I'm about to show my lack of smarkness by asking this question, but during the Vince/Flair match last night, one of my friends asked me why Flair is called The Nature Boy. I honestly couldn't remember, though I seem to recall him being in a tag team with another Nature Boy guy.
Enlighten me, someone.
There've been several "Nature Boys" over the years. The first one I can think of is Buddy Rogers, who was also the first WWWF champion when they first splintered from the NWA. Buddy Landell was also known as Nature Boy, and during his brief stint in the WWF in the mid 90's, he came out to Flair's old WWF music.
I think I remember something about Flair and Rogers being part of a team way, way, WAY back when, but I have no real idea about that.
I always thought Flair took the "Nature Boy" gimmick as a tribute to Rogers, and also because his character was based on Rogers. As for them being a tag-team, I know Flair started wrestling in the mid-seventies, and I'm pretty sure Buddy Rogers was done by the early sixties. Wasn't there some accident (car crash?) that ended his career and is why Sammartino beat him in 47 seconds for the belt right after he won it? Or am I mixing up my old-school wrestling history?
Moe
Edit: Hey, this post made me a cruiserweight! Whooo! "Excuse me, do you have any EuroDisney T-Shirts?" January 2nd, 2002. Paris, France. My proudest moment.
Flair started wrestling in 1972. A few years later, Flair was in a plane crash that put him out for a couple years. But I believe he was back to a full schedule in late '78.
"My parents said I could be anything, so I became an ASSHOLE!"
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