Ric Flair: The 21 Time World Champion

[The Boss]

While reading about the crap booking that resulted in Ric Flair's final two World title reigns I began thinking about all of the reigns that Flair should be recognized for (and to be fair [to Flair?] which he shouldn't be recognized for). Especially now that World championships are handed out like toilet paper these days. Flair's record was established during a time when it was an honor to hold the title just once. Most never had that opportunity. So unlike today's wrestlers who seem to just cry for their "turn" to be champion and hand over brief cases in exchange for a belt without ever facing the champion (whatever happened to, "To be the man you have to beat the man"?) Flair's record was a big deal. With John Cena just one win away from the "official" record I want to examine the unofficial title wins by Flair that should have him recognized as a 21 time World Champion.

World Championship #1 (NWA, 1 of 13)
September 17, 1981 - August 29, 1982)

WON FROM:
Dusty Rhodes - Kansas City, MO

LOST TO:
Jack Veneno - Rep. Dom. (loss not currently recognized by NWA)


World Championship #2 (NWA, 2 of 13)
September 1, 1982 - January 6, 1983

WON FROM:
Jack Veneno
NOTE: After winning the title two days earlier Veneno refused to defend the title outside of the Dominican Republic. He was stripped of the title which was awarded back to Flair. (awarded title win not currently recognized by the NWA)

LOST TO:
Carlos Colon - San Juan, PR
NOTE: (loss not currently recognized by the NWA)


World Championship #3 (NWA. 3 of 13)
January 23, 1983 - February 8, 1983

WON FROM:
Carlos Colon - Miami, FL
NOTE: (title win not currently recognized by the NWA)

LOST TO:
Victor Jovica - Couva, Trinidad
NOTE: Three days later Jovica was stripped of the title which was returned to Flair because it was discovered that Jovica's feet were on the rope during the pin. (awarded title win not currently recognized by the NWA)


World Championship #4 (NWA, 4 of 13)
February 11, 1983 - June 10, 1983

WON FROM:
AWARDED (see championship #3)
NOTE: (not currently recognized)

LOST TO:
Harley Race - St. Louis, MO


World Championship #5 (NWA 5 of 13)
November 24, 1983 - March 20, 1984

WON FROM:
Harley Race - Greensboro, NC

LOST TO:
Harley Race - Wellington, New Zealand
NOTE: (loss was briefly recognized but not currently)


World Championship #6 (NWA, 6 of 13)
March 23, 1984 - May 6, 1984

WON FROM:
Harley Race Kallang, Singapore
NOTE: (title win was briefly recognized but not currently)

LOST TO:
Kerry Von Erich - Irving, TX


World Championship #7 (NWA 7 of 13)
May 24, 1984 - July 26, 1986

WON FROM:
Kerry Von Erich - Yokosuka, Japan

LOST TO:
Dusty Rhodes - Greensboro, NC


World Championship #8 (NWA, 8 of 13)
August 9, 1986 - September 25, 1987

WON FROM:
Dusty Rhodes - St. Louis, MO

LOST TO:
Ronnie Garvin - Detroit, MI


World Championship #9 (NWA, 9 of 13)
November 26, 1987 - February 20, 1989

WON FROM
Ronnie Garvin - Chicago, IL

LOST TO:
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - Chicago, IL


World Championship #10 (NWA, 10 of 13)
May 7, 1989 - July 7, 1990

WON FROM:
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - Nashville, TN

LOST TO:
Sting - Baltimore, MD


World Championship #11 (NWA, 11 of 13)
January 11, 1991 - March 21, 1991

WON FROM:
Sting - East Rutherford, NJ

LOST TO:
Tatsumi Fujimami - Tokyo, Japan (loss was briefly recognized but not currently)

NOTE: Flair was simultaneously recognized as the NWA & WCW World Champion at this time. However a split occurred when Flair lost the NWA World Championship to Fujinami yet continued to be recognized as the WCW World Champion by WCW showing that the NWA and WCW World championships were in fact separate titles.


