At 75-years-old, former pro wrestling legend Ric Flair has become one of the jewels of this country. Building a celebrity as big as any athlete. Despite the fact that pro wrestling is scripted it requires great athleticism, skill, toughness, resilience and performance.
It certainly isn’t a sport for the meek. ESPN’s omission of Flair from its top 100 athletes of the 21st century list had ESPN host Pat McAfee and the former world champion losing their minds.
McAfee went on a direct rage against ESPN for the list, saying, “It is the epitome of everything that everybody hates about ESPN.”
LeBron, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods Miss Top 3
The list in general will have the sports world up in arms, which is probably the point of such a list. Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps was No. 1, Serena Wiliams was No. 2 and Lionel Mesi came in at No. 3. No LeBron. No Tom Brady. No Tiger Woods in the top 3 slots.
LeBron was No. 4, Tom Brady was No. 5, just ahead of tennis star Roger Federer (No. 6). The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by GOATS of their respective sports. Gymnast Simone Biles is ranked 7th, golfer Tiger Woods is 8th, and track legend Usain Bolt is 9th. Kobe Bryant sneaks in at No. 10.
Ric Flair Thinks He Should Be On List
But if you survey the rest of the list, there’s no “Nature Boy.”
“How in the hell on God’s green earth is Ric Flair not considered to be one of the top 100 athletes in the world???” Flair wrote on X (Twitter).
“I should actually be in the top 10.16 world titles, actually 22. 1,200 hour matches, 15 years without a day off; a cultural icon & worldwide sensation.
“Good lord, so many people have lost sight of what greatness truly is!
“I never pulled out with a calf muscle strain. Oh how the times have changed! What a bunch of b——!
“I get Tom Brady and all that but come on let’s get serious!”
The calf muscle strain comments could be a shot at any of a number of NBA players who have load-managed their way through seasons or used such injuries as reasons why they couldn’t play.
We can’t deny that wrestling was not a sport with an executive branch and ownership group that were highly concerned with the health of its employees.
Over the decades, while building Vince McMahon’s billion-dollar industry, many wrestlers have met their fates prematurely because of the dark side of the game and the fame.
Ric Flair Is Mixing Up His Eras: He’s Not 21st Century Athlete
Flair is off the chain. First of all, he and McAfee are confused with eras. Ric Flair won none of his word titles in the 21st century. In fact, he retired from wrestling in 2008, 2012 and again in 2022. Always searching for the flowers that he clearly doesn’t think he got.
One might say Ric Flair’s legacy was cemented and peaked when he was the centerpiece of one of The Migos’ greatest rap hits, “Ric Flair Drip.”
Also, if there was a performance category on ESPN’s list, then Flair would definitely be a top 10 candidate. However, the majority of the people on thai list are in their prime or just nearing the end of prolific careers and in the last quarter century Flair has aged from 51 to 75. He wasn’t at the top of the wrestling game at that point.
So he would have had a better chance of making the list in the ’80s or ’90s, for several reasons. Fans were still holding onto the faint hope that wrestling was real back then, so the wrestlers were more mythical.
Now they are respected for their showmanship, but there’s not a person who believes it’s real. In fact, the pro wrestling world has long ago stopped trying to convince kids of the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and that the blood you see trickling from wrestler’s heads is real.
Social Media Corrects Flair, Some Gentle Some Harshly
One X user named Jeff Da Stone seemed to be a huge Flair fan and used a polite approach to help the elderly legend understand that his math was off.
“Hey Ric, big fan here. Currently watching SuperBrawl 94 you vs Vader in a steel cage (basically an early version of Hell in a Cell). You’re the best to ever do it. But the ranking is based on the 2000s accomplishments alone. So you gotta toss out everything in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.”
X users were quick to point out those reasons and more for why “The Nature Boy” didn’t make the list.
“Bro, the matches are predetermined,” one X user commented.
“I love when wrestlers brag about how many times they’ve won a belt, as if they actually competed for a title like Muhammad Ali, rather than just getting the upper hand from the script department!” read another comment. “If that’s the case, Sylvester Stallone is a former 2 time world boxing champion!”
“Your sense of self importance is amazing,” another X user responded.
So clearly, most of the sports world born post-2000 doesn’t consider pro wrestling a real sport. That might have been the accepted train of thought back in the days, but Flair needs to enjoy his family and his legacy which is more than any performer could ever dream of. He’s probably touched as many lives through his craft as the most famous athletes of unscripted sports. Let’s not push it.
