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145-593: The brothers wrestled as amateurs at the University of Michigan . The team made their professional wrestling debut in 1989, and competed in promotions such as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), winning 11 world tag team championships and one United States Tag Team Championship, before disbanding in 1998. The brothers reunited on

290-624: A House of Hardcore event. On September 21, 2013, the Steiners reunited at the American Pro Wrestling Alliance defeating Viper and Bulldozer in Shinnston, West Virginia for Frontier Days. They would return to the promotion again on January 11, 2014, to face Moose and APWA World Heavyweight Champion, "The Black Superman" Onyx. The Steiners were already confirmed for three APWA shows in 2014. On September 6, 2014,

435-740: A Wrestle Association R event in Yokohama , Japan; the match ended in a draw. Flair's second reign ended when he lost the title to Bret Hart on October 12 at a house show . Flair teamed with Razor Ramon to take on Savage and Perfect at the Survivor Series in November 1992. Flair appeared in the Royal Rumble in January 1993, then lost a Loser Leaves the WWF match to Mr. Perfect on

580-762: A custom championship belt was created for Flair. Flair lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Detroit to Ron Garvin on September 25, 1987. Garvin held the title for two months before losing to Flair on November 26, 1987, at WCW's first pay-per-view event, Starrcade , in Chicago. In early 1988, Sting and Flair fought to a 45-minute time-limit draw at the first ever Clash of the Champions . On February 20, 1989, at Chi-Town Rumble in Chicago, Ricky Steamboat pinned Flair to win

725-597: A figure four leglock at Slamboree 1995 . On April 29, 1995, Flair wrestled Antonio Inoki in front of 190,000 spectators in Pyongyang , North Korea at the May Day Stadium in a losing effort under a joint show between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling . The event was broadcast on August 4, 1995, on pay-per-view under the title of Collision in Korea . In the fall of 1995, Flair began

870-588: A no disqualification match to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship on December 26. The following day, Flair lost the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship to Wahoo McDaniel in a no disqualification match. In the midst of his tag team championship reign, Flair defeated Rufus R. Jones to win his second Mid-Atlantic Television Championship on April 4, 1977. On May 8, Flair and Valentine lost

1015-561: A triple threat match that also involved Kane ), with the help of the other members of Evolution. In January 2004 at the Royal Rumble , Flair and Batista successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship against the Dudley Boyz in a tables match , and World Heavyweight Champion Triple H fought Shawn Michaels to no contest in a Last Man Standing match , thus retaining the championship. Flair and Batista lost

1160-468: A "cousin" ) in attacks against Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A. and Sam Houston . A few weeks later, the Andersons interrupted Houston's match against Tully Blanchard and the three villains combined to rough up the youngster. Shortly thereafter, Flair, Blanchard and the Andersons formalized their alliance, calling themselves The Four Horsemen , with Blanchard's manager J. J. Dillon also coming on board. Upon

1305-852: A 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name Ric Flair. During his time in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Flair had matches with Dusty Rhodes , Chris Taylor , André the Giant , Larry Hennig and Wahoo McDaniel . Flair made his first appearances in Japan in 1973 with International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) as part of a working agreement between the IWE and AWA promoter Verne Gagne. He competed in IWE's "Big Summer Series" throughout June and July, facing opponents such as Animal Hamaguchi , Great Kusatsu, Katsuzo Matsumoto, Mighty Inoue, and Rusher Kimura . In 1974, Flair left

1450-457: A 10–0 lead in first the period, they will win by the superiority of points. Only a fall, injury default, or disqualification terminates the match; all other modes of victory result only in period termination. This format replaced the old format of three two-minute periods played best two out of three. One side effect of the old format was that the losing wrestler could outscore the winner. For example, periods may be scored 3–2, 0–4, 1–0, leading to

1595-725: A 21-time champion. He was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (which he also held last). As the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete WCW's Triple Crown , having already held the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship . He then completed WWE's version of

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1740-517: A 79 year old Dory Funk Jr. to defeat Blain Rage, Jake Logan, and Shane Chung in a six-man tag team match at Funk's FC !Bang! promotion in Ocala, Florida. While this Mid-Atlantic promotion is an NWA affiliated promotion, operates out of the same region as the first Mid-Atlantic promotion, and has revived some of the championships it used, it isn't the same promotion. The original Mid-Atlantic promotion

1885-475: A core discipline. Greco-Roman and freestyle differ in what holds are permitted; in Greco-Roman, the wrestlers are permitted to hold and attack only above the waist. In both Greco-Roman and freestyle, points can be scored in the following ways: As in the international styles, collegiate wrestling awards points for takedowns and reversals. Penalty points are awarded in collegiate wrestling according to

2030-557: A feud that also involved Scott's new partner Buff Bagwell, while Rick teamed with a variety of partners including Kenny Kaos , Lex Luger and Bagwell's mother Judy. The Steiners reunited at Slamboree in 1999, and on August 7, 2000, not so much as a tag team but they were both heels who watched each other's backs. They lost to Kevin Nash and Sting on Nitro . On the March 5, 2001 episode of Nitro , they reunited for their last WCW match as

2175-806: A few months off afterwards before returning to WCW television in January 1995 for an interview at Clash of the Champions XXX . After attacking Hogan at Superbrawl V , Flair also began appearing as a part-time manager for Vader , who was engaged in feud with Hogan, and developed a short-lived angle where he was "possessed", even attacking his old WWF opponent Randy Savage at the first Uncensored . He soon afterwards returned to wrestling (explained on-air by having Flair nag Hogan for months until Hogan and Savage both petitioned WCW management to let Flair come back). Upon returning to wrestling, Flair quickly revived his 1992 feud with Savage, but this time also got Savage's father Angelo Poffo involved after he put him in

2320-622: A five-match series under Marquess of Queensberry Rules , which aired on WCW Worldwide between April 30 and May 28, in which Flair won the series, with 2 wins, 1 loss, and 2 draws. In June 1994 at Clash of the Champions XXVII , Flair defeated Sting in a unification match, merging the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and solidifying his heel turn after his alliance with Sherri

2465-405: A goatee, started a feud with Buff Bagwell over who had the better physique, as well as developing a short fuse with his temper. Scott and Rick began having problems teaming up, as Scott would often not tag his brother into matches. The team entered 1998 as the tag team champions, but the dissention caused them to lose the belts. It was not the end of the team's troubles, as Scott would often wrestle

2610-583: A match at Starrcade between Bischoff and Flair in December 1998, which Bischoff won after interference from Curt Hennig, a former member of the Four Horsemen. The following night in Baltimore on Nitro , Flair returned and threatened to leave WCW, demanding a match against Bischoff for the presidency of the company. The match was made, and despite the nWo interfering on Bischoff's behalf Flair won and

