With a career that spanned over 4 decades (1972-2012), which was decorated with 16 World Championships in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the former World Wrestling Federation (WWF) now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE ) and of course the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Ric Flair no doubt is one of the greatest, most successful and best-decorated wrestlers of his time and ours. He has retired no doubt, but his legacies still speak for him and serve as a yardstick for other younger wrestlers to evaluate their performances with.
Outside of the ring, Ric’s life is as well eventful and we are going to find out here what made it so. In addition to this, many people have asked umpteen times whether the retired wrestler is still alive or is no more with us. Well, you will find out shortly what we learned about his whereabouts if you proceed to devour this piece one paragraph after another.
Ric Flair Biography (Age)
Ric Flair was born on the 25th of February in the year 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee to Luther and Olive Phillips – his biological parents. His other names by which he is also known include Richard Morgan Fliehr, Fred Phillips, Fred Demaree, and Stewart. He is also nicknamed The Nature Boy.
He was adopted by Richard Reid Fliehr (1918-2000) and his wife Kathleen Kinsmiller Fliehr (1918-2003) who then raised him up in Edina, Minnesota where he attended Wayland Academy located in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. It was while in school that he developed an interest in wrestling and particularly participated in Interscholastic wrestling in addition to playing football and running track.
After high school, Ric Flair got admitted to the University of Minnesota on a football scholarship but dropped after his freshman year to pursue a career as a wrestler. He was already an amateur wrestler before entering college and following his dropping out, the lad began working as a bouncer in a club. On one occasion, he met Olympic weightlifter, Ken Patera who introduced him to Verne Gagne, an American Wrestling Association (AWA) promoter. Verne subsequently registered him in his wrestling training class where he developed the more.
Ric recorded his wrestling debut on December 10, 1972, against George “Scrap Iron” Gadaski. The match lasted 10 minutes and ended in a draw. He fought in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) against the likes of André the Giant, Wahoo McDaniel and many others.
Flair in the course of his wrestling career which spanned over 4 decades notably won the World Tag Team Championship 3 times with Batista and Roddy Piper, WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time), WWF World Heavyweight Championship (2 times), all in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment. He also won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (9 times) in National Wrestling Alliance, WCW World Heavyweight Championship (8 times), NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (6 times), First WCW Triple Crown Champion and many other victories all in the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling/Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling.
Family: Spouse, Daughter, Son
Outside of the ring, Flair has a long list of spouses he married and divorced at various times in his career. He first got married to Leslie Goodman, on August 28, 1971, with whom he had a daughter named Megan and son named David before they called time on the marriage after 12 years with a divorce in 1983.
Elizabeth Harrell became the new Mrs. Flair when they walked down the aisle on August 27, 1983. With her, Ric had a daughter, Ashley and a son named Reid but by 2006, they divorced after being married for 23 years.
Ric found love again with Tiffany VanDemark in 2006 as they said their “I do’s” on May 26, 2006, but by 2008, Tiffany was already walking out of the marriage and finalized the divorce by 2009.
Jacqueline “Jackie” Beems became Ric Flair’s fourth wife on November 11, 2009, but coming into the year 2012, The Nature Boy was itching to be single again. By 2014 the union between the two was annulled.
His most recent wife is Wendy Barlow, fifth on the list who he married on September 12, 2018, in a Florida resort. The two have been married since their nuptials and we wish them the best of marital life.
Net Worth
The Memphis, Tennessee-born wrestler who was raised in Edina, Minnesota by his adoptive parents has certainly seen good times in his career. With several victorious bouts under his belt, there is no doubt that Ric Flair has been well rewarded, his net worth was estimated to be between $2 million and $5 million.
Height
Ric Flair stands at a height of 6 feet 1 inch or 1.85m upon which he weighs 243 lb or 110 kg. At this height, the retired wrestler and now wrestling manager stands at the same height with his son David Flair who is also a wrestler while his late son Reid Flair stood taller than him and David at 6 feet 3 inches or 1.91 m.
Is Ric Flair Dead?
Richard Morgan Fliehr, the retired American professional wrestler and now professional wrestling manager is still alive. However, he has a late son who was a professional wrestler and the youngest of his children who went by the name Richard Reid Fliehr and Reid Flair as his ring name.
Reid was found dead on March 29, 2013, on his hotel room bed in South Park, Charlotte, North Carolina. Autopsy reports revealed that he died of a heroin overdose with traces of prescription tranquilizers; clonazepam and alprazolam were both found in his body. At the time he died, Ric was 25 years old.
Being that Reid Flair died just a year after his dad retired from professional wrestling and with the similarities in their names, Ric Flair was believed to be the one who died but unknown to many people, it was his youngest son who kicked the bucket.
