March 24th- Ric Flair day

Vince135792003

.......in the city of Columbia, South Carlonlina.

There's a link here with video of the ceremony: http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=60068


If this ceremony is anything to go by, there's going to be alot of tears flowing at the Hall of Fame.

Here's the story:

Whooo! Ric Flair Gets the Key to the City of Columbia!

Columbia (WLTX) - Wrestling legend Ric Flair has a bunch of world titles, but until Monday, he'd never gotten a key to the City of Columbia.

Well, now he has one.

Mayor Bob Coble made the presentation to Flair Monday morning at City Hall.

Flair, who got a little emotional during the ceremony, talked about how much Columbia had meant to him in his earliest days in the business.

"I started coming to Columbia, the Township(Auditorium), in 1974," Flair says. "I came down every week on Tuesday. The fan base here, the fans have always been some of the best in the world...We just knew when we walked in it was going to be loud, it was going to be packed, and it was going to be difficult to get out of the ring and back into the dressing room because the fans really get into the show."

Flair, of course, is a wrestling icon, known for his famous "whoooo!" yell and outrageous ring style. Flair's been in the wrestling business since the 1970s, and became a nationally known figure in the 1980s.

He's wrestled nearly every other major name in the business, and has won, by some accounts, 16 world titles.

Despite all that, Flair says getting the key is a highlight of his life.

"Of all the things I've supposedly done in my career...I'm most proud of moments like this," Flair said with tears in his eyes.

Flair says beyond his career, he's got personal ties to the city. Mike Campbell, the son of the late Governor Carroll Campbell, is a close personal friend. He's also friends with USC Head Football Coach Steve Spurrier, and attends Gamecock home football games.

"The Nature Boy" is in town for a WWE event Monday night at the Colonial Center.

Machismo Fan

Lance Storms tribute to Flair:

This will most likely be the last article I write during Ric Flair’s active career. If things go as we all expect them to, Ric Flair will be having his last professional match this coming Sunday at WrestleMania XXIV. I hadn’t thought that much about this until listening to Dave Meltzer on Bryan Alvarez’s Figure 4 Daily audio show, but after this coming Sunday the wrestling business will not include Ric Flair as an active performer. There has been a lot of big names that have retired over the years but with no one else does that statement seem so monumental.

Ric Flair has been wrestling since 1972, which means he’s been an active wrestler for over 35 years, that’s amazing. I was three years old when Ric started his wrestling career, and only eight when he won his first major title (NWA United States Championship July 29 1977). On September 17, 1981 Ric Flair became the NWA World Heavy Weight Champion, and he has been on top of the Wrestling World ever since. Ric Flair has been a part of this business for more than 35 years and a major player in the industry for more than 30 of those. If you polled the industry to find out who was the greatest performer of all time, I’d bet his name would come up more than anyone else’s. When it comes to pro-wrestling Ric Flair is “The Man” and if all the rumors are true, after this coming Sunday he will be retired and the wrestling business will no longer have Ric Flair performing in it.

In some ways Sunday will be a very sad day, but in others it will be a day of celebration. Saturday night Ric Flair will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, a more deserving inductee there has never been and on Sunday he and Shawn Michaels, will likely put on one of the most emotional and heated matches in wrestling history. With a career as storied as Ric Flair’s it’s hard to picture a fitting send off but the WrestleMania weekend should be it exactly that. There won’t be a dry eye in the house at the HOF induction and I have no doubt Sunday night, on the grandest stage of them all, Ric Flair will receive the standing ovation of a life time, showing him the respect he so deserves.

I’m actually going to order WrestleMania this year for the sole purpose of seeing Ric Flair’s last match. Ric Flair is wrestling to me. I have never known a wrestling business that did not include the Nature Boy, and now that I think about it, I have a hard time imagining one without him. When I first became a wrestling fan (1983-1984) Ric Flair was feuding with Harley Race over the NWA World Heavy Weight Title. Some seven years later when I broke into the wrestling business (October 1990) he was again feuding over the World Title, this time with Sting. I then proceeded to have a successful 17-year career and as I type this sitting at home, a completely retired performer, Ric Flair is just now wrapping up his amazing pro career. Ric Flair is the Iron Man of this industry.

I was very fortunate in my career to get to know the Nature Boy and have nothing but great things to say about the man. I first met him in WCW and he was one of the most gracious and considerate men I’d ever met. I’ve had the honour and privilege to work with Ric Flair during my career and though it would be cool to share one of my personal Ric Flair experiences.

As I mentioned I first met Ric in WCW and our paths crossed again in 2001 when he returned to the WWF just after the WCW buy out. Flair and I always had a bit of a connection, I think partially because I had worked out in the ring a fair bit with David Flair and Ric appreciated my helping him out. This was the year they were building towards the Ric Flair vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania 18 in Toronto. Flair had been fairly inactive at that point in his career and I guess was feeling the need to get back in top shape for WrestleMania and asked me if I would mind working out in the ring with him to help him get back into shape. He told me he needed someone who was very safe and would take care of him and he thought I was probably the best choice.

This was both the greatest compliment of my career and without a doubt the dumbest question I’d ever been asked. Would I mind working out in the ring with Ric Flair? That’s like asking a basketball fan if he’d like to shot hoops with Michael Jordan, or asking the Pope if he’d like to go to church on Sunday. Not only did I not mind, I couldn’t think of a single thing I’d want to do more.

So in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania Ric Flair and I would get to TV early lace up our boots and get in the ring. For the most part Ric was just looking to get some ring rust off and take some bumps. I gave him suplexes and backdrops and did my best to take care of him while bumping the hell out of him at the same time. If that wasn’t great enough, and believe me if there was ever a time in my life when I was a “mark” this was it, Ric asked me if when we got to Toronto I’d be willing to have a couple full matches with him.

Ric explained to me that the ring in the Sky Dome was supposed to be set up all week while we were there and he could get access if I was willing to come down and have a few matches with him before WrestleMania; again, an absurd question has never been asked. I jumped at the chance and said absolutely. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about anything in my life. What a great experience and amazing story this was going to be. I was going to wrestling a singles match (or two) with Ric Flair in the empty Sky Dome a day or two before WrestleMania.

This is where the story falls apart unfortunately, and it’s likely the biggest regret of my career, if regret is even the right word. It’s certainly the biggest disappointment of my career. The ring didn’t get set up early, and we never got to have our match. Fan access was extra busy for both of us and it just didn’t come together. It was going to be the greatest match (certainly the most fun match) of my career and in a very cool irony it was also going to be the match that no one saw. It was just going to be me and the Nature Boy. I feel disappointment all over again just thinking about it. As dumb as this sounds, I still picture it in my head like a dream. Ric Flair and I tying up in the middle of the ring in a vacant Sky Dome, it would have been so cool.

Even without our conditioning match, Ric went on to have an awesome match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania. I eventually even got my Ric Flair match. A few years later, on a live event in Pittsburgh, Christian and I defending the World Tag Team Titles against, oddly enough, Ric Flair and The Undertaker.

Congratulations Ric on quite possibly the greatest career of all time. Retirement or not you will always be THE MAN!!! It was my privilege to be your colleague, my honour to be your friend, and like millions of others, a pleasure to be your fan.

All the best my friend,
Lance Storm

fatal

wow!!!!
Its only hit me now that next Sunday will probably be the last ever time that I see Ric Flair wrestling.It makes me want to go back on the decision which I made last November-to not go to this years Wrestlemania.
As someone who has been watching and has idolised Ric flair since I first started watching wrestling many years ago,it will be hard to not shed a few tears next weekend.Although his best days are far behind him,he STILL is one of very best guys in the business today.
What makes this a happy ending is that it is Ric flair who,after 35 years of active wrestling in this business decided to hang up his boots,not the other way around,which unfortunately has been the case for so many others who have left the business long before they should have.
It was a pleasure watching you Ric and no matter what,you will ALWAYS be the man
wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

flahavaj

fatal wrote: »

wow!!!!
Its only hit me now that next Sunday will probably be the last ever time that I see Ric Flair wrestling.It makes me want to go back on the decision which I made last November-to not go to this years Wrestlemania.
As someone who has been watching and has idolised Ric flair since I first started watching wrestling many years ago,it will be hard to not shed a few tears next weekend.Although his best days are far behind him,he STILL is one of very best guys in the business today.
What makes this a happy ending is that it is Ric flair who,after 35 years of active wrestling in this business decided to hang up his boots,not the other way around,which unfortunately has been the case for so many others who have left the business long before they should have.
It was a pleasure watching you Ric and no matter what,you will ALWAYS be the man
wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

It will be hard to imagine wrestling without him.

What disappoints me is that his last match has been treated as an afterthought vompared to the hype for other matches. If i had my way it'd be the main event.

fatal

flahavaj wrote: »

It will be hard to imagine wrestling without him.

What disappoints me is that his last match has been treated as an afterthought vompared to the hype for other matches. If i had my way it'd be the main event.

They definitley could have hyped this match up as much as any other match if they used the correct storyline.What they are doing is not even a bloody storyline.Week in,week out for the last 3/4 weeks shawn and flair have been saying the same **** to each other on RAW and Smackdown..................................its going nowhere and theres a week left until wrestlemania

Vince135792003

fatal wrote: »

Week in,week out for the last 3/4 weeks shawn and flair have been saying the same **** to each other on RAW and Smackdown..................................its going nowhere and theres a week left until wrestlemania

Watch Raw this week. You won't be disappointed.

krudler

I'm not afraid to admit this but i think I'll actually well up when Flair retires, I've said it before and he deserves it fully, they should have everyone, and i mean EVERY person on the roster line the ramp in the citrus bowl and shake his hand as he makes his way back to the locker room for the last time

Ricky Roma

wOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!! Ric is the MAN

Vince135792003

Tribute video from Raw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK3xIqjSDAM . It's brilliant.

krudler

man can you imagine the amount of WOOOOs that will be flying around the amway arena before the HOF? its mad at house shows in the point never mind when hes going to be inducted

orestes

krudler wrote: »

I'm not afraid to admit this but i think I'll actually well up when Flair retires, I've said it before and he deserves it fully, they should have everyone, and i mean EVERY person on the roster line the ramp in the citrus bowl and shake his hand as he makes his way back to the locker room for the last time

I agree with this, and if Vince doesn't go for it I think the wrestlers themselves should just go out and do it anyway, he can't put them all in pigsty matches for breaking character

the flananator

I really really really don't think this will be his last match.

On a related note; my birthday had lost its spzazz in recent years so at least now March 24th can be a double celebretion....*cough*

Vince135792003

the flananator wrote: »

I really really really don't think this will be his last match.

It mightn't be. This is wrestling afterall. He might keep on going till Backlash. He might have the odd match down the track.

It is the official goodbye though.

steveland?

the flananator wrote: »

I really really really don't think this will be his last match.

On a related note; my birthday had lost its spzazz in recent years so at least now March 24th can be a double celebretion....*cough*

Ha me too

Also, as if my birthday, your birthday and Ric Flair day weren't enough... it was also the Undertakers birthday