Not a troll/hate thread. I'm genuinely curious, I didn't start getting into wrestling till late 90's/early 00, Flairs prime years were well before my time, I saw his stuff in Evolution and such but he had taken more of a manager role by then. I have gone back and watched matches involving Flair that I've heard about that are deemed classic, his match with Steamboat, the 92' rumble, and I don't get it, he's charismatic as hell theres no denying that, definitely a great talker and showman, but when it comes to his actual wrestling I dunno...maybe I'm watching the wrong matches but he actually seems kinda average in ring skill wise? No I'm not one of those dudes that think a wrestler pulling off a bunch of flips makes them a great wrestler, but from the matches I've watched he did same kinda basic, I find prime HBK and even prime Rock a lot more entertaining to watch. Help me out here?
Can someone explain to me why Ric Flair is considered an all time great wrestler?
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Not a troll/hate thread. I'm genuinely curious, I didn't start getting into wrestling till late 90's/early 00, Flairs prime years were well before my time, I saw his stuff in Evolution and such but he had taken more of a manager role by then. I have gone back and watched matches involving Flair that I've heard about that are deemed classic, his match with Steamboat, the 92' rumble, and I don't get it, he's charismatic as hell theres no denying that, definitely a great talker and showman, but when it comes to his actual wrestling I dunno...maybe I'm watching the wrong matches but he actually seems kinda average in ring skill wise? No I'm not one of those dudes that think a wrestler pulling off a bunch of flips makes them a great wrestler, but from the matches I've watched he did same kinda basic, I find prime HBK and even prime Rock a lot more entertaining to watch. Help me out here?
Just watched Flair/Luger from WrestleWar 1990 and in my closing comments, I said that people should watch this match to see how great he could be, esp against a more limited opponent like Luger.
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Great talker, great character, great worker and one of all time biggest draws
What exactly is there to question?
He had legendary feuds with Ricky steamboat, Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk. Was a founding member of one if not most famous factions of all time. Carried sting, Barry Windham and lex Luger to such a degree all three went in rookies and left the matches with him as bonefide stars..Oh and he had a potential moty at 59 years old
What exactly is there to question?
He had legendary feuds with Ricky steamboat, Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk. Was a founding member of one if not most famous factions of all time. Carried sting, Barry Windham and lex Luger to such a degree all three went in rookies and left the matches with him as bonefide stars..Oh and he had a potential moty at 59 years old
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He had a great gimmick and could talk... many are willing to overlook extremely similar and by the numbers matches because of that. His best match wasn't even during his prime either... it was with one of the actual in ring GOATs in HBK at WMXXIV. I was never a huge fan of the Steamboat trilogy or the matches with Dusty or Sting. They were alright matches, but I was never enamoured with them like some were. As an in ring wrestler, Flair doesn't even make my top 20, let alone enter GOAT territory.
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I guess its the "great worker" part.
None of the other parts I have a hard time seeing, and I realize that, even though I never got to watch it to see HOW, that he carried WCW on his back.
However like someone else said I don't really find his matches that great? His moveset is basic, his selling is good but at times over the top however I suppose that goes with his character, so I take it its more to do with his psychology, correct?
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Why wouldn't he be? Is he expected to be as dynamic as Omega or Styles in a time where wrestling was far simpler? Flair was a brilliant wrestler for his time, he was an originator and had excellent in-ring psychology. For being so good in his own era, one of the top guys, he will always be seen as an all time great.
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He's the GOAT for a multitude of reasons tbh, the man truly embodied what professional wrestling is all about
He oozed charisma nobody had, the best promo ever, had some of the greatest feuds ever, and a lot more reasons. He could work any type of match ( the can only wrestling one match is one of the most overblown/stupid myths in IWC history), tell a story and hype a crowd. Nobody comes close to having the catalog of matches he has in terms of good matches. Also it's insane in his prime he worked 360 days a year and had hour long matches on the norm. He'd go into every territory and make the top guy of the promotion look like a million bucks. He's wrestled every major star in the business.
he literally is my favorite wrestler of all time because no matter what he does and gets made fun of for, he brings entertainment to the viewer and that really is all of what a pro wrestler should do
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What are you comparing him to? For his time he was one of the absolute best workers in the states. And he was the best worker that had a main event skill set (I.e. Look, gimmick, charisma, mic skills). If you are comparing him to today, then he's not going to stack up. But for the 80s and very early 90s he was one of the very best.
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Reading this back, it seems his "in ring" work is called into question I'm guessing it's the same "he has the same match over and over" talk
I mean wrestling is all subjective and yes he had his specific formula of moveset he used in matches but so do every other wrestler so idk why it's used a slight of Naitch. He has literally had a classic with almost everyone of his time and was having a classic match w/ Michaels at the age of 52 at wrestle mania
I mean wrestling is all subjective and yes he had his specific formula of moveset he used in matches but so do every other wrestler so idk why it's used a slight of Naitch. He has literally had a classic with almost everyone of his time and was having a classic match w/ Michaels at the age of 52 at wrestle mania
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I'd recommend watching his documentary on the network. By the end of it I was telling myself he was the GOAT. In reality that title belongs to Shawn.
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Flair was about the heat he drew and the cheers he got for the babyfaces he feuded with.
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Wrestling has evolved over time.
Watching old matches is a lot like watching old NBA games from the 60s. Even the best guys look like they wouldn't be able to hang with today's players because the style is so different and unlike what we perceive to be good today. Doesn't mean that the all-time greats from that era were any less great compared to everyone that had come before them until that point.
Such is the same for Flair. He was the heel champion and, as others have said, carried the NWA/WCW on his back.
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Flair has one of the most over characters in wrestling ever. Period. His mic skills, his persona, his charisma are all GOAT material but I assume you're wondering where his greatest matches are it's true, by the time he returned to the WWE, his best years were far gone. Having said that, he still had a number of very good matches, Taker v flair being one of my faves.
However, with the internet at your fingertips, check out his matches with Dusty, with Savage, with Steamboat and tell me he isn't great. I always hold Hart, HBK and a couple others better in terms of pure in ring ability but when Flair was on, there was no one, and I mean no one who came close to having us as fans be invested in what he did in between those ropes.
However, with the internet at your fingertips, check out his matches with Dusty, with Savage, with Steamboat and tell me he isn't great. I always hold Hart, HBK and a couple others better in terms of pure in ring ability but when Flair was on, there was no one, and I mean no one who came close to having us as fans be invested in what he did in between those ropes.
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Because he didn't need suicide dives to make people mark out?
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Gotta watch his 70s/80s stuff to really get it.
His worth ethic, promo skills, charisma and psychology makes him an all time great.
His worth ethic, promo skills, charisma and psychology makes him an all time great.
Ric is one of the most overrated wrestlers ever, his promos were nothing spectacular he always yells and nothing else, Dusty rhodes was far better cutting promos and as a pure wrestler Bret Hart was the best, someone said Ric was the biggest draw ever and that´s pure BS the man could barely draw. Ric will always be one of the top stars but for me it was mostly due to politics.
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