Is Ric Flair is the Greatest Of All Time?

[imissWECPalmer]

WOoOoOo

 

[JamesRyko]

I don't even know what to say. It takes more skill to sell a singular move than to sell an injury for the entirety of a match or even for weeks? What I put in bold is where there's a bit of contradiction. When you sell a move, you act like the move hurt you aka you pretend to be hurt by the move...that's the same thing yet you made it clear that selling a move is not the same as pretending to be hurt by it. You do understand it's basically the same thing except one is long term vs short term. Short term selling makes for short term memory fans who want everything quick, quick, quick. You have to understand that when you sell a move like it nearly killed you and then a minute later are a okay, that's just telling the fans the move didn't do what it was supposed to do and you were just overselling.

To make a move look good, you sell it and sell it good. Selling it for a second is not a good sell and does not make the move look good. Anyhow, if you think that selling a move is much more important than a worked body part, more power to you.

Watch the first 10 mins of this video, that's called proper psychology and ring work. Notice that on the biggest stage of them all, Savage doesn't win by flying elbow because he has a bum knee and he wins by any means necessary since he and Flair had been embroiled in a long, nasty, very personal feud. That's what is missing in today's wrestling

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5us57_wrestlemania-viii-ric-flair-vs-rand_sport

Ps, for as great and all around a performer as he is, he's a notorious over seller.

Right, I used the wrong word. I should have said "perform" or "execute" the move. Not "sell".

 

[Kforcer]

Yeah, I don't think that's a good sound board though. Like, at all. I mean, how many Lou Thesz matches are even on film??

Tons and tons and tons. Check him out sometime. Great wrestler. And a very, very high level grappler.

 

[Kforcer]

Look how cool I am. I a fan of scrub wrestlers who nobody has even heard of

Jim Londos? LMFAO
Frank Gotch?

Who are these scrubs

Youtube Jim Londos. If you like submission-grappling and pro-wrestling, maybe you'll like him.

 

[the ambush]

With all due respect to Flair, he's not in the top 5.

Stone Cold
The Rock
Shawn Michaels
Hulk Hogan
The Undertaker

Definatley within 6-10 though.

Same. In the interest of full disclosure, I was always a WWF guy, so I didn't see a lot of Flair in his prime. I didn't start watching WCW regularly until around 1995/96 and Flair, while obviously great, never did it for me. I have Hogan, Austin, Taker, HBK, and Rocky above him, I think.

Sounds about right. The Nature Boy is a conclusive legend in history. For me this is where I would likely rank him among the others.

Hulk Hogan
Stone Cold
The Rock
Bret Hart
HBK
Ric Flair

 

[deezy]

Selecting anyone as GOAT in anything is subjective.

Select as you like, don't make a big deal out of it.

 

[Fadetoblack918]

No.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

I can't believe anyone would consider The Rock anywhere near the best. He was extremely charismatic, but thats about it.

Nobody has as much of a claim to being the greatest as Flair does.

 

[El Dandy]

Flair was great but still overrated in my book.
For the entire package? Austin is GOAT

 

[drstrangelov]

Hogan is the most recognizable wrestler ever, since the Rock is recognizable more for movies. Hogan didn't know how to lose though, and that's an impossible barrier to ever considering him the greatest. Those last two wrestlemanias, him ending the card posing, it was too much, no concept of how to make the loss matter to the story. For that, he can't be the GOAT, he's just missing a huge part of what makes the medium work.

Flair's character allowed for him to be vulnerable and still the best. It's more interesting, infinitely. Also, when we were kids I hated flair and my dad found him hilarious, which was always a strong vote in his favor.

The guys I like better didn't have the longevity to compare, really.

 

[chubbman]

 

[TennBJJ]

Ric was not the absolute best promo but he was great (I put Rhodes, Rock, and a few others above him)
Ric was not the absolute best worker but he was great (Shawn, Ray Stevens, and a few others slightly above him)
Ric was not the biggest draw but he was great (Hogan, maybe Andre and a few others above him)

That being said, he's always mentioned in every single category. He's a Willie Mays type - the 5 tool player in baseball. In the aggregate he ranks high enough in the most important categories that he almost has to be considered #1

 

[ThunderL1ps]

When you look at the combination of how many years he was on top, all the territories he helped draw in, ability to talk on the mic, ability in the ring......He would have to be.

With that being said, he should have retired in the 1990's.

 

[Tavares1988]

I dont really know buy my vote goes for the undertaker

 

[Buff]

He didn't have enough power moves for me. I like wrestlers who can pick up another wrestler.

Mr Perfect is the GOAT wrestler for me - better in-ring ability, mic work, and had a .Uchida wider move set.

 

[JoshuaGilbert]

Flair at his peak was before my time, but watching old interviews he had chrisma before his peers at that time. He was electric on the mic, and even with his limited moveset after the plane crash was pretty good in the ring. I grew up in the time, where DX, Stone Cold, Rock, and "Hollywood" Hogan were wrestling. Personally, in ring skills and showmanship I'd put Shawn Michaels as the greatest of all time. It's difficult bc there are so many that could take the title of being the GOAT. I'll put it was a tie between Michaels, Flair and Dusty Rhodes.

 

[jamesmiller14]

Last guy to travel the territories as the world champion. A workhorse.

 

[HomerThompson]

He broke his fucking neck, man. Tends to slow a man's career down.

 

[prod2821]

do people forget Ric broke his back, in a dam airplane crash!?

 

[DannyNL]

I think you gotta give it to Hulk Hogan. I remember even Flair said that Hogan was the #1 because everyone in the world knew who he was.