2755-462: A match at the Royal Rumble on January 20, 2002 in a Street Fight , where Flair defeated McMahon. Flair also wrestled The Undertaker at WrestleMania X8 on March 17 where Flair lost. The "co-owner" angle culminated in early 2002, when Flair controlled Raw and McMahon controlled SmackDown! On the May 13 episode of Raw , Flair challenged Hollywood Hulk Hogan to a no disqualification match for

2900-409: A pin. Women wrestlers wear a higher cut singlet usually with a sports-bra underneath. Wrestling shoes are light, flexible, thin-soled, ankle-high sneakers that allow maximum speed and traction on the mat without giving up ankle support. The current rules call for laces (if any) to be covered so that they do not come untied during competition. In American high school and college wrestling headgear

3045-544: A return to the WWF on November 19, 2001. Flair reappeared on Raw following the end of the " WCW/ECW Invasion " that culminated in a "Winner Take All" match at Survivor Series on November 18 won by the WWF. Flair's new on-screen role was that of the co-owner of the WWF, with the explanation that Shane and Stephanie McMahon had sold their stock in the company to a consortium (namely Flair) prior to purchasing World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Flair's feud with Vince McMahon led them to

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3190-473: A rigorous physical therapy schedule, however, and he returned to the ring just three months later, where he resumed his feud with Wahoo McDaniel over the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship in January 1976. The crash did force Flair to alter his wrestling technique away from the power brawling style he had used early on to one more focused on grappling, which led him to adopt the "Nature Boy" gimmick he would use throughout his career. Flair would ultimately lose

3335-585: A short feud with Arn Anderson, which culminated in a tag match that saw Flair turning on Sting to reform the new Four Horsemen with Flair as the leader, Arn Anderson, Brian Pillman, and Chris Benoit as the members. With the new Four Horsemen, Flair won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship two more times before the nWo invasion storyline began in WCW, with the first one being in December 1995 at Starrcade , where Flair defeated Lex Luger and Sting by countout and then defeated Savage after all three Four Horsemen members ran to

3480-647: A shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship , held by The Fabulous Freebirds . On September 12, 1989, at Clash of the Champions VIII , the Steiners lost when Green tripped Scott, causing him to get DDT'd and pinned by Michael "P.S." Hayes . Green would transform into Woman , and brought a tag team called Doom to wrestle the Steiners at Halloween Havoc , in which the Steiners lost. On November 1, 1989, in Atlanta , Georgia ,

3625-546: A singles match, then lost to Tenryu in a two-out-of-three falls match . Flair triumphantly returned to WCW as a hero in February 1993. As a result of a "no-compete" clause he was initially unable to wrestle, so he hosted a short-lived talk show in WCW called A Flair for the Gold . Arn Anderson usually appeared at the bar on the show's set, and Flair's maid Fifi cleaned or bore gifts. Once he returned to action, Flair briefly held

3770-532: A stable of followers which included Roddy Piper , Arn Anderson and the Jersey Triad to keep things in order. Flair's reign as president came to an end on the July 19 episode of Nitro , when he faced and lost to Sting for the position. During the course of the match, Sting had Flair in his Scorpion Death Lock, but with the referee knocked unconscious, no decision could be reached. A returning Eric Bischoff came to

3915-589: A steel cage match to win his third United States Heavyweight Championship on April 1, 1979. During this time, Flair began feuding with the original "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers , due to Flair referring to himself as "The Nature Boy". The rivalry concluded in a match between the two at Battle of the Nature Boys on July 8, in which Flair defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against Rogers. Rogers put Flair over in

4060-485: A tag team as they lost to Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page . When WCW closed in March 2001, the two went their separate ways again. Rick would go on to wrestle for New Japan Pro-Wrestling , World Wrestling All-Stars in 2002, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003. Later on he went to Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan between 2004 and 2005. Scott would go to World Wrestling All-Stars in late 2001 and then returned to World Wrestling Entertainment in November 2002. He

4205-429: A time limit draw. and began teasing a heel turn when he teamed with Marcus Bagwell against Steve Austin and Brian Pillman on an October 10, 1992 episode of WCW Worldwide . During the match Bagwell was injured when he was attacked Arn Anderson and when Scott went to tag Bagwell he was unable to. An angry Scott then kicked Bagwell and slammed him into the ring where he was attacked by Austin and Pillman who then won

4350-493: A top star on each show on that weekend, winning the sum of $ 15,000 USD ( kayfabe ) if they defeated all three. Scott was the second to run the gauntlet, with his second opponent being Ric Flair . Because the Four Horsemen clumsily interfered, Steiner beat Flair by pinfall. He would then get a title match against Flair at Clash of the Champions XIV: Dixie Dynamite on January 30, 1991, which ended in

4495-449: A total score of 4–6 but a win for the wrestler scoring fewer points. In collegiate wrestling, the period structure is different. A college match consists of one three-minute period, followed by two two-minute periods, with an overtime round if necessary. A high school match typically consists of three two-minute periods, with an overtime round if necessary. Under the standard rules for collegiate wrestling, draws are not possible; this rule

Steiner Brothers - Misplaced Pages Continue

4640-435: A whole match by himself, refuse to tag Rick when he would need to leave the ring, and would often keep the referee distracted with his own antics. On the February 2, 1998 episode of Nitro , things appeared to come to a head when Scott scored the victory in a tag team match against Nash and Bagwell by pinning Bagwell without making a tag to Rick, and Rick screamed and yelled at his brother for his actions. One week later, however,

4785-424: Is a positionally-based form of grappling , and thus generally prohibits the following: While there is not much equipment that a wrestler wears, it is still highly specialized. A wrestling singlet is a one-piece, tight-fitting, colored, lycra uniform. The uniform is tight-fitting so as not to get grasped accidentally by the opponent and allows the referee to see each wrestler's body clearly when awarding points or

4930-524: Is also credited on various records as Fred Demaree or Fred Stewart. He was adopted by Kathleen Kinsmiller Fliehr (1918–2003) and Richard Reid Fliehr (1918–2000). The Fliehrs decided to adopt due to Kathleen being unable to become pregnant after giving birth to a daughter who died shortly after. At the time of his adoption (arranged by the Tennessee Children's Home Society as part of Georgia Tann 's infant trafficking scandal) his adoptive father

5075-494: Is an American professional wrestler . Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanning over 50 years in 6 decades. He is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE ) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Much of his career

5220-629: Is mandatory to protect the ears from cauliflower ear and other injuries. Headgear is made from molded plastic polymer or vinyl coated energy absorbing foam over a rigid hard liner and strapped to the head tightly. In the international styles headgear is optional. Wrestling is conducted on a padded mat that must have excellent shock absorption, tear resistance, and compression qualities. Most mats are made of PVC rubber nitrile foam. Recent advances in technology have brought about new mats made using closed cell, cross-linked polyethylene foam covered in vinyl backed with non-woven polyester. The countries with

5365-409: Is sometimes modified for young wrestlers. A match can be won in the following ways: While having similar victory conditions with Greco-Roman and freestyle, such as wins by fall , decision , injury , and disqualification , victory conditions in collegiate wrestling differ on some points from the international styles: Dual meet scoring is very similar on the high school level. Amateur wrestling

5510-945: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a double title match on the WCW/New Japan Supershow at the Tokyo Dome . Fujinami beat Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but later lost the title at WCW's SuperBrawl I on May 19, 1991, in the United States. In August 1995, while under WCW contract, Flair participated in the G1 Climax tournament in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he beat Shiro Koshinaka , drew Masahiro Chono , and lost to Keiji Mutoh. On July 17, 1996, Flair challenged Shinya Hashimoto for

5655-627: The International Olympic Committee announced that women's freestyle wrestling would be added to the Olympic games in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece with a total of four different weight classes. Until the early 1990s, the majority of women who participated in the sport had no other choice but to join the available men's teams. At the high school level, this may still be required in some areas depending on

5800-662: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship in All Japan against the likes of Genichiro Tenryu , Riki Choshu , Jumbo Tsuruta , Harley Race , and Kerry Von Erich . On October 21, 1985, Flair wrestled Rick Martel in a double title match where he defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and challenged for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship , but the match ended in a double countout. As All Japan withdrew from

5945-517: The NWA World Tag Team Championship . On October 20, Flair lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to Ricky Steamboat. On March 30, 1978, Flair and Valentine were stripped of the World Tag Team Championship by NWA management due to continuously ending their matches via disqualification. On April 9, Flair defeated Mr. Wrestling in a title versus hair match to capture his second United States Heavyweight Championship. On October 30, Flair and John Studd defeated Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat to win

Steiner Brothers - Misplaced Pages Continue

6090-511: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in the late 1980s, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) began a working agreement with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In 1989, the working agreement led to a feud between Flair and Keiji Mutoh , who was wrestling under The Great Muta gimmick , in the United States for WCW. On March 21, 1991, Flair defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and challenged Tatsumi Fujinami for

6235-754: The National Wrestling Coaches Association for the past 6 years; the world's top 16 teams compete in this event. In 2004, Missouri Valley College held the first Women's National Wrestling Championships which honored four individual champions. Later, the event would be hosted by the University of the Cumberlands in 2006. Ric Flair Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair ,

6380-747: The Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , ECW Arena on August 5, at WrestlePalooza 1995 , teaming with Eddie Guerrero in a loss to Scorpio, Dean Malenko and Cactus Jack . On August 25, in Jim Thorpe, they defeated Scorpio and Malenko, and they went on to defeat Scorpio and Chris Benoit the following evening. On August 28, they defeated Dudley Dudley and Dances with Dudley in the Big Apple Dinner Theater in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania . At Gangstas' Paradise on September 16,

6525-578: The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame . Flair is officially recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion ( 8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion , 6-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion , and two-time WWF Champion ), although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 or 17 to 25. He has claimed to be

6670-537: The Undisputed WWE Championship . Flair would later lose the contest before moving onto a rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin . At Judgment Day on May 19, Flair teamed with Big Show and lost to Austin in a two-on-one handicap tag team match. On the June 3 episode of Raw , the feud between Flair and Austin would escalate after Austin defeated Flair in a singles contest. After Austin abruptly left

6815-486: The United World Wrestling (UWW). At the middle school and high school levels, wrestlers compete in scholastic wrestling . In collegiate wrestling , there are minor differences in some scholastic wrestling rules. The rapid rise in the popularity of the combat sport mixed martial arts (MMA) has increased interest in amateur wrestling due to its effectiveness within the sport and its consideration as

6960-486: The University of Minnesota . A successful amateur wrestler in his teens, Flair trained as a professional wrestler with Verne Gagne . He attended Gagne's first wrestling camp with Greg Gagne , "Jumpin ' " Jim Brunzell , The Iron Sheik and Ken Patera at Gagne's barn outside Minneapolis in the winter of 1971. On December 10, 1972, he made his debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, battling George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski to

7105-600: The WCW World Tag Team Championship from Harlem Heat on July 24, 1996, but Harlem Heat would regain the title just three days later and the title changes were never mentioned on TV. A short time later, Scott was sidelined with an injury and Rick had several singles matches until Scott returned to the ring the following January. Following the formation of the New World Order (nWo), the Steiners began feuding with The Outsiders , who had won

7250-634: The WCW World Tag Team Championship from Harlem Heat. The Steiners spent the entirety of 1997 and into 1998 feuding with the duo of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash . They also feuded with other nWo members like Vicious and Delicious and continued to have matches with Harlem Heat. On the August 4, 1997 episode of Nitro , The Steiners introduced Ted DiBiase as their new manager, who led them to two tag team championships. The beginning of Scott's heel turn began in late 1997/early 1998 when he, now with increased muscle mass, having cut his signature mullet, and sporting

7395-593: The WWE Hall of Fame . At Starrcade '88 and Chi-Town Rumble , Scott Steiner started to accompany his brother Rick in his matches. By January 1989, they were competing as a tag team. With Missy Hyatt in their corner, the Steiner Brothers were an up-and-coming tag team, mixing technique, power, speed, and agility. They later added Robin Green to the group. With their tremendous win–loss record, they earned

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7540-556: The WWF Championship that same night. WCW sued Flair in an attempt to reclaim the championship belt, but Flair claimed otherwise due to a loophole in NWA policy; at the time he first became champion, the NWA required all of the wrestlers that it selected to be world champion to put down a security deposit of $ 25,000, which, in effect, resulted in the belt being leased to any wrestler who held it. The NWA, in usual cases, would return

7685-598: The debut episode of Monday Night Raw on January 11, 1993. They made their WWF pay-per-view debut on January 24, 1993, at the Royal Rumble , defeating the Beverly Brothers . At WrestleMania IX on April 4, the Steiner Brothers defeated The Headshrinkers . Following WrestleMania IX, the Steiners began feuding with Money Inc. At King of the Ring on June 13, the Steiners and The Smoking Gunns defeated The Headshrinkers and Money, Inc. The following evening, at

7830-575: The independent circuit in the early 2000s, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in May 2007. They are the first tag team to hold the WWF World Tag Team Championship , the WCW World Tag Team Championship , and the IWGP Tag Team Championship . The Steiner Brothers are highly regarded, considered as one of the greatest tag teams in professional wrestling history. On April 1, 2022, they were inducted in

7975-646: The AWA for Jim Crockett 's Mid-Atlantic region in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), debuting on May 13, 1974, by defeating Abe Jacobs . Shortly after his debut, Flair won his first championship in the promotion, by teaming with Rip Hawk to defeat Bob Bruggers and Paul Jones to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship . After a lengthy title reign, Flair and Hawk lost the titles to Paul Jones and Tiger Conway Jr. on December 6. Brute Bernard substituted for an inactive Hawk during

8120-932: The April 13 Superstars of Wrestling taping (which included a run-in from Rick after the match), which aired on May 7. Scott would return to the company in late 2002. The Steiners debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on July 28, 1995, in the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, New York , defeating Dudley Dudley and Vampire Warrior . They next appeared with ECW in The Flagstaff on August 4, in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania , defeating Dudley Dudley and 2 Cold Scorpio . The Steiner Brothers made their debut in

8265-475: The Cumberlands, Menlo College, Pacific University, and Neosho County CC. Cal-State Bakersfield are other schools that had a number of women competitors that only competed against each other or occasionally against Canadian college teams. As the sport continued to grow, coaches within women's wrestling formed the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA). This group created rules regarding eligibility, bylaws, and elected leaders for this association. Each year

8410-479: The February 20 episode of Raw , Flair lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin , thus ending his reign at 155 days. Flair took some time off in mid-2006 to rest and marry for the third time and he returned in June to work a program with his real-life rival Mick Foley that played off their legitimate past animosity. Flair defeated Foley at Vengeance in a two out of three falls match , then at SummerSlam in an "I quit" match . Subsequently, he

8555-442: The February 7, 2005 episode of Raw , broadcast from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, Flair lost to Shawn Michaels in a singles match. In February 2008, Flair wrestled Mr. Kennedy in the Ariake Coliseum and William Regal in the Budokan Hall , both under the stipulation that he would retire if he lost. In September 2002 at Unforgiven , Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Rob Van Dam . During

8700-593: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort in NJPW. Flair signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in August 1991. His arrival was hyped by Bobby Heenan , beginning with the August 11 episode of Wrestling Challenge . On the September 21 episode of Superstars , Flair debuted in WWF with the Big Gold Belt , calling himself " The Real World's Champion ". Led by his "financial adviser" Bobby Heenan and his "executive consultant" Mr. Perfect , Flair repeatedly issued challenges to WWF wrestlers like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan . His first match with

8845-423: The Intercontinental Championship against Triple H at Taboo Tuesday in a steel cage match, which was voted as such by the fans. Flair later lost to Triple H in an acclaimed Last Man Standing non-title match at Survivor Series , which ended their feud. At the end of 2005, Flair had a feud with Edge that culminated in a WWE Championship Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match on Raw in early 2006, which Flair lost. On

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8990-444: The January 25 episode of Monday Night Raw . Flair had a verbal agreement with Vince McMahon with the condition that if he wasn't going to be used in a main event position and had an offer to go elsewhere, he would be released from his contract. He opted to leave WWF when he was going to be moved to a mid-card position and Bill Watts offered to come back to WCW. Flair then fulfilled his remaining house show commitments and took part in

9135-551: The June 14 television taping, the Steiners defeated Money, Inc. for the WWF Tag Team Championship in Columbus, Ohio . (The Steiners were still babyfaces in the match despite Columbus being home to Michigan 's archrival , Ohio State .) Money, Inc. regained the titles on June 16, at a house show in Rockford, Illinois , but lost the titles to the Steiners once again at another house show on June 19, in St. Louis , Missouri . The Steiners successfully defended their titles against The Heavenly Bodies on August 30, at SummerSlam . On

9280-408: The Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship, but lost the titles back to Jones and Steamboat, five days later on November 5. After retaining the title against several challengers including Blackjack Mulligan and Jimmy Snuka , Flair lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to Steamboat on December 17. Flair would then come up short against Steamboat in several title challenges, before defeating him in

9425-400: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship for a tenth time after defeating Barry Windham at Beach Blast before WCW finally left the NWA in September 1993. At Fall Brawl , Flair lost the title, now rebranded the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship , to "Ravishing Rick" Rude . At Starrcade in 1993, Flair defeated Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight title for the second time. In

9570-410: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Flair in 1983, but Flair regained the title at Starrcade in a steel cage match . Officially, Flair won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship eight more times. Flair lost the title to Race and won it back in the span of three days in New Zealand and Singapore in March 1984. At the 1st David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions at Texas Stadium , Flair

9715-399: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This prompted a series of rematches, where Steamboat was presented as a "family man" (often accompanied by his wife and young son), while Flair opposed him as an immoral, fast-living "ladies man". Following a best-of-three falls match with Steamboat that lasted just short of the 60-minute time limit (and ended with a disputed finish where Steamboat retained

9860-399: The Rumble at number 28 and won. Triple H tried to persuade Batista to challenge the WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield of SmackDown! rather than for his World Heavyweight Championship. This involved Triple H plotting a feud between JBL and Batista, showing JBL badmouthing Batista in an interview and staging an attack on Batista with a limousine designed to look like Layfield's. The scheme

10005-426: The September 13, 1993 episode of Raw in New York City , New York , the Steiners defended their titles against The Quebecers in a "Province of Quebec rules" match, wherein titles can change hands via disqualification. The match ended when the manager of The Quebecers, Johnny Polo , threw a hockey stick into the ring, which was about to be used by Jacques, however, Scott took it away and began to hit him with it as

10150-465: The Steiner Brothers defeated Team 3D. On the August 16 episode of Impact! , the Steiner brothers lost in a Handicap match to Kurt Angle after interference from Team 3D, heating up their feud. At Bound for Glory the Steiner brothers defeated Team 3D in a two out of three falls tables match. The following month at Genesis , the Steiners received a tag team title shot against A.J. Styles and Tomko , but were unsuccessful. On January 29, 2008, however, Rick

10295-495: The Steiners defeated the Freebirds for the NWA World Tag Team titles; the title change would air on the November 18 episode of World Championship Wrestling . They held the titles until May 19, 1990, when they were defeated by Doom in Washington, D.C. at Capital Combat . The Steiners defeated The Midnight Express for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship on August 24, 1990, in East Rutherford, New Jersey . During their title reign, World Championship Wrestling rebranded

10440-615: The Steiners joined forces with Taz in a loss to The Eliminators and Jason . On September 23, in Middletown, they defeated Raven and Stevie Richards . Scott made one more appearance (teaming with Taz in a losing effort against The Eliminators on October 28, 1995) before the brothers departed from ECW. The Steiners re-signed with WCW in 1996. They initially feuded with the Road Warriors and had several matches with then champions Sting and Lex Luger . They would eventually win

10585-680: The Steiners reunited in Wichita Falls, Texas for Pure Action Championship Wrestling's Brawl In The Falls III, winning and becoming the promotion's final tag team champions. On October 20, the Steiners defeated Dynasty members Jarrod Michaels and Scotty Biggs at SSCW "Breaking the Law" in Nashville, Georgia . On November 29, 2014, The Steiner Brothers defeated The Rock N' Roll Express , The Faces of Fear and George South and Tom Prichard at WrestleCade 2014. On February 29, 2020, they teamed with

10730-471: The Steiners won the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki on March 21, WCW announcers began referring to them as "Triple Crown Champions". At the same time, Scott was being groomed as a singles performer. On WCW's weekend TBS shows ( WCW Power Hour , WCW Saturday Night , and WCW Main Event ). There was a special "gauntlet" match segment where a performer was picked to wrestle

10875-836: The Triple Crown when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship , after already holding the WWF Championship and the World Tag Team Championship . Fliehr was born on February 25, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee . His original parents were Luther and Olive Phillips, the latter of whom was also credited with the Demaree and Stewart surnames; nevertheless, his birth name is commonly considered to be Fred Phillips, even if he

11020-498: The United States Heavyweight Championship, defeating him to win the title for a fourth time on April 20, 1980. Flair lost the title to his former tag team partner Greg Valentine on July 26. Flair defeated Valentine in a lumberjack match to win his fifth United States Heavyweight Championship on November 24. On January 27, 1981, Flair lost the title to Roddy Piper in a title versus title match, where Flair's United States Heavyweight Championship and Piper's Television Championship were on

11165-611: The WWE in June while in a program with Flair, a match was hotshotted between Flair and McMahon for sole ownership of WWE, which Flair lost after interference from Brock Lesnar on the June 10 edition of Raw . At King of the Ring on June 23, Flair defeated Eddie Guerrero in a singles match after Guerrero and Chris Benoit would interrupt Flair's speech regarding losing his position as WWE co-owner; afterwards, Guerrero would lock Flair in his own signature figure four leg lock with help from Benoit. Flair's rivalry with Lesnar would continue into

11310-508: The WWF's "Winter Tour '93" of Europe. He made his last appearance with the WWF on February 11, 1993, before returning to WCW. In April 1992, Flair toured Japan with the Super World of Sports (SWS) promotion as part of an agreement between the WWF and SWS. In his first bout, he teamed with The Natural Disasters to defeat Ashura Hara , Genichiro Tenryu , and Takashi Ishikawa in a six-man tag team match . He went on to defeat Tenryu in

11455-588: The WWF, he was still recognized as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion until September 8, when the title was officially vacated. While working for Jim Crockett Jr. 's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW), Flair began working tours for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). On April 27, 1978, Flair challenged for the NWA United National Championship in a losing effort. Throughout the 1980s, Flair defended

11600-596: The WarGames match at Fall Brawl when Luger submitted to the impostor Sting's Scorpion Deathlock . In October 1996, two developments occurred that affected the Four Horsemen when Jeff Jarrett came over to WCW from the WWF, and expressed his desire to join the Horsemen as he immediately gained a fan in Ric Flair, much to the chagrin of the other Horsemen. Flair finally let Jarrett join the group in February 1997, but

11745-513: The World Tag Team Championship back to Andersons in a steel cage match. A few days later, on May 15, Flair received his very first opportunity for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Harley Race . Race retained the title after the match ended in a double count-out. Flair would lose the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship to Ricky Steamboat on June 15, beginning a lengthy and historic rivalry between

11890-470: The World Tag Team Championship on February 16 edition of Raw to Booker T and Rob Van Dam . At WrestleMania XX , Evolution defeated the Rock 'n' Sock Connection ( The Rock and Mick Foley ) in a 3-on-2 handicap match. The following week on Raw during the 2004 WWE draft lottery , Flair and Batista defeated Booker T and Rob Van Dam to win their second and final World Tag Team Championship, but they lost

12035-399: The World Wrestling Federation, making their televised debut as babyfaces in an interview on the December 21, 1992, episode of WWF Prime Time Wrestling . During their WWF run, emphasis would be placed on their accomplishments at the University of Michigan , including using Michigan's fight song " The Victors " as their entrance music and wearing Michigan-themed ring attire. They appeared on

12180-634: The Wrestling Fan Xperince in Winnipeg , Manitoba to defeat Buff Bagwell and G-Man on December 6, 2005. On June 2, 2006, the Steiners defeated Elvis Elliot and Original Sinn at a UCW wrestling show at Bay City Western High School in Auburn, Michigan entitled "Steiner Brothers Return Home". On February 2, 2007, they went to United Wrestling Federation in Wilson, North Carolina to defeat

12325-570: The Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and Lou Thesz ) a record eight times. The first two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted with the class of 2008 for his individual career and again with the class of 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen , he is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame ,

12470-626: The act by slamming the cage door onto Flair's head. In April 1998, Flair disappeared from WCW television, due to a lawsuit filed by Eric Bischoff for no-showing a live episode of Thunder on April 9, 1998, in Tallahassee, Florida . After the case was settled, Flair made a surprise return on September 14, 1998, to ceremoniously reform the Four Horsemen (along with Steve McMichael , Dean Malenko , and Chris Benoit ). Flair feuded with Bischoff for several months afterward. Flair repeatedly raked Eric Bischoff's eyes during this feud. This culminated in

12615-497: The back, followed by a double underhook powerbomb. Scott then assaulted DiBiase as well, and abandoned his brother to be taken out by Hall and Nash and signified that he was joining the nWo by personally handing Hall and Nash the championship belts himself. The next night on Nitro , he adopted a new gimmick that was somewhat reminiscent of Superstar Billy Graham , dyeing his hair and goatee blond and increasing in muscle mass even further, damaging his agility. The two brothers had

12760-684: The brothers went their separate ways once again. Rick continued in the independent circuit and mainly wrestled in the Mid-Atlantic area. Scott returned to the indies as well. Also, he worked in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada. At the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-view Sacrifice 2007 , Scott Steiner teamed with Tomko in a Triple Threat Tag Team match. They lost the match and the miscommunication between Steiner and Tomko led Tomko to attack Steiner following

12905-701: The championships they owned and controlled, and the title was renamed the WCW United States Tag Team Championship . Upon winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship on February 18, 1991 (the title change aired on the March 9 episode of WCW Pro Wrestling ), the Steiners vacated the WCW United States Tag Team Championship on February 20. They were the second team ever to hold both the WCW World and United States Tag Team titles at once. After

13050-513: The current rules, which penalize moves that would impair the life or limb of the opponent. However, the manner how infractions are penalized and points awarded to the offended wrestler differ in some aspects from the international styles. Collegiate wrestling also awards points for: In the international styles, the format is now two three-minute periods. A wrestler wins the match when they were able to get more points than their opponent or 10 points lead in two rounds. For example, if one competitor gets

13195-425: The deposit and any interest that may have accumulated upon the conclusion of the wrestler's championship reign. They did not do this for Flair before he was terminated by WCW, and since the money was still owed to him by the NWA upon his signing with the WWF, Flair believed that the title belt had become his personal property to do with as he pleased. At the 1992 Royal Rumble , Flair won the namesake match to claim

13340-418: The double main event at WrestleMania VIII . In the storyline, Flair taunted Savage by claiming that he had a prior relationship with Savage's wife, Miss Elizabeth . Savage defeated Flair for the title at WrestleMania. In July 1992, as Savage prepared to defend the title against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam , Flair and Mr. Perfect sowed distrust between the two by suggesting that they would back one or

13485-424: The duo were successful in defeating the team of Triple H and Jericho. At Unforgiven on September 22, Flair was unsuccessful in capturing the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a singles contest against Jericho. Under the WWE banner, Flair toured Japan periodically between 2002 and 2008. He successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship with Batista against The Dudley Boyz twice in February 2004. On

13630-531: The duo won the WCW World Tag Team Championship again. The final straw came at SuperBrawl VIII on February 22, when the brothers would face The Outsiders again. Midway through the match, Rick knocked both Hall and Nash out of the ring while both attempted to attack him behind the referee's back and celebrated by running around the ring barking while Scott entered the ring to celebrate with him. Scott then attacked Rick by hitting him in

13775-487: The first time since 2002 before going on to win the Intercontinental Championship from Carlito at Unforgiven , and the group was dissolved. Triple H returned at the "Homecoming" episode of Raw on October 3 where he was to team with Flair in a tag team match against Carlito and Chris Masters . After winning that match, Triple H betrayed Flair and attacked him with a sledgehammer. Flair retained

13920-505: The following month. In the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution , Batista, Orton and Triple H were the last three remaining in the match. Orton eliminated Batista with a RKO and Triple H pinned Orton with Batista's help to win the title. Triple H suggested that Batista not enter the Royal Rumble match , wanting the group to focus on Triple H retaining the title. At the Royal Rumble , Batista declined, entered

14065-469: The following years, Flair established himself as the promotion's main franchise in the midst of emerging competition from Vince McMahon 's World Wrestling Federation (WWF). An unsanctioned title loss took place on January 6, 1983, to Carlos Colón Sr. in Puerto Rico . Flair recovered the championship belt in a phantom change seventeen days later not officially recognized by the NWA. Harley Race won

14210-492: The group proceeded to attack Orton. At Unforgiven , Triple H beat Orton to regain the World Heavyweight Championship, with help from Flair, Batista, and Jonathan Coachman . Orton's feud with Evolution continued until Survivor Series where Triple H, Batista, Gene Snitsky , and Edge were defeated by Orton, Maven , Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit in a Survivor Series match for control of Raw over

14355-430: The group's inception, it was clear that The Four Horsemen were unlike any villainous alliance that had ever existed, as the four rule breakers immediately used their strength in numbers to decimate the NWA's top fan favorites (most famously a vicious beatdown to Rhodes with a baseball bat in a parking lot) while controlling the majority of the championship titles. By 1986, wrestling promoter Jim Crockett had consolidated

14500-486: The leading wrestlers in the Olympic Games and World Championships are Iran, the United States, Russia (and some of the former Soviet Union republics, especially Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan), Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary, Cuba, India, Canada, Japan, Pakistan, South and North Korea, Germany, and historically Sweden and Finland. Because of the successful growth in female participation,

14645-524: The line. Despite being the first to bleed, Flair won the match by pinfall thanks to the bias of the referee Charles Robinson , who counted Hogan out. As on-air WCW President, Flair began abusing his power much like Bischoff had, favoring villains over fan favorites and even awarding the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (which was vacated by Scott Steiner due to injury) to his son David and resorting to whatever means necessary to keep him as United States Heavyweight Champion. Flair eventually formed

14790-421: The line. The United States Heavyweight Championship's current owner WWE does not recognize the title exchange with Greg Valentine and recognizes Flair's reign uninterrupted from April 20 to January 27. Flair would face Piper in various rematches for the title throughout the year but failed to regain the title. On September 17, 1981, Flair beat Dusty Rhodes for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship . In

14935-431: The match, Flair came down to the ring and grabbed the sledgehammer from Triple H and teased hitting him before hitting Van Dam, allowing Triple H to get the win, turning him heel in the process and accompanied Triple H to the ring as his manager. Shortly after, Batista moved from SmackDown! to Raw and Flair also began accompanying him to the ring while continuing to second Triple H. In June 2003 at Bad Blood , Flair

15080-495: The match, leading to Flair retaining the title and cementing his place as the new "Nature Boy" of professional wrestling. A month later, on August 12, Flair teamed with Blackjack Mulligan to defeat Baron von Raschke and Paul Jones to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Flair and Mulligan lost the titles back to Raschke and Jones on August 22. Flair would then begin feuding with Jimmy Snuka over

15225-562: The match. Rick Steiner made his return and fought off Tomko, thus reuniting the Steiner Brothers. They were set to face Team 3D at Slammiversary 2007 for their World Tag Team Championship . An injury to Scott's trachea in Puerto Rico, however, put the match in question, until he was replaced by longtime rival Road Warrior Animal . While Scott was out for his injury, Team 3D demanded his return and teased his near-death injury. The duo then appeared and attacked Team 3D at Victory Road , costing them their World Tag Team titles. At Hard Justice ,

15370-552: The match. Scott would go on to win the WCW World Television Championship from Ricky Steamboat on October 17. The heel turn which Scott was undergoing was later aborted upon the Steiner Brothers leaving WCW for the World Wrestling Federation after being lowballed on their contract renewal by then-WCW head Bill Watts . The Steiners left WCW in November 1992, with Scott vacating the WCW World Television Championship . They quickly signed contracts with

15515-556: The month of July with Lesnar picking up wins over Flair in a singles match on the July 1 episode of Raw and in a tag team contest on the July 15 episode of Raw . Flair then became involved in a short-lived rivalry with Chris Jericho , leading to Flair defeating Jericho at SummerSlam on August 25. Flair was granted a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H on the September 2 episode of Raw , which he lost. Later on that same night, Flair would team with Rob Van Dam as

15660-559: The number of intercollegiate programs continued to prosper with the WCWA now recognizing a total of 28 teams. Within these teams there are several who have National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) affiliation and most of them are allowed to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There is also a national dual meet championship for women's intercollegiate teams that have been sponsored by

15805-588: The number of wrestlers. Brookline High School in Brookline, Massachusetts was the first public school in America to create a varsity girls wrestling team. Girls have at times still competed against boys. University of Minnesota-Morris was the first university to create a varsity women's wrestling team. UMM's head coach, Doug Reese, followed in the footsteps of other schools like Missouri Valley College that pioneered programs for female wrestlers. University of

