Ric Flair turns 71 years old on February 25, 2020. He is regarded as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. The Nature Boy, the sobriquet of Ric Flair, is a retired professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE under the legends contract. His daughter Charlotte Flair is currently one of the topmost female wrestlers in WWE who recently won women's Royal Rumble match 2020. On occasion of Ric Flair's birthday, we will share unknown facts of 16-time World Champion. WWE Raw February 17, 2020 Results and Highlights: Street Profits Rescue The Viking Raiders and Kevin Owens From Attack By Seth Rollins, Buddy Murphy & AOP; Randy Orton Destroys Matt Hardy (View Pics & Videos)

Ric Flair started his career with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the year 1972. He then went on to tour All Japan Pro Wrestling after that. In the year, 1974 Ric Flair joined National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). His reign in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from the year 1993 to 1996 as the best phase of his career. The Nature Boy made the debut in WWE in the year 1991 and wrestled here till 1993 before going back to WCW again. While from the year 1996 onwards his feud with New World Order (NWO) is regarded as the best storyline in wrestling. The wrestler returned back to WWE in the year 2001 as co-owner of the company after WCW was acquired.

Ric Flair is eight-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and two-time WWF Champion. He has been inducted twice in WWE Hall of Fame, 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. Now let us have a look at some of the interesting facts about Ric Flair.

Five Unknown Facts About Ric Flair 

1. Ric Flair Has Multiple Birth Name - Ric Flair's real name as per official documents is Richard Morgan Fliehr. However, as per the Hall of Famer himself, he is not aware of his real name. Ric Flair in his book To Be the Man,  stated that some of his documents have the birth name as Fred Phillips, son of Olive and Luther Phillips. However, even that is not clear, the main reason being that Flair was adopted shortly after he was born in February 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee. His adoption was arranged by the Tennessee Children’s Home Society which is an orphanage that used to kidnap babies and offer them up to those looking to adopt. His adoptive father is Dr. Richard Reid Fliehr, however, there is uncertainty surrounding what Flair’s birth name was. It’s believed to be Fred Phillips, but it may also have been Fred Demaree or Fred Stewart.

2. Ric Flair Decided to Quit Wrestling Just Two Days After Training 

The Nature Boy in his book To Be the Man, has admitted that just after two days of his wrestling training, he decided to quit because of the excessive physical activity involved in this sport. He started his training under pro wrestler Verne Gagne, The Iron Sheik and other notable wrestlers of that time inside of a barn near Minneapolis. On his first day, he was made to run two miles along with 500 free squats, 200 push-ups and 200 sit-ups, which almost caused him to quit. However, Verne Gagne on realising that Flair wants to quit wrestling training went to him home. When Gagne reached Flair's home he grabbed him by his shirt and threw him in front lawn saying that he wasn’t letting him get off that easy.

3. Ric Flair Survived a Plane Crash in 1975

Three years after making a successful start in his wrestling career Ric Flair met with a severe accident which almost took his life. On October 1975 a plane crash in North Carolina took place that killed the plane’s pilot. He broke his back and was told that he would never be able to wrestle again. However, Flair altered his wrestling technique as a result of the crash and somehow manage to return to the ring just eight months after the accident.

4. Ric Flair is Not the Original Nature Boy

Ric Flair is undoubtedly a legend, the greatest wrestler which this industry will ever see. He is indeed unique, however, the name Nature Boy does not originally belong to him. After facing a plane crash, Ric Flair worked on his techniques and changed his wrestling style which reminded the backstage people of The Nature Boy Buddy Rogers. It was then decided that Flair would adopt the gimmick of Buddy Rogers and give it a twist in his own way to make the character spicy. 'The Nature Boy' gimmick indeed ruled the wrestling world from the mid-1970s till the early 2000s.

5.  Jerry Lee Lewis Inspired Ric Flair to Say 'Woooooooo' 

Ric Flair fans love to chant 'wooooo' along with him during his match or appearances in WWE. Even his titantron starts with 'woooooo'. Ric Flair has inspired himself to 'wooo' after listening to Jerry Lee Lewis famous song, "Great Balls of Fire. Jerry Lee Lewis was a famous singer in 1950s.

Ric Flair was last seen mentoring his team at WWE Crown Jewel, 2019. He was the coach of Team Flair headed by Randy Orton against Team Hogan, mentored by Hulk Hogan. Team Hogan under the captaincy of Roman Reigns won that match. We as fans will hope and pray that Ric Flair keeps shining and make more appearances in WWE and we wish him a very Happy Birthday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 25, 2020 08:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).