Book Review

To Be The Man

By Ric Flair, with Keith Elliot Greenburg

To be the man, you've got to beat the man.

For over 30 years, that has been the motto of 16-time world champion professional wrestler, "Nature Boy," Ric Flair.

Flair's competitiveness in the wrestling ring holds true in his new career as an author. Flair is number seven on the New York Times Bestseller's list, ahead of high minded books by Tim Russert, and William F. Buckley.

I'm sure Russert and Buckley would rather be subjected to Flair's "figure four leg lock" than to have their serious books outsold by a professional wrestler's autobiography, but Flair is a unique entertainer with many fans.

"To Be The Man" is an outstanding biography and gives a good insight into the business of professional wrestling. Co-authored with Keith Elliot Greensburg, who had previously co-authored "Classy" Freddie Blassie's wrestling biography, the book flows with interesting stories and inserts from other wrestlers, family members and friends.

Flair was born in Memphis but immediately adopted by a family in Minneapolis . His father was a physician and Flair, who has often incited fans by claiming that he "grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth," had an upper class and boarding school upbringing. A chance meeting with weightlifting champion turned wrestler Ken Patera got Flair the opportunity to enroll in a training camp run by wrestling legend Verne Gagne. Flair wrestled in the states near Minnesota until 1974 when another wrestling legend, "Wahoo" McDaniel, convinced Flair to move to Charlotte, North Carolina where he has lived ever since.

Flair's success in the Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling and later in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was interrupted by a 1975 private plane crash that injured Flair and paralyzed Johnnie Valentine, one of the biggest wrestling stars at that time. Flair came back from his injuries and began his climb to wrestling fame and fortune.

Flair normally played a bad man in the ring and his cocky, lady's man image was an exaggerated extension of his own personality. Flair lived to party which resulted in a divorce and strains on his second marriage.

Almost every big name in wrestling history interacts with Flair at some point in his career. Flair's career touches early champions like Gange, McDaniel, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and Harley Race. He had famous matches with Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant and Lexington native "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Flair stayed around long enough to be on the card with modern stars like, Triple H, Undertaker and the Rock. In several cases, like the Rock, Flair has been around long enough to wrestle both the modern wrestler and his father.

Flair's book has great insights into the business of professional wrestling. He discusses how champions were by executive committees and not the ring. The book is a good history of the rise and fall of the NWA and wrestling on Ted Turner's cable channels WTBS and TNT. The marketing superiority of Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later called the WWE) wiped out the NWA and the regional wrestling circuits that existed at the beginning of Flair's career.

Flair is very open about his wild personal life and how it affected his marriage and children. He discusses in detail his bouts with depression and a crisis in confidence. He attributes his depression to protracted business and legal battles with former NWA president Eric Bishoff and paints an unflattering portrait of Bishoff.

One criticism of the book is that WWE founder Vince McMahon comes off looking like a combination of saint and business genius. According to Flair, McMahon can do no wrong. Flair works for McMahon now and McMahon's company published his book. A more even-handed portrayal of McMahon would have made the book stronger.

In short, it is an entertaining read. If Flair wanted to describe it himself, he would say "I gave the people a chance to climb space mountain and see what I am about. If Tim Russert or William F. Buckley wants to be the man on the bestseller list, he's got to beat the man. WOO!

Don McNay is President of McNay Settlement Group in Richmond and has written several columns and articles about professional wrestling.