WWE News: Ric Flair Has A Devoted Fan In Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker is now a country music legend, but he still has fond memories of watching Ric Flair wrestling in his heyday.

He says “Ric Flair was such a huge part of my childhood and teen years. He’s an icon.”

He once bought a robe at an auction that had been worn by Flair and even has a replica of Ric Flair’s world championship belt on display in his home. He explains, “It was a live auction, and this other guy really wanted it. But I wanted it a little more. It got up there pretty high. It cost me a pretty penny, but it was worth it.”

Rucker adds, “I’ve got some great stuff in my sports memorabilia collection. But my favorite thing by far is the robe. I actually have a Ric Flair robe with ‘the Nature Boy’ on the back. That’s awesome. When I look at it, it brings back so many memories of my childhood and my teen years.”

Rucker was only eight years old when he first discovered Ric Flair wrestling on Saturday afternoon television. “I was an 8-year-old who loved wrestling and watched it religiously every Saturday at one o’clock,” he says.

He adds that his grandmother loved watching wrestling, although she wasn’t a particular fan of Ric Flair. She would say, “You can’t trust that Ric Flair. Watch him… he’s going to turn.”

However, when asked to choose who he thinks is the greatest wrestler of all time, Rucker says that, with 16 world titles and four decades to his credit, Flair is an easy pick.

“That argument over who is the greatest of all time is such a big thing. All those New York guys say Hogan. I’ve watched a lot of wrestling, and even now I’ll YouTube a lot of stuff that I haven’t seen, like old Bruno matches or Lou Thesz matches that you can get on there. You can watch all the greats. But Ric Flair is the greatest of all time.”

What Rucker most admired about Ric Flair was his willingness to always do what was best for business, even if that meant putting over performers who were much less talented – and his ability to overcome adversity. “He’s had so many ups and downs. But he’s come through with the greatest attitudes and the greatest outlook on life.” Rucker explains what he means:

“The thing that I love so much is that when you talk to guys who were bookers or you read books from other people, no one ever says Ric wouldn’t put anybody over. And that’s something I love so much about Ric. Ric Flair was the biggest name in the business, and if you told him he had to lose to Lex Luger or Dusty Rhodes, he wasn’t going to (complain) about it. He’s gonna put the guy over and he’s going to make that guy look great. And that’s what it’s all about.”

Ric Flair is everything you’d want an idol to be, according to his greatest fan, Darius Rucker.

[Image via postandcourier.com]