Ric Flair: To Be the Man…Whoooooo!

Flair would wrap up the 80’s feuding with Terry Funk and his J-Tex Corporation, even going as far as allowing rival Sting to join his Four Horsemen stable as to aid in the fight. It was all part of the intricate build up to the eventual moment when Flair and Sting would clash again. The story line was advanced further when Sting challenged Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, prompting his dismissal from the Horsemen. Despite the feud having to be put on hold for a bit due to a knee injury to Sting, it was finally resumed and at The Great American Bash 1990, where Flair dropped the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Sting. He would regain it on January 11^th 1991, and be recognized as the first official WCW World Heavyweight Champion. This is where the “World Championship” picture gets a little muggy. See, Flair would be recognized as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion, but he would also still be recognized as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, even though WCW was part of the NWA. So essentially Flair was a double World Heavyweight Champion for two separate promotions, who were technically the same promotion. At one point Flair would even lose one World Heavyweight Championship while simultaneously retaining the other in the same match due to different rules by the NWA and WCW, which once again were technically the same promotion. Super confusing, but sometimes that’s pro wrestling for you. Ironically, the big winner out of the whole fiasco would end up being Vince McMahon and the WWF. Soon Flair would be chasing the one World Heavyweight Championship that had eluded him.