World Championship #12 (WCW, 1 of 6)
January 11, 1991 - July 1, 1991

WON FROM:
Awarded
NOTE: It was during this time that WCW began recognizing reigning NWA World champion Ric Flair as the first WCW World Champion sighting his NWA World Championship his victory over Sting as the beginning of his reign

LOST TO:
(stripped of title upon being fired from promotion)

NOTE: Although this reign is recognized as official it for some reason is not counted amount Flair's 16 (should be 21) World title reigns.


World Championship #13 (NWA, 12 of 13)
May 19, 1991 - September 8, 1991

WON FROM:
Tatsumi Fujinami - St. Petersburg, FL
NOTE: (title win was briefly recognized but not currently)

LOST TO:
(stripped of title upon joining the WWF)


World Championship #14 (WWF, 1 of 2)
January 19, 1992 - April 5, 1992

WON FROM:
(won the Royal Rumble to win the vacant championship) - Albany, NY

LOST TO:
Randy "Macho Man" Savage - Indianapolis, IN


World Championship #15 (WWF, 2 of 2)
September 1, 1992 - October 12, 1992

WON FROM:
Randy "Macho Man" Savage - Hershey, PA

LOST TO:
Bret "Hitman" Hart - Saskatoon, SK


World Championship #16 (NWA, 13 of 13)
July 18, 1993 - September 13, 1993

WON FROM:
Barry Windham - Biloxi, MS

LOST TO:
(title vacated when WCW permanently split from the NWA)


World Championship #17 (WCW, 2 of 6)
December 27, 1993 - July 17, 1994

WON FROM:
Big Van Vader - Charlotte, NC

LOST TO:
Hulk Hogan - Orlando, FL


World Championship #18 (WCW, 3 of 6)
December 27, 1995 - January 22, 1996

WON FROM:
Randy "Macho Man" Savage - Nashville, TN

LOST TO:
Randy "Macho Man" Savage - Las Vegas, NV


World Championship #19 (WCW, 4 of 6)
February 11, 1996 - April 22, 1996

WON FROM:
Randy "Macho Man" Savage - St. Petersburg, FL

LOST TO:
The Giant - Albany, GA


World Championship #20 (WCW, 5 of 6)
March 14, 1999 - April 11, 1999

WON FROM:
Hollywood Hulk Hogan - Louisville, KY

LOST TO:
Diamond Dallas Page - Tacoma, WA
(Four Way Match. Other participants: Sting & Hollywood Hulk Hogan)


World Championship #21 (WCW, 6 of 6)
May 15, 2000 - May 29, 2000

WON FROM:
Jeff Jarrett - Biloxi, MS

LOST TO:
Jeff Jarrett - Salt Lake City, UT

NOTE: During this reign Vince Russo took possession of the physical belt and handed it back to Jarrett with no explanation given. Kevin Nash then defeated Jarrett, took the belt and returned it to Flair who Nash said "Never lost the title". Flair then went on to officially lose the title to Jarrett later that night. Since Flair never lost the title, Jarrett was not the champion therefore Nash also did not become champion upon defeating Jeff. Instead Flair's reign should be seen as uninterrupted and we just chalk the rest to how terrible Vince Russo's booking was at WCW.

So as you can see. By recognizing Flair's title trades with Jack Veneno, Carlos Colon, Victor Jovica, Harley Race (from March of 1984) and Tatsumi Fujinami - many of which there is footage of - Flair becomes an official 21 time World champion.

 

[tvcolosi]

Whats more of a travesty, Flair under recognized or Jack Veneno, Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica being NWA champs? lol

Just the nature of the beast I guess... there was no Brazilian tournament with Buddy Rogers or Pat Patterson either

 

[rmp0012002]

Flair himself only counts 16 and signs his autographs that wat.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The losses over seas don't count because they were not sanctioned title changes. In fact, most of those matches didn't involve the NWA at all.

Flair worked on a 3 weeks on-2 weeks off schedule for much of his time in the early-mid 1980s. Now those 3 weeks on would include a lot of matches, sometimes as many as 4-5 matches in one day between three cities with house shows and TV tapings on weekends, and all were sanctioned by the NWA. These included Flair's trips to various promotions like Florida Championship Wrestling & World Class which had agreements with the main NWA.

On his two weeks off Flair would take additional bookings, often outside the country where he was paid a lot of money. By Flair's own accounts he was paid as much 5-10 grand for some of these individual matches, which was a lot back then for one match for one wrestler, about what a second level music performer would get for one show at that time. When Flair worked in Japan he had to be careful how the matches were booked because the US wrestling magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated covered Japan wrestling and did articles on US wrestlers when they appeared there. There was no such coverage in South America, so Flair could pretty much book what ever he wanted all over Puerto Rico & The Dominican Republic. Flair would often lose the title to he local hero du jour, which in turn created huge box office for a rematch a few nights later, where Flair would cheat to win, leaving with the title but protecting the local hero who beat him clean once and was jobbed the second time, making the new guy look strong for the future. Of course, while Flair was being paid for these matches the NWA was not and they did not sanction them. These were basically exhibitions in a sense, they didn't count, and since the NWA didn't sanction them or make any money off of them they don't count as official wins or losses.

The Singapore Title Swap with Harley Race in 1984 supposedly was something the two of them cooked up on their own to generate added interest in their final matches on a tour a south east asia, both men knowing that as long as Flair came home the same way he left (as World Champ) the NWA wouldn't care since US wrestling magazines weren't covering it.

By 1986 Jim Crockett Jr was getting more worried about protecting his investment in Flair and severely restricted his travel, basically limiting him to a few Japan appearances only outside his NWA commitments. Flair also would appear on AWA cards as a favor to Verne Gagne, who trained him and first broke him in the business, but Crockett put an end to that as well by the end of 1986. In 1987 after Bruiser Brody was killed Flair, Terry Funk, and several other US stars boycotted Puerto Rico and South America.

Do I think those extra reigns should count - No....they weren't sanctioned, they don't count.

For the record....Pro Wrestling Illustrated & WWE recognize Flair's title history as ....

#1 - June 1981 from Dusty Rhodes (loses title June 1983 to Harley Race)
#2 - Starrcade 83 Cage Match from Harley Race (loses at Texas Stadium vs Kerry Von Erich in May 1984)

#3 - In Japan, Best Of 3 Falls Match, from K. Von Erich (loses title to Dusty Rhodes in July 1986 at Great American Bash)

During this reign Flair is pinned and seemingly loses the title to Rhodes at Starracde 85. The decision is reversed by the NWA on a technicality due in part to excessive outside interference and ruled a DQ loss for Flair (under the terms of this match the title could not switch hands on DQ or Count-Out). Flair remains champ un-interrupted despite being cleanly pinned at Starrcade by Rhodes.

#4 - From D. Rhodes, Aug 1986 (loses title vs Ron Garvin in Steel Cage Match in Sept 1987)

#5 - Starrcade 87 - No DQ Cage Match vs Ron Garvin (loses vs Ricky Steamboat at SuperBrawl 89 Feb 1989)

#6 - 3 Judges At Ringside/Win Or Retire Music City Showdown PPV vs Ricky Steamboat May 1989 (Loses title vs Sting at Great American Bash 1990 June 1990)

#7 - Meadowlands Special Show, vs Sting Jan 1991 - This is when the company formerly run as the NWA by Jim Crockett Jr & family, now run since 1989 by Ted Turner & Turner Broadcasting, starts re branding themselves World Championship Wrestling and the title is referred to as the WCW World Title. Basically all of the talent that operated on the main stage of the NWA under Crockett now works for TBS, it's the same company, just a new name

There is some controversy when Flair is pinned in Japan vs Tatsumi Fujinami at a Tokyo Dome Show in March 1991. WCW rules (in a carryover from the Crockett/NWA days) call for an automatic DQ for purposefully flipping an opponent over the top rope (which happened late in this match when the first ref was knocked down). WCW rules the match a DQ and Flair is still champ although Fujinami claims in Japan he is the champion. The re match takes place in Florida in May 1991 and Flair is introduced as champion and wins via pinfall. Flair officially is never recognized as losing the title here.

This reign when ends in July 1991 when Flair is fired by WCW when they cant agree on a new contract (he actually works over a month with no deal in place, ostensibly to lose at the Great AM Bash PPV in July vs Lex Luger, but WCW terminates him ahead of time when he turns down their last contract offer and makes rumblings about heading to WWE).

#8 - WWF Title at Royal Rumble PPV -Jan 1992 (loses to Randy Savage at WM VIII in April 1992)

#9 - TV Taping, vs Randy Savage Sept 1992 (loses to Brett Hart Oct 1992 - takes injury related leave of absence immediately following loss and is gone for six weeks)


During this time the NWA Board Of Directors, comprised of regional promoters who by now had little or no pull within the WCW business model (and had little with Crockett at the end of his run before selling to Turner in 1988) have decided that the actual NWA Title is not the WCW Title, they are separate entities, and as such they start promoting their own brand of wrestling under the NWA name. For awhile in 1993 WCW actually works with them, giving them TV time on their shows and PPVs in an effort to boast their talent pool (but greatly confuses the TV audience). For awhile in 1993 on WCW TV you have both a WCW & NWA Champion, leading to ....

#10 - NWA Title vs Barry Whyndam - June 1993 Great American Bash PPV (by the fall the brief co promotion agreement falls through, most of the wrestlers with any real name value are alligned with the WCW anyway, and the NWA continues on but is severely crippled. WCW keeps this title however, re branding it the INTERNATIONAL TITLE, which basically is the same as the World Title. Rick Rude beats Flair and is declared International Champion at Fall Brawl in Sept 1993).

Eventually WCW tired of complaints about having "two" World Titles and decided that with Hulk Hogan joining the promotion it made sense to unify the titles and since the money was in Hogan vs Flair it would be Flair who would unify them. Flair pinned WCW International Champion Sting at the June 94 Clash Of Champions to unify the titles (and get one last big win before facing Hogan). Some fans have complained this should have been treated as an extra reign but WCW & PWI basically just let the unification stand as part of the un-interrupted 11'th reign between Dec 93 & July 94.


#11 – Starrcade 93/Win Or Retire vs Vader – Dec 1993 (during this reign we have the famous “double pin” match with Ricky Steamboat at SuperBrawl 1994 in Feb, which is declared a draw. Angry over the controversy Flair “gives back” the WCW Title to WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkle until he can beat Steamboat decisively, which he does in the re match on TBS in April 1994. Flair is briefly referred to as a 12 time champion on TV but that is quickly changed and instead this is viewed as an un-interrrupted 11th reign all the way until he loses to Hulk Hogan at Bash At The Beach in July 1994)

#12 – Starrcade 95 vs Randy Savage Dec 1995 – Flair wins a Triple Threat Match against Lex Luger & Sting and then beats Savage IMMEDIATELY following that match, no break in between, and now has held the World Title in either WWE/WWF & NWA/WCW for part of every year between 1981-1995 (loses to R. Savage on Monday Nitro in Jan 1996)


#13 – SuperBrawl 96 vs Randy Savage, No DQ, No Hold Barred, Steel Cage – The match where Elizabeth turns on The Macho Man, Feb 1996 (Basically WCW interrupted Flair’s reign to A) show the unpredictability of Monday Nitro, in fact Flair pinned Hulk Hogan on Nitro, an extreme rarity, Hogan being pinned, just a few weeks later to earn this title match. B) Add extra interest into the SuperBrawl PPV)
Briefly WCW starts recognizing the “Singapore Title Swap” & the 1991 Fujinami/Tokyo Dome as title switches because while they want to promote Flair as a 13 time champion they do not want to recognize his WWE Titles to do so, Eric Bischoff actually decries those titles as meaningless and refuses to give them any legitimacy when Bobby Heenan briefly mentions them during a Spring 96 Nitro broadcast.

Flair loses the title on Monday Nitro in April 1996 to The Giant/Big Show.

