Awa adoption professional#

On December 10, 1972, he made his debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, battling George 'Scrap Iron' Gadaski to a 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name Ric Flair.

He attended Gagne's first wrestling camp with Greg Gagne, 'Jumpin'' Jim Brunzell, The Iron Sheik and Ken Patera at Gagne's barn outside Minneapolis in the winter of 1971.

Awa adoption professional#

Professional wrestling career American Wrestling Association (1972–1974)Ī successful amateur wrestler in his teens, Flair trained as a professional wrestler with Verne Gagne. After high school, Fliehr briefly attended the University of Minnesota. After ninth grade, he attended Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for four years, during which time he participated in interscholastic wrestling, football, and track. Shortly afterward, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota, where the young Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. His adoptive mother worked for the Star Tribune. At the time of his adoption (arranged by the Tennessee Children's Home Society as part of Georgia Tann's baby-kidnapping operation), his adoptive father was completing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Detroit, Michigan. The Fliehrs decided to adopt due to Kathleen being unable to become pregnant after giving birth to a daughter who died shortly after. He was adopted by Kathleen Kinsmiller Fliehr (1918–2003) and Richard Reid Fliehr (1918–2000). His birth name is widely believed to be Fred Phillips, although on different documents he is also credited as Fred Demaree or Stewart, while his biological parents were Luther and Olive Phillips (the latter of whom was also credited under the Demaree and Stewart surnames). 7 Real-life feuds and backstage problemsįliehr was born on February 25, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee.2.10 Ring of Honor and the Hulkamania Tour (2009).2.9.3 Final storylines and first retirement (2005–2008).2.9 World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–2009).2.3 Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling (1974–1991).2.2 International Wrestling Enterprise (1973).2.1 American Wrestling Association (1972–1974).He then completed WWE's version of the Triple Crown when he won the Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWF Championship and the World Tag Team Championship. As the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete WCW's Triple Crown, having already held the United States Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships. He was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (which he also held last). The first two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted with the class of 2008 for his individual career and again with the class of 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen, he is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.įlair is officially recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion ( 8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 6-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and two-time WWF Champion), although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 to 25. PWI awarded him their Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and Lou Thesz) a record eight times. A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade, on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWF counterpart, WrestleMania, in 1992, after winning that year's Royal Rumble. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the moniker 'the Nature Boy'. Much of his career was spent in JCP and WCW, where he won numerous titles. He is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanning close to 50 years. Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler.