Top Ten In-Ring Workers of All Time- Number Nine

Our number nine in-ring worker was limousine-ridin', jet-flying, kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing son of a gun.  The "Nature Boy" Ric Flair was a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion over a 40+ year career in organizations such as the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment.

While he is best known for his strutting, his signature Figure Four Leglock, and his famous, "Woooo!" chant, Flair had an indistinguishable ability to lure fans in with his matches.  His amazing ability to cheat and not get caught, his perfectly place Knife-edge chops, and his always exciting bumps provided fans with a great story during the 20-30 minutes he was in the ring with his opponent.

While the popularity of the fast-growing WWF in the 1980's helped Hulk Hogan become the biggest face in professional wrestling, many pundits believed that Flair was the better worker and just as good on the mic.  While Hogan spend the majority of his career as a face-- minus his years as the leader of the nWo-- Flair spent the majoriy of his early career as a heel as the leader of the Four Horsemen.

In the early 1990's, Flair surprised many when he left WCW for WWF; but this signing led fans to believe that Hogan vs Flair would actually happen.  Fans fully expected to finally find out who was better between Flair and Hogan, but the match never came during Flair's short first run in the WWF.  It wasn't until Hogan joined WCW that we finally saw the match take place.  Hogan would win as the face, and due to his huge international popularity.

While he has had his fair share backstage feuds, there is no doubting from anyone that Flair was one of the best workers in the ring.  From the start of his career in the 1970's to his retirement match at Wrestlemania XXIV, Flair always entertained the crowds-- both with his flair on the mic and with his in-ring abilities.

Even today, fans chant "Wooo!" everytime a wrestler chops an opponent or when a wrestler applies the Figure Four Leglock on someone.  When the "Dawn" section of Richard Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" hits, fans get especially excited to know the platinum blonde, blinged-out robe wearing "dirtiest player in the game" is about to make his entrance and continue to entertain the masses.