#14 – First Blood/No DQ/Cage Match – WCW Title vs WCW Presidency – vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan March 1999 at Uncensored PPV. – Hogan actually gave Flair four high profile wins (via Count Out at Aug 94 Clash of Champions, via DQ at Aug 96 Clash Of Champions, via pinfall Jan 96 Monday Nitro, via pinfall to win the WCW Title here) which while not clean wins was more than he ever gave anyone else, including Randy Savage. (looses title in April 99 at Spring Stampede to DDP in Fatal Four Way including Sting & Hogan with Savage as guest ref)

#15 – Monday Nitro vs Jeff Jarrett, May 2000

#16 – Awarded by Kevin Nash – The one that always angers fans – Flair was supposed to hold the title for a bit before eventually loosing it back to Jarrett, a favorite of WCW booker Vince Russo and the lead villain on the show at the time. Flair was injured though a week after beating Jarret, rather than wait and see if he would return healthy Russo stripped Flair on screen of the title, awarded it Jarret by default, who then lost it later that same night vs Kevin Nash (yep, 3 diff World Champs in a span of about 75 minutes). Flair was medically cleared this week for action though so they “awarded” the title back to him so he could lose it in a dramatic match vs Jarret. For awhile WCW only referred to Flair as a 15 Time Champion and other times called him a 14 time champion, seemingly ignoring the Russo Strip and Nash Award and bringing in question whether they really recognized the Singapore Title Swap and Tokyo Dome incidents as actual title changes. This lack of clarity continues literally until the final Nitro in March 2001.

Flair signs with WWE in late 2001 and is quickly promoted as a 16 Time Champion. PWI takes the stand that if you do not consider Flair’s title reign from Jarrett to have been interrupted by the Russo Strip then you would have to deduct World Title Reigns from both Jarret’s career & Nash. Rather than do that, they simply accept The Russo Strip, Jarret’s title award, Nash win over Jarret, and subsequent Nash “Awards Title” to Flair as all separate reigns, albeit short ones. They do not recognize any of the South American “title swaps” as they were not officially sanctioned by the NWA (Flair was NWA World Champ at this time). They do not recognize the Singapore Title Swap with Harley Race for the same reason. The Tokyo Dome in 1991 is considered to not represent a change in champion, Flair maintains champion status straight through. Same with the fall out from the 1994 “Double Pin” vs Ricky Steamboat.)

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Surely if the official decision regarding the Trinidad switch was that the result was reversed (due to Jovica's feet on the ropes during the pinfall), then NO ONE can count Jovica's reign, and it cannot be then counted as an extra Flair reign?

So even IF we agree with the OP on the rest, and the Dominican one is quite famous, it still means Flair only has 20 reigns, not 21...

 

[Woodstuff]

For me, Flair will only ever be an 8 time world champion. Couldn't care less about NWA title reigns, personally.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

For me, Flair will only ever be an 8 time world champion. Couldn't care less about NWA title reigns, personally.

But between about 1985 and 1991, the NWA pretty much WAS WCW, and the major title the promotion recognised, both as JCP and WCW, was the NWA World Heavyweight Title until 1991

 

[Prince Vee]

I don't see this as a big deal because over the years WWE and Vince McMahon had shadowed many of the title Reigns by many superstars. They haven't just shadowed the reigns of Chris Benoit (necessarily) but also many other Reigns as well. So when Ric Flair don't have a concern over it, it shouldn't be considered as a measuring scale for other stars.

Cheers!!

 

[tvcolosi]

For me, Flair will only ever be an 8 time world champion. Couldn't care less about NWA title reigns, personally.

The title that was universally recognized as THE real world title (including by the WWWF at times in the 70's) you couldn't care less about? I have trouble watching 70's and early 80's wrestling because I find the pace boring but how can you not appreciate the history and legacy?

 

[FlairFan2003]

For me, Flair will only ever be an 8 time world champion. Couldn't care less about NWA title reigns, personally.

Flair's NWA Reigns carried a lot more weight than any of the WCW or WWE runs. From 1981-87 Flair was defending that title in official NWA matches in territories all over the US as well as Canada & Japan. He had Champion vs Champion Matches with both WWE Champ Bob Backlund & AWA Champ Rick Martel, he wrestled far more often (over 300 matches per year as opposed to the 200-225 schedule post 1986) against a much wider array of competition. He would often face more contenders in more matches in more venues in one month than he would in six months in the 90s in WWE or WCW. Heck in two WWE reigns Flair only had title matches against 4 opponents (Jim Powers and that may have been a televised non title match, Savage, Hart, & Ultimate Warrior). He faced at least 9 different contenders for the title in the month of July alone in 1986 (D. Rhodes, Magnum TA, N. Kolloff, R. Morton, R. Gibson, R. Garvin, Road Warrior Hawk, Road Warrior Animal).

The NWA reigns were much better, many more matches, in more cities, more countries, against a much wider and tougher range of opponents.

 

[rmp0012002]

To me, the NWA title reigns are the most important as that was the premier title to hold. If you include the quick swaps with the likes of Race, Veneno and Jovica and the weekly title changes on WCW then you come up with the higher number. The reigns in WCW was just crazy booking but the NWA was not happy with the title swaps Flair did but usually by the time they found out Flair (and Race) already had the belt back but they didn't recognize them.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

For me, Flair will only ever be an 8 time world champion. Couldn't care less about NWA title reigns, personally.

You do realise that the NWA title was EXTREMELY prestigious when Flair held it don't you? It's not the watered-down, unimportant title that exists on the indie circuit these days. In Flair's day, to hold that title meant you were "THE MAN", and to ignore this and class those reigns as something you "couldn't care less about" is extremely ignorant.

Does that mean you don't count Harley Race and Dusty Rhodes as decorated World Heavyweight Champions either?

 

[King Patrick Star]

By my count, I believe Ric Flair had 22 World Championship Title reigns. I count 10 NWA World Championship Title reigns, 8 WCW World Championship Title reigns, 2 WWF World Championship Title reigns and 2 WCW International Championship Title reigns.

What I’m hoping for is that when, not if, John Cena wins his 16th World Championship Title, the WWE runs a storyline where Ric Flair says he’s actually the 22 time World Heavyweight Champion. That would make a great storyline to push Cena to try and get 23 World Championship Title reigns.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

By my count, I believe Ric Flair had 22 World Championship Title reigns. I count 10 NWA World Championship Title reigns, 8 WCW World Championship Title reigns, 2 WWF World Championship Title reigns and 2 WCW International Championship Title reigns.

What I’m hoping for is that when, not if, John Cena wins his 16th World Championship Title, the WWE runs a storyline where Ric Flair says he’s actually the 22 time World Heavyweight Champion. That would make a great storyline to push Cena to try and get 23 World Championship Title reigns.

God, I hope they DON'T do that! No-one needs 23 World Title reigns in this day and age. For Cena to get to that many it would neccesitate so many quick runs and title changes, I'm not a fan of the idea at all.

I class Flair as the 16x Champion, no more, no less. The other reigns weren't sanctioned, so they don't officially count.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I think it would be stupid at this point to "re classify" Flair's title lineage and change the entire history of the NWA in the process just so when Cena gets #16 there can be a storyline where he is still 6 or 7 reigns away from the record. Considering that WWE spent a decade marketing every Ric Flair item you can think of with the tag "16 Time Champion", including a line of T-Shirts that were in fact "16 Time World Champion" T-Shirts, it would be confusing, non sensical, and require fans to become invested in re writing history from 35 years ago just to get over. Meanwhile Cena would either need a bunch of extremely short title runs to hit the "new" record or we'd be marching an 80 year old Flair on screen to celebrate with a mid 50s Cena as he FINALLY gets the record. No way that sounds like a good storyline idea.

The 16 Reigns coincides with the title histories of Race, Jarret, Nash, it matches the official records of the NWA, WCW (although that one was cloudy) and WWE and has been the accepted standard for some time now. I see no reason to switch that now.