Richard Morgan Fliehr. Born February 25th,1949 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. True birth name unknown due to problems at his orphanage. Took his first job working as a lifeguard at his local pool. Soon became Ric Flair. The 16 Time World Champion. Broke his back in 3 places on October 4th, 1975 following a plane crash. Leader of the Four Horsemen. The “past” of Evolution. WWE Hall Of Fame, Class Of 2008. Big Phil’s Hall Of Fame, Class of 2008. Master of the Figure-4 Leglock.
A more comprehensive list of his achievements, as taken from wikipedia.
All Japan Pro Wrestling
NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Central States Wrestling
NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling | Jim Crockett Promotions | World Championship Wrestling
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Rip Hawk (1), Greg Valentine (1) and Big John Studd (1)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship (1 time)
NWA Television Championship (1 time)
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (4 times)
NWA World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3 times) – with Greg Valentine (2) and Blackjack Mulligan (1)
WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) (Last)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (7 times) (First)
National Wrestling Alliance
NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
St. Louis Wrestling Club
NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Federation | World Wrestling Entertainment
WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
WWF Championship (2 times)
World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Batista (2) and Roddy Piper (1)
WWF Royal Rumble (1992)[73]
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)
Triple Crown Championship (13th)
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
(Class of 2005)
St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame
(Class of 2007)
Impressive,no? Well, to be honest. No. All of the above means nothing. Flair is much more than a list of facts on a page. Flair always was, and always will be The Man. The Nature Boy. Space Mountain. The Limousine Ridin’, Jet Flyin, Kiss Stealin’, WHEELIN DEALIN SON OF A GUN!
I’m going to come over really sentimental here, and kinda stupid considering I’ve only gotten back into wrestling over the past year or two, but Flair means something different to everyone. I know I’m talking/ about to be talking like he’s dead, but this is how much he means to me. I personally will remember the latter-day Flair. He may not be quite as good in the ring as he used to be, (and I’ve watched some of his older work, yeah, he was good), but you could tell, every single match was a world title match. That’s how much passion he put in. It didn’t matter if he was working with Triple H or The Undertaker, or even just Hulk Hogan, he put so much energy and passion into his match, he could’ve been working with a sack of potatoes, then again, he did work with Hogan….. (btw, Hogan, great electricity in the ring, but otherwise, no thanks) I just felt that this was the most fitting way to began this column, as this is something that has genuinely affected me. I’ll touch more on it during my Raw review, but still.
Right, well, I Haven’t done a Raw column in a while have I? I just thought that this weeks show was so much better than some of the drivel we’ve had recently. It’s been ok, but nothing I felt was really worth writing about, which isn’t good considering we were on the Road To WrestleMania, is it? I’ll be quite frank. I didn’t order Mania. It was on too late, and I can’t survive a day of school on 2 and a half hours sleep. Oh well, I ordered the dvd to make up for it. Quick thoughts on the results, glad that Punk won MITB, shocked at the results of Belfast brawl ,BunnyMania and WWE Title Match. That’s it really.
Right. STOP SIDETRACKING PHIL! Raw. Which on yet another side note, I’m going watching live (house show) next Friday night ,April 11th, Liverpool. Anyone else going, feel free to e-mail me,bigdaddyphil92@hotmail.com, and if you are going, I’ll be the guy with the luminous Green DX sign. That’s not all that’s going on my sign of course, but I don’t want anyone stealing my ideas, so I’ll tell you my idea after the event, when I write my results/ review column. After all, this is only my second event! Right. Back to Raw. Again.
Right at the beginning, I thought this was a really entertaining start to the show, what with all the music stops and starts and that. Orton was actually on form tonight promo-wise, brings back memories from a few old SmackDown promos of his that I tracked down on you tube when I was catching up on what I missed. If everyone would like to say a quick prayer with me now though,
Dear God,
Please,please, take over the minds of the WWE Creative team, and prevent them from making JBL Number 1 contender.
Thanks
Big Phil (and fans who prayed along)
But, on the flip side of this, I’m grateful Cena, and Hunter to a lesser extent, are out of the title picture. I’d quite like to see a Matt Hardy run on top to be honest. He’s been consistently good during his feud with MVP, and I’d love to see him pick up where his brother left off.
By the way, anyone else notice the snazzy new ringposts? With like a modified Raw logo on? On the subject of Raw logos, anyone else notice the fact that the WWE were using the OLD Raw logo in the graphics for Batista vs. Umaga?
Now, even though I don’t want JBL as number 1 contender, I have to say, he was brilliant in this segment with Orton, coming out with classic lines such as, “ I passed the torch, and now I want my torch back!” and “They dislike you as champ Randy, They’re gonna HATE me!” Really solid promo work by both, and an enjoyable way to kick off the first post-mania Raw.
