Ric Flair is hailed as wrestling royalty and chances are, your favorite superstar probably has Ric Flair on their list of all-time greats in the industry. The newer generation of wrestling fans might not be aware, but Flair cemented his legacy as a possible GOAT well before the boom period of the 1990s and his place on a pedestal is secured for decades to come. The guy has a 40-year-long career and according to reports, Flair still believes that he has one more match left in him.
The Nature Boy carved out a legacy outside of WWE and won multiple world titles across several promotions. The now-defunct promotion and governing body, the National Wrestling Alliance, was built on the shoulders of Ric Flair and as the main attraction, he carried the promotion for years.
Ric Flair Is A GOAT Candidate
A contract dispute led to Flair leaving and after wrestling a bit in Japan, Flair ended up in the WWE but his tenure only lasted 2 years, from 1991 to 1993, and upon an offer from Bill Watts, he jumped ship over to WCW. Flair remained with WCW until the company bit the bullet in 2001. The record-tying world champion had lost a lot of his box-office appeal but he remained a decent draw for the sinking ship until the very end.
You would think WCW management would treat Flair like royalty but unsurprisingly, in 1998, a fallout with a WCW executive almost led to Flair walking out on the promotion and according to the man himself, he was this close to appearing on WWE television. Who was the executive? Eric Bischoff, of course.
In 1998, Ric Flair was sued by Eric Bischoff and WCW as he had missed out on a WCW Nitro taping, dated 9th April 1998. Flair was attending a wrestling event that involved his son Reid Flair and the Nature Boy claimed that he had provided WCW management prior notice that he would not be able to attend the taping in question. Regardless, the lawsuit was filed and Flair disappeared from television for months.
Eric Bischoff was not satisfied and each time he went on live television (Which was quite often back in 1998) he ran down Ric Flair, often branding him as a piece of excrement stuck to his boot. Eventually, the lawsuit was settled and Flair returned in September and kick-started a feud with Eric Bischoff.
Said feud culminated at the Nitro following Starrcade 1998 and upon winning, Flair was instated as the president of WCW. Yes, a feud between a 50-year-old semi-retired wrestler and an executive spanned a total of 4 months and made it to the main card of Starrcade. Typical WCW.
Back then, many wrestling fans assumed that Ric Flair was a lock-in for WWE and in reality, Flair was just a couple of steps away from entering the WWE ring, pretty much literally. The Nature Boy was outside the building of Unforgiven 1998, and he was constantly circling the Greensboro Coliseum in his car, with his lawyer on one line and Jim Cornette on the other.
Apparently, even Vince McMahon was on board and the idea was to bring him in and give him a seat among fans during the first match of the show. Jim Ross would then freak out at the sight of Flair sitting in the front row and that would have led to one of the most impactful appearances in history, according to Jim Cornette.
In the end. Flair’s lawyer suggested that he refrained from popping up on the television show of another company as WCW was opting for a settlement.
The Lawsuit Was Over One Missed Date
Flair was probably as disappointed as Jim Cornette because WWE was a hot product and WCW was a sinking ship. The two parties reached a settlement and as we all know, Flair returned to the company and remained a part of the promotion until the company was purchased by Vince McMahon himself.
Ric Flair was sued because he had missed ONE television taping. Ric Flair was too big of a star to let go and this was when WCW was really strapped for cash as it was bleeding money but for some reason, Bischoff thought that Flair had committed an unforgivable sin and he went out and actually sued him because he had missed a single television taping.
Ric Flair almost left WCW in 1998 and God knows how much he got out of the settlement as WCW was clearly on the wrong side of the lawsuit as lesser starts had missed a lot more and dealt with lesser consequences than a lawsuit. Eric Bischoff legitimately disliked Flair and this was his chance.
On a parting note, can we admit just how terrible Bischoff was as an executive? The guy was responsible for Steve Austin and Mark Calaway leaving WCW and during a time of crisis, he sued Flair over a single missed date.