15950-560: The other Horsemen often took the lead in the war against Scott Hall , Kevin Nash , and Hollywood Hulk Hogan , whom Flair immediately challenged for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the Clash of the Champions XXXIII , but won only by disqualification. In September 1996, Flair and Anderson teamed with their bitter rivals, Sting and Lex Luger , to lose to the nWo (Hogan, Kevin Nash , Scott Hall , and an impostor Sting ) in

16095-496: The other during their match. They actually attacked both Savage and Warrior, resulting in the latter winning by countout, and injured Savage's knee, an injury that Flair exploited to regain the title in a match with Savage three days later on September 1 in Hershey, Pennsylvania , which aired on the September 14 episode of Prime Time Wrestling . On September 15, 1992, Flair defended the WWF Championship against Genichiro Tenryu at

16240-492: The others did not want him, and in July 1997 was ultimately kicked out of the group by Flair himself, who had enough of the instability Jarrett's presence caused the Horsemen. Flair also feuded with Roddy Piper , Syxx , and his old nemesis Curt Hennig in 1997, after Hennig was offered a spot in The Four Horsemen only to turn on Flair and The Four Horsemen at Fall Brawl in September 1997, in which Hennig punctuated

16385-457: The promotion even further, despite the fact that Flair was still a top draw. According to Flair, Herd also proposed changes in his appearance and ring name (i.e. by shaving his hair, wearing a diamond earring and going by the name Spartacus ) in order to "change with the times". Flair disagreed with the proposals and two weeks before The Great American Bash , Herd fired him and vacated the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. While Flair had left for

16530-499: The promotion saw him wrestle Mark Thomas to a no contest on the September 28 episode of Superstars by provoking Piper to attack him, and Flair then attacked Piper with the Big Gold Belt and a chair. His first televised win in WWF occurred on the September 29 episode of Wrestling Challenge by squashing Jim Powers . Flair wrestled a team led by Piper at Survivor Series in November and helped The Undertaker defeat Hogan for

16675-469: The referee turned around, thus, he disqualified the Steiner Brothers, awarding the title to The Quebecers. Scott gained a measure of revenge by defeating Pierre in a singles match the following week on Raw . At the Survivor Series on November 24, the Steiners teamed with Lex Luger and The Undertaker as "The All-Americans". The All-Americans defeated their opponents, "The Foreign Fanatics" ( Yokozuna , Crush , Ludvig Borga and Jacques), although Luger

16820-563: The reunited Mega Powers. Afterwards, Flair went on to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and there were also changes in the Four Horseman in 1996, as Brian Pillman left WCW and Steve "Mongo" McMichael became the fourth member. Once again as a top fan favorite , Flair played a major role in the New World Order (nWo) invasion storyline in late 1996 and throughout 1997. He and

16965-520: The ring and Arn Anderson knocked out Savage with brass knuckles, thus allowing Flair to pin Savage to win the match and the title. Afterwards Savage won the title back on Nitro after Starcade, but Flair won the next match at SuperBrawl VI to regain the championship. During the feud, Savage's manager Miss Elizabeth turned against him and became Flair's valet. Together with Woman and Debra McMichael they would escort Flair to his matches until Miss Elizabeth

17110-411: The ring and began ordering the timekeeper to ring the bell, which he eventually did, awarding the match and the presidency to Sting (who promptly gave it up upon receiving it). Flair won his last world titles in his career by winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice during 2000, the company's last full year of operation. When WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, Flair was the leader of

17255-679: The spring of 1994, Flair began a tweener turn and started another feud with longtime rival Ricky Steamboat and challenged Steamboat to a match at Spring Stampede which ended in a no contest from a double pin, causing the title to be held up. Flair then defeated Steamboat in a rematch to reclaim the held-up title on an episode of WCW Saturday Night. The WWE does not count this victory as a new title win. Flair then challenged Col. Robert Parker to wrestle one of his men at Slamboree , which turned out to be Barry Windham , whom Flair defeated, afterwards he quietly turned heel and took Sherri Martel as his manager. He would also wrestle Lord Steven Regal in

17400-593: The surprise addition of longtime rival Sting, to combat Funk's J-Tex Corporation . This led to an "I Quit" match at Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout which Flair won. Flair then kicked Sting out of The Four Horsemen upon his challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, resulting in a revived feud between the two. On July 7, 1990, Flair dropped the title to Sting at The Great American Bash . After being unmasked as The Black Scorpion at Starrcade in 1990, Flair regained

17545-1007: The team of Matt Bentley and Frankie Kazarian . They also defeated Team 3D the next night in Wilmington, North Carolina . On December 9, 2006, the Steiners won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship . On January 4, 2008, they returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling , as they lost to the IWGP Tag Team Champions Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko in Tokyo. Then they defeated Bobby Eaton and Ricky Morton at MCW Mayday 2009 in Toccoa, Georgia . On December 13, 2009, they defeated Beer Money, Inc. ( James Storm and Robert Roode ) at PTM Supremacy in Belleville, Michigan. Afterwards

17690-503: The title back to McDaniel on May 3, 1976. However, three weeks later, Flair regained the title by defeating McDaniel in a rematch on May 24. The title exchange with McDaniel continued as Flair lost the title to McDaniel in a steel cage match on September 11. On October 16, Flair defeated McDaniel in a title versus hair match to regain the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. During this time, Flair teamed with Greg Valentine to defeat The Andersons ( Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson ) in

17835-638: The title defense. Flair would then capture his first singles title on February 9, 1975, by beating Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship . After holding the title for six months, Flair lost the title back to Jones on August 8. During the same time, Flair began feuding with Wahoo McDaniel over the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship . After coming up short in several title opportunities, Flair finally defeated McDaniel for

17980-440: The title from Sting on January 11, 1991. Subsequent to this title win, Flair was recognized by WCW as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion , though he was still also recognized as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. On March 21, 1991, Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Flair in a match in Tokyo at the WCW/New Japan Supershow . While the NWA recognized Fujinami as their new champion, WCW did not because Fujinami had backdropped Flair over

18125-457: The title in a title vs. hair match on September 20. On October 4, 1975, however, Flair's career nearly ended when he was in a serious plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina that took the life of the pilot and paralyzed Johnny Valentine (also on board were Mr. Wrestling , Bob Bruggers, and promoter David Crockett ). Flair broke his back in three places and, at age 26, was told by doctors that he would never wrestle again. Flair conducted

18270-479: The title) at Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun on April 2, Flair regained the title from Steamboat on May 7, 1989, at WrestleWar in a match that was voted 1989's " Match of the Year " by Pro Wrestling Illustrated . On July 23, 1989, Flair defeated Terry Funk at The Great American Bash , but the two continued to feud through the summer and eventually Flair reformed The Four Horsemen, with

