Ric Flair Debut

by Jack Windham
May 1 , 2008

When Ric Flair first made his debut in professional wrestling, very few would expect him to become one of the greatest ever.

Fat Flair

Wrestling fans around the world know him as "The Nature Boy", but very few wrestling fans remember how different he looked when he started wrestling.

Ric Flair made his professional wrestling debut for the AWA.

He wasn't the "wheelin', dealin', kiss stealin', limo ridin', jet flyin' son of a gon" that he was years later.

No, he was a 300 pound wrestler with brown hair.

The charisma was still there, though. A lot of people were born with charisma. Ric Flair is one of those people.

For those of you that enjoy trivia, Ric Flair's first match ever was against a wrestler named George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski, which ended in a 10 minute time limit draw.

Aside from being a jobber, George Gadaski was also the guy that set up the ring and drove the trucks.

NWA Days

After honing his skills in the AWA for two years, Ric Flair caught the attention of the NWA, which was a rival promotion.

Legendary wrestler Wahoo McDaniels was the booker for Mid Atlantic Wrestling at the time.

Wahoo McDaniels recruited Ric Flair to come work for him. They remained close friends for years to come.

In 1974, Ric Flair made his official debut in the NWA.

It was during this time that Ric Flair lost weight, dyed his hair blonde, and adopted the Nature Boy persona that we all know and love.

Not exactly sure who came up with the idea to do that, but whoever it was should be considered a genius.

As charismatic as Ric Flair was, his career definitely would not have been the same without the Nature Boy gimmick.

Then again, after watching him with that gimmick for a little over 2 decades, I can't picture him being anything else.

First Title

The Nature Boy has won countless championships throughout his career. It all began with a belt called the Mid Atlantic TV Championship.

At the time, the championship was only a year old. It was also second only to the world title (the US title came afterwards).

Ric Flair won the title from Paul Jones. The two engaged in one of Ric Flair's most memorable early feuds in the NWA.

Six months after winning the belt, Ric Flair dropped the Mid Atlantic TV Champinoship back to Paul Jones.

...TO BE CONTINUED