Ric Flair's First WWE Run, Explained

If there is one man who was the face of WCW and the NWA in its war with WWE, it was Nature Boy Ric Flair. However, Flair now seems best known as an ambassador for WWE, and has dedicated himself to remaining with WWE in retirement. While Flair was good in WWE, he never competed there at the same level as he did in WCW, outside of one run with the company.

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That run was from 1991-1993, and it was the only time that WWE used Ric Flair as a true main event player. He came in, he ruled for two short years, and then he was gone, back to WCW. The road to WWE was due to a change in philosophy in WCW, and his return was due to WWE finishing up with him as a top star.

10 The Face Of The NWA

In the '80s, Nature Boy Ric Flair was the face of the wrestling outside WWE. He was a 10-time NWA World Champion by the time he left for good, for 3,116 total days. In the '80s, Ric Flair was the man, and when he lost the title, he usually won it back quite quickly.

His Four Horsemen stable ruled WCW during this time. This created the first real us vs. them feud in wrestling, with fans debating who was the real world champion, Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan. For many who loved wrestling, it was Flair.

9 WCW Dispute With Jim Herd

Sadly, things changed in WCW in 1990, and a new man took control of the company named Jim Herd. In many shoot interviews, several WCW stars said that Herd made decisions based on many things other than what had worked in wrestling before.

Herd even tried to get Ric Flair to move to the mid-card, even though he was still a draw and having great matches. When Herd asked Flair to shave his head and take the name Spartacus, Flair was ready to leave.

8 WCW Fired Flair While He Was World Champion

Ric Flair was the NWA World Champion, and he was about to head into the 1991 Great American Bash for a title match against Lex Luger. However, Herd demanded that Flair lose his world title to Barry Windham two weeks before the advertised Luger PPV match.

Flair didn't like it, but he returned to lose the title to Windham, which Herd didn't expect since he fired Flair immediately, while Ric was still world champion, damaging Flair's relationship with the promotion almost beyond repair.

7 Ric Flair Signs With WWE In 1991

While Jim Herd fired Ric Flair, there was nothing he could do about the NWA World Championship. While WCW was operating separately from the NWA, it was still an NWA title, and the NWA refused to accept Herd's decision. Lex Luger beat Barry Windham for the WCW World title at the Great American Bash.

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While Herd saw no value in an "old" 39-year-old Ric Flair, Vince McMahon, and WWE did. Flair signed a new deal to go to WWE and waited out the stipulated days on his WCW contract before showing up.

6 Bobby Heenan Introduces The Real World Champion

The lead-in to Ric Flair showing up in WWE featured Bobby "The Brain" Heenan cutting lots of promos about Hulk Hogan ducking the "Real World Champion's" challenge for years.

Fans who followed both shows or read wrestling magazines knew what he was talking about; Ric Flair was coming to WWE. As Flair was not going to be there until his contract ended, he sent the NWA World Championship belt ahead of him to prepare for his debut, generating even more excitement.

5 WCW Tried To Sue Flair For Using Their Belt

Nature Boy Ric Flair showed up in WWE, and he carried the same NWA World Heavyweight Championship title belt that he defended on WCW television. As mentioned, this was the NWA title, so WCW had no way of stopping him.

In his DVD documentary, Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection, Flair said that WCW tried to sue him to return the belt, but he paid a $25,000 deposit, and they never returned it to him, meaning the belt belonged to him.

4 1992 Royal Rumble

The entire lead-in to Ric Flair showing up in WWE was that the WWE Champion Hulk Hogan had ducked Ric Flair's challenge for years. Fans worldwide wanted to see Hogan and Flair finally wrestle, to determine who the best wrestler in the world really was.

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It didn't happen. The two men faced off at a house show, but Vince McMahon didn't think the crowd bought into it, and he nixed their feud completely. The dream match never happened. Instead, Flair entered the 1992 Royal Rumble as the third entrant, and lasted over an hour to win the WWE World Championship.

3 Mr. Perfect Became His Manager

While Bobby "The Brain" Heenan brought in Ric Flair, he came out of retirement to do so. Heenan had stopped managing due to a career of injuries, and he wanted to settle in behind the announcer's table.

When Flair was the world champion and fans had bought into who he was, Heenan stepped back, and Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig took over as his manager. Perfect was wrestling less due to back injuries of his own, and their partnership worked quite well.

2 Randy Savage Feud

The only real major feud that Ric Flair had in WWE was against Macho Man Randy Savage. The two began to feud, and Macho beat Flair for the world title at WrestleMania VIII. The feud was personal, with Flair using doctored photos of him and Miss Elizabeth to taunt Macho.

Flair ended up winning the title back later that year and eventually lost his title the last time to Bret Hart in 1992. That was it for Flair, as his only two WWE world title reigns were during this time, for a total of 118 days.

1 Returned To WCW In 1993

After Ric Flair lost the world title to Bret Hart, he learned WWE planned to move him down to the mid-card. When Flair signed his deal with WWE, he added a stipulation to his contract that he could opt out of the deal and leave WWE if he was moved out of the main event spot.

Jim Herd was no longer in power in WCW, and the new booker, Cowboy Bill Watts, wanted to bring back Flair to put him in the world title scene again. His last appearance in WWE was Feb. 10, 1993, and Ric Flair returned to WCW.

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