

2222. he was a trendsetter.

2223. He's also a business guy.

2224. He knows what he's doing and very sharp on his feet.

2225. He's a marketing genius.

2226. People know that,

2227. and they—they wanna be a part of that.

2228. - Just one time.

2229. - Woo! Woo!

2230. - There you go.

2231. - He just hit a nerve, man, with mainstream society.

2232. I've always said that Hulkamania would live forever,

2233. but it's more, woo!

2234. Ric Flair's gonna live forever.

2235. - Woo!

2236. - Ric Flair drip, I would say a Shakespearean swagger.

2237. It's a very— a very elegant gown.

2238. You got no shirt on—

2239. chains—

2240. chains, rangs, thangs.

2241. I guess the Ric Flair drip is confidence.

2242. - I think every time you hear the name "Ric Flair,"

2243. like, everyone's like, "I think I need a Rolex."

2244. Like, "Why do I not have a Rolex watch on right now?

2245. Like, I mean, I think all of sports,

2246. to an extent, are affected by Ric.

2247. - And the whole crowd of 18,000 going—

2248. - Woo!

2249. - Ric Flair!

2250. Ric Flair!

2251. - You can go into an NFL locker room

2252. or an NBA locker room right now,

2253. and folks can quote Ric Flair.

2254. Woo! And I'm having a hard time

2255. holding these alligators down!

2256. - And even if you're not a wrestling fan,

2257. like myself, you know who Ric Flair is,

2258. so, um, I think that says it all right there.

2259. - Ric Flair!

2260. - Woo!

2261. Like Snoop said,

2262. I was bling before bling was bling.

2263. You gotta look at the total influence

2264. that Ric Flair has.

2265. - He's kind of become a, uh,

2266. multicultural cat.

2267. - Go 49ers! Woo!

2268. Woo!

2269. - Looking at his schedule, I'm going,

2270. "How the hell is he doing this?"

2271. - Styling and profiling— blinging,

2272. private jet-flying.

2273. Woo!

2274. - You know, he's at the Rose Bowl.

2275. He's at the Super Bowl game.

2276. He's here. He's there.

2277. He's wrestling. He's on car commercials.

2278. - Woo!

2279. - The guy's pushing just as hard as he ever did.

2280. So he's not done yet.

2281. - I've certainly had my problems along the way,

2282. but I'm on my feet now,

2283. and, uh, probably in the best position

2284. I've ever been in—

2285. still the man.

2286. Woo!

2287. Woo!

2288. - Red Raiders!

2289. - Time.

2290. - 2022...

2291. Ric Flair has lived a life

2292. most can only dream of...

2293. And shows no signs of slowing down.

2294. - Five, six, seven,

2295. eight, nine, a hundred.

2296. - Working and grinding,

2297. styling and profiling.

2298. At age 73, he still proclaims

2299. diamonds are forever,

2300. and so is Ric Flair.

2301. - Nature Boy—can you fix my hair a little bit?

2302. - This is a man who can never stop,

2303. um, doing what he does.

2304. - It's a weird job, and weird people do this.

2305. It either gets ahold of you, or it doesn't,

2306. and it's—it's sometimes hard to walk away from it.

2307. - We did two Monday nights,

2308. and then I found out I'm going to Saudi again in four weeks.

2309. - It's hard to walk away, because some of us—

2310. this is our life. It's in our blood.

2311. - Father Time or Mother Nature is undefeated,

2312. and that's hard,

2313. because you wanna hold on.

2314. It's not even to the noise of the crowd.

2315. It's to the youth that came along with it.

2316. But it doesn't matter how old he gets.

2317. Whatever that is, that it that he has,

2318. that umph—it never leaves him.

2319. - Oh!

2320. Woo!

2321. Woo!

2322. - It's so inspiring.

2323. It's so mind-blowing.

2324. But on the other hand,

2325. I hope, deep down,

2326. that he doesn't feel like

2327. he has anything left to prove.

2328. - Ric's whole life is about proving himself

2329. and earning respect.

2330. I think, in some ways,

2331. um, in his life story,

2332. it was constantly about earning that respect,

2333. and then he gets into the business,

2334. and everything about him

2335. is about earning everybody's respect.

2336. - It's tough being a legend.

2337. It's tough being a folk hero.

2338. It's tough making a million dollars a year!

2339. - What is Ric Flair's legacy?

2340. Two words—

2341. the man.

2342. - Woo!

2343. - Simple.

2344. - The 16-time World Champion,

2345. the greatest of all time.

2346. - He will be the greatest wrestler of all time,

2347. because he is.

