After a three and a half year hiatus, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair returned to the WWE on Monday on their weekly flagship show, Raw . Raw has been a mainstay on Monday night television since its inception on January 11, 1993 and provides nearly four million homes weekly with some of sports entertainment’s most exciting moments. On December 17’s episode, no moment was bigger than the return of Flair.
Flair is a 63-year-old wrestling Legend that has been “styling and profiling” in the ring for audiences around the world for the past 40 years. In 2012, Ric Flair was in the news for becoming the first ever double inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame, first being inducted individually in 2008 and then being inducted in 2012 as a member of the Four Horsemen . Now, the “kiss stealing, wheeling and dealing, son of a gun” has returned to WWE.
“The Nature Boy” may be as well known for his night life as he is for his accolades in the wrestling industry. Flair recently had a highly publicized divorce from his fourth wife , Jacqueline, in which she stated that “acts of illicit sexual behavior” were the reason for the split. Long time friend, WWE Superstar, Triple H discussed “Naitch” and his partying lifestyle in an interview last year with mmafighting.com :
“Ric is one of my best friends. Ric doesn’t know when to walk away. Ric doesn’t want to be told to walk away. And Ric can’t afford to walk away. Ric has lived every day of his life like it’s the last for almost the fifty years he’s been in the business. In Ric’s mind, it’s still 1982, he’s on top of the world, he’s young, he’s got a lot of money. Ric has never questioned spending. We have a term on the road where if you go out and you have a crazy night that you spent a ludicrous amount of money or you just lose it one day and you can’t go through another airport and you’re trying to get a jet instead, we call it ‘Naitching.’ Ridiculously spending money for no point is called ‘Naitching.’ “
Flair returned as a surprise presenter during the show’s Slammy Awards ceremony to present John Cena with the Superstar of the Year trophy. Cena gave the moment back to Flair, handing him his newly won trophy to call him the “Real Superstar of the Year.” The currently injured WWE Champion, CM Punk took exception to that and claimed that he deserved the trophy and could beat Flair on one leg. After clearing the ring of Punk and Punk’s agent, Paul Heyman, the trio of young talent that call themselves “The Shield” made their way to the ring to attack Flair. Flair was saved by fan favorites, Daniel Bryan, Kane, and Ryback.
Watch Flair’s return to WWE television in the video below: