A Flair for the Broke

"Snowmageddon 2011!" is now in the books, and after an evening/afternoon  of snow removal, I can safely say that I could care less if I see another flake of snow until next year- I'm not big on manual labor, but I enjoy FREE manual labor even less.....

"Nature Boy" Ric Flair is once again in the headlines this week, after demanding a cash advance during the TNA tour stop in Dublin,Ireland. When he was denied his request, he refused to get on the tour bus going to the next tour stop in Germany.

I try to never pass judgement on stories such as these, but it seems to have been verified by enough people that it is, at least, mostly true.

Ric Flair is one of my true wrestling heroes- his work,his interviews, his style epitomized what I ( and alot of others) thought to be the best of wrestling as a kid- he was so good, in fact, that all the way into my 30's, I believed Flair was the richest athlete in the world ( an exaggeration, but I think you know what I mean)

But theres a certain sadness in reading reports that a 62 year old man, who has earned millions in his career, is trying to borrow money from the other talent on the tour, demanding advances from his bosses, & being unable to fulfill his promise to pick up the entire crews bar bill because his Credit Cards are maxed out.

This isn't a judgement against Ric Flair- I'm not qualified to judge anybody, especially with my track record- but theres some serious psychological issues at play here, & our hero may need more help than anyone can give him.

I remember a few years back, watching the much talked about Mickey Rourke movie, The Wrestler. While a good film, most people I knew compared Rourke's character, Randy The Ram, to another of our business' casualties, Jake "The Snake" Roberts.  While there were certainly parallels, I thought the character more closely resembled Ric Flair. Especially the 2009-2011 Ric Flair, not only in the ring, but out.

I have heard Flair say numerous times in interviews that there is "no money in being Richard Fleihr" ( his real name) but plenty in being Ric Flair- which is what, I assume, compels a man of his age to continue to wear expensive clothing, pricey watches, run up huge bar tabs, run with much younger women (god, all this sounds so fun) etc.- even though he can no longer afford to do so.

 But the real issue here is the mans personal belief that Richard Fleihr has no value- so, to retain any level of self esteem, he has to continue to live a charade for which he can no longer pay.

Apparently, this lifestyle has lead to numerous conflicts with his oldest & dearest friends, reneging on business agreements, & selling personal memorabilia for pennies on the dollar to satiate the craving to be the "Nature Boy".

I'm personally quite concerned that we haven't yet heard the last chapter of Flair's story, and that the future chapters will get even worse....

To his credit, however, Flair did indeed show up for his commitments, and apparently apologized publicly to the TNA boys for his behavior. One can only hope.....


Until next time....
SSS