5 Best Tag Team Partners Of Ric Flair's Career (& The 5 Worst)
Mia Walsh Out of all the special performers that have come through the wrestling business over the years, there's one that stands above so many others as arguably the greatest overall performer ever, the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
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In his nearly 50 years in the wrestling business, Flair has accomplished everything a pro wrestler could ever hope to. He's a 16-time World Champion and believe it or not, he's also won Tag Team Championships on 9 separate occasions. With an in-ring career spanning nearly 50 years, Flair has seen his fair share of great partners as well as a handful of less desirable ones.
10 Best: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Today's pro wrestling audience is obsessed with staus and clout. As a result, the word "legend" gets thrown around a lot, undeservingly. To be fair, WWE is partly to blame. They're the ones that started putting the "legend" label on less than legendary performers. Regardless, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper is a true legend and icon in the sport of wrestling.
Despite his status in the business, Piper wasn't much of a glutton for championships during his career. One of the few titles Piper won in WWE is the World Tag Team Championships. He did so at an advanced age alongside "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in 2006. Their reign wasn't long but it was fun while it lasted.
9 Worst: Reid Flair
Today, the "Flair" name and legacy are secure in the hands of Ric Flair's daughter, Charlotte. Charlotte is and has been WWE's top female performer for nearly a decade now. Charlotte has gone on record before though, saying that she's living out her late brother, Reid's dream of being a WWE superstar.
In 1998, Reid would get a small taste of being a wrestling superstar when he wrestled and defeated Eric Bischoff in WCW at only 10 years old. In 2000, Reid would get to step into a WCW ring once more to team with his dad against his older brother, David and Vince Russo. Reid was nowhere near a good pro wrestler at the time but it was dream come true to wrestle alongside his dad.
8 Best: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
Today, many fans know who Greg "The Hammer" Valentine is, but many don't understand just how great of a performer, and how big of a star he was in his day. As the son of the legendary Johnny Valentine, Greg grew up around the wrestling business and understood its intricacies at a young age. In the late 70s, Valentine would form a tag team with another up-and-coming wrestler, Ric Flair.
Flair and Valentine would go on to enjoy great success together. They'd win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championships once and the NWA World Tag Team Championships twice while teaming. They were a very formidable team but one that many fans today aren't too familiar with.
7 Worst: Eugene
Sometimes, it's crazy to look back and see just how far society has come in 20 years. It's a bit hard to believe that in 2004, most of the world was still tone-deaf to some sensitive subjects. That year, WWE greenlit perhaps its most offensive character ever, Eugene. To be fair, WWE didn't appear to have any malicious intent with the Eugene character.
In hindsight though, the character was in poor taste. Regardless, at one point in time, Eugene teamed up with "The Nature Boy" himself. Flair and Eugene challenged La Resistance for the World Tag Team Championships at Vengeance 2004. They would come up short and never team again.
6 Best: Triple H
In the early 2000s, Ric Flair was going through self-confidence issues while in WWE. Flair was once "The Man" in professional wrestling but after years of character assassination in WCW, he no longer felt like that performer. Luckily for Flair, Triple H would come around and breathe new life into the floundering legend.
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The two would take Randy Orton and Batista under their wings and form the all-time great Evolution stable. As the founding fathers of Evolution, Flair and Triple H would often tag together. Even after the group disbanded, Triple H remained one of Flair's reoccurring tag team partners and biggest supporters.
5 Worst: Mongo McMichael
In 1995, NFL legend Lawrence Taylor crossed over into pro wrestling when he main evented WrestleMania 11 against Bam Bam Bigelow. After that, both WWE and WCW were looking for more current and former NFL players to incorporate into their products. This opened the door for Steve "Mongo" McMichael to join WCW.
Mongo started as an announcer but eventually transitioned into a wrestler. Despite his lack of experience, he'd be invited to join the legendary Four Horsemen stable. This led to him and Ric Flair tagging together on several occasions. Considering his inexperience, Mongo wasn't Flair's worst partner ever but he was certainly far from the best.
4 Best: Batista
Some performers are destined to become megastars, no matter what. Batista probably falls in that category. However, there's no denying the positive effects that came from Batista being placed alongside the likes of Ric Flair and Triple H in Evolution.
The influence of Ric Flair, especially in the early part of Batista's career, can't be understated. In Evolution, the two would become a tag team. They would be quite dominant, winning the World Tag Team Championships on two occasions. Even after Evolution disbanded, Flair and Batista would remain close allies and occasional partners.
3 Worst: Torrie Wilson
Throughout its history, WCW didn't have a propensity for creating female stars. However, in the late 90s, a couple of young female talents broke through to become somewhat household names. One of them was Torrie Wilson. Wilson's time in WCW was mostly spent alongside Billy Kidman but she was also able to stand alone as a character.
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When WWE purchased WCW in 2001, Wilson was brought on as part of the Invasion angle. When that concluded, Wilson remained regularly featured on WWE programming. In 2007, Wilson was involved in a storyline with Ric Flair and Carlito. This eventually led to Flair and Wilson teaming up to face Carlito and Victoria on an episode of Monday Night Raw.
2 Best: Arn Anderson
There have been sets of performers throughout wrestling history that have been attached at the hip. Some of them were wrestler/manager tandems and some consisted of two wrestlers. Ric Flair and Arn Anderson fall into the latter category. Since the 80s, Flair, and Anderson have been the closest of allies. The two are the godfathers of the legendary Four Horsemen stable.
With Flair as leader of The Horsemen and Anderson as "The Enforcer," they often found themselves teaming up. Despite never capturing tag team gold together, the two were a dominant unit throughout their careers. Unfortunately, both Falir and Anderson have admitted lately that they are no longer close.
1 Worst: Charles Robinson
Some young wrestling fans grow up wanting to be part of the wrestling business in some way or fashion. Some of them grow up to be performers, while others find different ways to break in. Charles Robinson was a life-long wrestling fan who used refereeing as his way to get his foot in the door of the wrestling business. Robinson's hero growing up was none other than "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
In 1999, Robinson was a referee in WCW. That year he got to live out his life-long dream when he got to team with his childhood idol. On the 5/17/1999 Monday Nitro, Flair and Robinson squared off against "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Madusa. Flair and "Lil Naitch" would be on the losing end that night and wouldn't tag again. The brief angle was certainly memorable but it was far from a career highlight for Flair.