18415-420: The titles to World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit and Edge on the April 19 episode of Raw . At SummerSlam , Orton pinned Benoit to become the new World Heavyweight Champion and the youngest World Champion in WWE history to date. On the episode of Raw the night after SummerSlam, Batista hoisted Orton on to his shoulders in what appeared to be a celebration, but following the thumbs down from Triple H,

18560-500: The top rope in a violation of WCW rules. On May 19, 1991, Flair defeated Fujinami at SuperBrawl I in St. Petersburg, Florida to reclaim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. In the spring of 1991, Flair had a contract dispute with WCW president Jim Herd , who wanted him to take a substantial pay cut. Flair had resigned as head booker in February 1990 and Herd wanted to reduce Flair's role in

18705-748: The two. On June 30, Flair and Valentine defeated Dino Bravo and Tiger Conway Jr. to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. On July 29, Flair defeated Bobo Brazil to win his first NWA United States Heavyweight Championship in Richmond, Virginia . Flair and Valentine lost the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship to Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat on August 22. Flair would defend the United States Heavyweight Championship against numerous challengers, including Steamboat, whom he wrestled in several matches, such as title versus title match for Flair's title and Steamboat's Mid-Atlantic Television Championship. On October 30, Flair and Valentine defeated The Andersons to win

18850-564: The vacant WWF Championship. Flair entered as number three in the Rumble match and lasted 60 minutes, last eliminating Sid Justice with help from Hulk Hogan, who had been eliminated by Justice seconds earlier. In February 1992, Flair faced the Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper in a series of inconclusive title-versus-title matches . Randy Savage then challenged Flair for the WWF Championship as part of

18995-480: The various NWA member promotions he owned into a single entity, running under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance. Controlling much of the traditional NWA territories in the southeast and Midwestern United States, Crockett looked to expand nationally and built his promotion around Flair as champion. During this time, Flair's bookings as champion were tightly controlled by Crockett, and

19140-473: The villainous group called the Magnificent Seven . Flair lost the final match of Nitro to Sting, recreating the second match of Nitro in 1995. Nevertheless, Flair has repeatedly stated in various interviews how happy he was when WCW finally closed down, although at the same time the fact that many people would lose their jobs saddened him. After an eight-month hiatus from wrestling, Flair made

19285-503: Was able to defeat Shawn Michaels after Randy Orton struck Michaels with a chair. At the height of Evolution's power, the group controlled all of the male-based championships of Raw after Armageddon . Batista teamed with Flair to win the World Tag Team Championship from the Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley ) in a tag team turmoil match and Triple H regained the World Heavyweight Championship from Goldberg (in

19430-499: Was brought into the open after she helped him win the match while pretending that she had sided with Sting. After becoming the unified and undisputed WCW champion, Flair feuded with Hulk Hogan upon Hogan's arrival in WCW in June 1994, losing the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to him in July at Bash at the Beach . Flair continued to feud with Hogan and finally lost to Hogan in a steel cage retirement match at Halloween Havoc . Flair took

19575-675: Was completing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Detroit, Michigan . His adoptive mother worked for the Star Tribune . Shortly afterward, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota , where the young Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. After ninth grade, he attended Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for four years, where he participated in wrestling , football , and track . After high school, Fliehr briefly attended

19720-478: Was granted the position of president of WCW. This resulted in a match at SuperBrawl IX between Flair and Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which Flair lost after being betrayed by his own son David Flair . In spite of his son's betrayal, Flair signed a rematch at Uncensored on March 14 which was billed as a First Blood barbed wire steel cage Match against Hogan where Flair's presidency and Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Championship were on

19865-519: Was involved in a rivalry with the Spirit Squad on Raw . On November 5, 2006, at Cyber Sunday , he captured the World Tag Team Championship from the Spirit Squad with Roddy Piper. On the November 13 episode of Raw , Flair and Piper lost the World Tag Team Championship to Rated-RKO , due to a disc problem with Piper and had to be flown immediately back to the United States as soon as Raw

20010-498: Was once owned by Jim Crockett Jr. and was sold outright to Ted Turner in November 1988. The promotion was then renamed World Championship Wrestling. Amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced at Olympic, collegiate , scholastic , and other levels. There are two international wrestling styles performed at the Olympic Games , freestyle and Greco-Roman , both of which are governed by

20155-529: Was pinned by Kerry Von Erich , but he regained the title eighteen days later in Japan and reigned for two years, two months and two days, losing the title to Dusty Rhodes on July 26, 1986, at The Great American Bash in a Steel Cage Match . However, Flair regained the title at a house show on August 9, when Rhodes passed out in the Figure Four leglock. In late 1985, the tag team of Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson began aiding Flair (whom they claimed as

20300-515: Was released from TNA, breaking up the Steiners once again. Scott left TNA in February 2010 and returned in February 2011. He was released by TNA in March 2012. Before Scott's release from TNA, he reunited with Rick as they lost to The New Age Outlaws ( B.G. James and Kip James ) refereed by Mick Foley at PWS WrestleReunion IV in Los Angeles on January 28, 2012. On June 23, 2013, The Steiner Brothers defeated Homicide and Eddie Kingston at

20445-643: Was released from WWE in August 2004 and then went to the independent circuit and New Wrestling Entertainment in Italy in 2005. The brothers reunited for the first time since the closing of WCW. They wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling , as Rick was working full-time on the roster. They only wrestled three matches. In May 2002, they defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kensuke Sasaki , with the match being refereed by Chyna . On July 19, 2002, they lost to Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono . The next day, they defeated Tanahashi and Kenzo Suzuki . The brothers reunited for

20590-546: Was spent in JCP and WCW, in which he won numerous titles. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the moniker "the Nature Boy". A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade , on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWF counterpart, WrestleMania , in 1992 , after winning that year's Royal Rumble . Pro Wrestling Illustrated awarded him their Wrestler of

20735-489: Was taken by the nWo in the fall and eventually returned as Savage's valet when he joined the nWo in 1997. Flair lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship eventually three months later to The Giant. The feud with Savage continued with The New Four Horseman joining the Dungeon of Doom to create an Alliance to end Hulkamania. Together the factions wrestled Hogan and Savage in a triple steel cage, End of Hulkamania match; losing to

20880-418: Was the sole survivor. On January 22, 1994, both Steiners entered the Royal Rumble , with Scott entering at number one. After Rick entered at number three, the brothers cooperated until being eliminated by Owen Hart and Diesel respectively. The Steiners wrestled sparingly after that and eventually left the promotion in mid-1994. Scott appeared last in a King of the Ring qualifier loss to Irwin R. Schyster at

21025-441: Was unsuccessful and at the brand contract signing ceremony on the February 21 episode of Raw , Batista chose to remain on Raw , infuriating Triple H and thus quitting the faction. Batista defeated Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21 . Flair and Triple H also starred in an ad for WrestleMania 21 that parodied the film Braveheart . After Vengeance , Triple H took time off and Flair turned face for

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