2348. There's nobody else.

2349. - I don't know that he'll ever, you know, truly grasp

2350. and appreciate the influence that he's had.

2351. But I think he understands it

2352. far better now than he once did.

2353. - Thank you for everything. - Thank you.

2354. - I do a lot of public speaking now.

2355. I can be even in a big church,

2356. and I'll just mention the name, "Ric Flair,"

2357. and they all go, "Woo!"

2358. All those deacons in front row at church,

2359. with their suit and ties on,

2360. they're wooing.

2361. I just mention Ric's name.

2362. - There is no one in this entire industry

2363. that is more respected than Ric Flair.

2364. - Richard Fliehr, the man— he's more caring.

2365. He's more of a kind person,

2366. and he wants to be loved

2367. and cared for and taken care of,

2368. and everybody just sucks him out

2369. to be this, like, character.

2370. They won't allow him to be a normal, good person.

2371. - I didn't feel good last week...

2372. and Wendy said, "You've got anxiety

2373. about going to 'Raw.'"

2374. I said, "No, I have anxiety about being alive."

2375. People keep reminding me that I should be dead.

2376. - He has a great relationship with his granddaughter.

2377. He spoils her.

2378. I think she was, like, ten, and he bought her a cell phone,

2379. and I was like, "Dad, she—" he's like,

2380. "Well, I need a way to call her.

2381. "I'm gonna call her. She needs to call her papa

2382. "when she needs him.

2383. She's calling her papa."

2384. - Is there a person that isn't Ric Flair?

2385. Well, yes, Dad,

2386. but Dad still...

2387. Has Ric Flair-isms.

2388. Like, he still woos at the end of the phone call.

2389. - Woo!

2390. I don't look at it as Ric Flair.

2391. I look at it as Dad,

2392. like, and how's he wired,

2393. and what makes him him.

2394. - How is your health overall?

2395. - Phenomenal.

2396. Phenomenal.

2397. I don't hurt anywhere.

2398. I don't hurt anywhere—

2399. no knees, back, nothing.

2400. Who would've ever thought I'd be sitting here again?

2401. - How would you define "identity"?

2402. - I would say identifying yourself

2403. as waking up in the morning

2404. and...

2405. And—and feeling good about yourself,

2406. which hasn't happened to me

2407. in my whole life.

2408. - Why?

2409. - Um,

2410. I don't know.

2411. Because I—I definitely am aware of the fact

2412. I made some bad choices in life,

2413. and, uh...

2414. But I've never done anything

2415. to intentionally hurt anybody.

2416. I've lived in a world of embellishment

2417. for my whole life.

2418. But when I'm telling— everything I've told you today

2419. is the God-honest truth.

2420. It doesn't mean I can explain how it happened or what,

2421. but everything I'm telling you is the God-honest truth.

2422. Woo!

2423. - Who is Richard Fliehr?

2424. - I don't know.

2425. The luckiest—he's the luckiest guy in the world,

2426. who had been raised by his mom and dad,

2427. and who had a chance to become Ric Flair

2428. for good or for bad.

2429. From the lightning to the plane crash,

2430. being on top of the business,

2431. that's who Richard Fliehr was:

2432. the luckiest son of a bitch alive.

2433. Everything I said on TV, I lived.

2434. I mean,

2435. that's why it probably comes across

2436. and why it's so memorable now.

2437. It's because I was doing it.

2438. I'm doing it now.

2439. I'm sitting here and wearing a $6,000-custom-made suit

2440. just for you, for the interview.

2441. Who does that? Ric Flair.

2442. - There's a Richard,

2443. and there's a Ric.

2444. Who are you?

2445. - How are you with being retired?

2446. - Terrible.

2447. I could work every weekend.

2448. - Rolex-wearing, diamond-ring-wearing,

2449. limousine-riding, private-jet-flying,

2450. kiss-stealing, wheeling, dealing,

2451. son of a gun—

2452. Woo!

2453. - Gold around my neck,

2454. Rolex watch around my wrist,

2455. looking so fine!

2456. I'm a multimillionaire!

2457. Like Snoop said,

2458. I was bling before bling was bling.

2459. This sport coat cost $800, and that cost $200!

2460. And I don't know what that cost!

2461. I'd be ashamed to wear it!

2462. - Hey, he just rifled a Gucci shoe.

2463. - Woo!

2464. Woo!

2465. Thank you very much.

2466. - I appreciate you.

2467. - Oh, thank you. - Thank you for doing this.

2468. - Ladies, we better be off.

2469. We don't wanna keep 'em waiting in that next city.

2470. Take care now.

2471. Remember one thing:

2472. diamonds are forever.