Here’s my personal favourite non-Flair bit of the night, nothing to do with the match, just. CRYME TYME ARE BACK! I genuinely worried that Cryme Tyme were going to TNA, after seeing the TNAB thing on myspace, luckily, they’re back. YEAH BOI! I’d just like to paste a recent bulletin by Shad below. As you know yes we are back, but what you don’t know, what know one new except for the hire ups in WWE, is we have been back for awhile.
How we came back is a story that you will probably here in the next few weeks so keep checking out WWE. COM for news. What I would like to do thou is thank all you fans for sending me and J e-mail, writing petitions, and chanting our names at shows. We read every thing and we heard your cheers and it helped motivate the both of us to train harder, get bigger, stronger, and more intelligent about this business. It also showed us that we are the peoples wrestlers, we are here to represent all the people (Black, White, Asian, Latin, & More) in the ring, because we are just like you guy, two kids who were fans with a dream and the determination to see it thru. So ones agene thank you. Thank you to the fans of JAPW (Jersey All Pro Wrestling), OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling), and Booker T’s PWA (Pro Wrestling Alliance) for coming out to watch us at these great promotions. Some of the best talent in the business are in these three promotions developing to become the next big stars. Thank you to all the boys (You Know Who You Are) that called, sat down & talked, vouched for us, and gave us the confidents that we could come back. Thank you to my family for standing behind me and special thanks to Booker T, Al Snow, And Danny Davis for training me these last few months, helping me step up my game. And finally thank you WWE for believing in two kids from the streets of Brooklyn NY, and giving us a second chance. We will not let our fans, friends, families, and WWE down. We are here to rise to the top and make some NOISE!!! So when you see us coming stand up and shout Money, Money, Yeah, Yeah.
MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH! MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH!! MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH!!!
I know that I for one will be on my feet next Friday, chanting that MONEY, MONEY, YEAH YEAH! I can’t help but be a massive Cryme Tyme mark. They’re second only to DX as far as tag teams go in my eyes. Well, modern tag teams anyway, I can’t say much about not-so-modern teams. I was so shocked at this return, that when I read the Raw results on Tuesday morning, before watching the show that I’d recorded,I actually thought it was an April Fool. But yeah, I popped for them all on my own watching from my tv. But, I’m going to sound like a babbling mark, so I must move on. Suffice to say, they’re the inspiration for my sign next Friday.
The HBK promo. I don’t want to say too much on this. Let’s just leave it at how beautiful this was and how much passion was put into it. Words can’t express how well executed this was.
I really think we’re going to see HBK moving to SmackDown, after this little stare down with Batista, and according to the SmackDown spoilers, without revealing too much, he shows up for a little promo there too.
Bullcrap. Absolute bullcrap. They have Kendrick turn on London, just so they can “patch things up” the week after? What the hell?!?! Really nice finishing sequence here though, but apparently Londrick winning is an upset? Erm, yeah, because having an established team with a near year long title reign beating one of wwe’s “dysfunctional” teams is an upset!
Ok, I’m putting this petition out there now, WWEShop, or EuroShop in my case, has to get the jacket Y2J wore on there! Definitely. I love it. I want it. Now. I really couldn’t tell. But was CM Punk being booed? Why, he’s good in the ring, he’s improving character wise, and he’s hardly playing the heel is he? I didn’t think it made much sense him losing clean though, maybe go to a double count out or something. I’m saying this now and getting it out the way, the same should’ve happened for Orton vs. Matt Hardy, Hardy should’ve been DQ’d or something to keep his momentum. But yeah, the crowd added so much more to the Y2J Punk Match. They were really into it, and really hot for it.
Big Show was hilarious during his little bit, so where the “You Can’t Wrestle” and “Show’s Gonna Get You!” chants directed at Khali.
I’d like to thank Beth Phoenix. Apparently she has knocked Maria on the head and cured her of her ditziness. Or the flashes from doing PlayBoy has. Oh well. Maria is clever now it seems.
I will say one thing about Orton bs Hardy, Hardy got a HUGE pop when he climbed that second turnbuckle, shows just how popular the man is!
Now. The most emotional Raw I’ve seen in ages. Flair’s farewell. All I want to say is just how well done this is, because words cannot describe how both happy and heartbreaking this segment was for me. It was a wise move keeping Vince off tv tonight. But. I must admit. The second the WOOOO! And the opening bars of Flair’s music hit, I started crying. I couldn’t help myself. It was a beautifully done segment, and I don’t want to spoil anyone’s memories of it by replacing them with mine. This goes back to what I say. Flair means something special to everyone in a different way.
Remember, you can email me at bigdaddyphil92@hotmail.com, myspace at www.myspace.com/angelsbreathingwhitefire or my official website at www.wrestlingramblings.tk. We are still looking for two more columnists, so if you’re interested email me at the usual address.
Now.
For the last time please.
I don’t care where you are.
If you’re sat at your pc at home.
On the laptop at work, or in a hotel.
Reading on a mobile phone or an iPhone on the train, on the bus,in the car.
Wherever you are
One
Last
Time
WOOOOOOO!!!!!
Keep Rambling
Big Phil
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WOOOOOO!