The Fall of “The Nature Boy”

Ric Flair isn’t from Dallas, but he plays a big part in our city’s professional wrestling history. In fact, he was involved in one of the most iconic matches, when Kerry Von Erich defeated Flair for the NWA championship at Texas Stadium, following the death of Kerry’s older brother David. (A clip from that match is after the jump, as is a pretty unintentionally hilarious promo for a match at Reunion Arena.) Anyway, most wrestlers don’t grow old and they certainly don’t grow old gracefully. Read Shane Ryan’s recounting of how Flair (or Richard Fliehr, as various court documents know him) slumps along to the finish line, a maybe even sadder, and real-life, version of Randy “The Ram” Robinson.