Flair Is the Greatest of All Time: Who Can Dispute and Win
Wrestling Heroes and Villains, Breecham House, NY, 1985, pp12-13:
"The only true World's Champion stands in the studio adjusting his sunglasses and tightening his grip on the most coveted belt in wrestling. ;When you look at me,' Ric Flair barks, 'you're looking at the finest wrestling has to offer. I set the standard!' This is no idle boast. Ric Flair is a champion for the '80s, the holder of the most prestigious title in wrestling -- the NWA World's Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.
Flair has been one of grappling's most gifted competitors since he debuted in the early 1970s. He won both the Missouri and US titles at an early age, burning through his opponents like propane gas.
Although his arrogance is deplored by most fans, insiders and fanatics marvel at his command of the language of wrestling. It is as if the collective wisdom of all wrestlers dating back to antiquity has passed down to Flair.
Since he whupped Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World's Title in 1981, Flair has guarded the ten pounds of gold with the jealousy of a miser. His body has undergone horrendous suffering in defense of the belt. A backbreaking schedule has taken its toll, but it has also intensified his desire to hang on to the belt. Flair himself revealed his sense of duty when he said, 'If being the US Champion is like serving in the US Senate, then being the World Champion is like being the President. There is a whole new set of responsibilities.'
Flair is currently well into his third championship reign, and it is the way he regained his title twice that proves his dominance in the sport. It took him little more than 5 months to thrash out a bloody ramson out of Harley Race in 1983, and he merely loaned the title to Kerry von Erich the following year. Neither Race nor von Erich could make the title their own before Ric Flair tapped on the window and demanded his due."
To be continued.
TYVM.