The Tragic Life and Times of Ric Flair
Sure, he's one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and is known as the 'jet flying, limousine riding, kiss stealing, wheeling dealing Nature Boy', but he has certainly had a considerably difficult climb to where he is now.
He was a member of two of the most infamous factions in wrestling history, the Four Horsemen and Evolution, but his success didn't come without overcoming numerous obstacles. Flair has gone through more things in his lifetime than four or five of us may go through in our lives.
We might currently think of him as a WWE Legend and father of Charlotte Flair, but his life has been filled with incredible highs and extreme lows even before he fathered the Queen.
#1 Flair's humble beginnings
Flair started life out with obstacles to climb.
After he was born, his biological parents abandoned him. He ended up in the Tennessee Children's Home Society which was basically an orphanage. The TCHS was allegedly involved in kidnapping children for adoption at the time, but Flair was eventually adopted by Dr. Richard Reid Fleihr and his wife, Kathleen Fliehr.
His biological parents didn't try to reclaim him, so the allegations may be unfounded. Only history knows. The family moved to Minnesota and a young Flair soon met and trained with Verne Gagne, a pioneer of the territorial promotions in the Great Lakes Region.
During his training with Gagne's wrestling camp, he would spar with future wrestlers Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell, Ken Patera and the Iron Sheik. He officially made his debut for Gagne's AWA promotion in 1972.
While there for two years, Flair would wrestle Dusty Rhodes, Andre the Giant and Larry 'the Axe' Hennig (father of Mr. Perfect, grandfather of Curtis Axel). He would then transfer to what would be the promotion he would make his name in, Jim Crockett Promotions/NWA/WCW in 1974.
Everything would be great for a year, including picking up his first singles title, the NWA Mid-Atlantic TV Championship. Once the year turned to 1975, Flair would be facing another opponent outside of the ring.