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David Flair

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David Flair
Birth nameDavid Richard Fliehr
Born (1979-03-06) March 6, 1979 (age 45)[1]
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Robin Haskell
​
(m. 2004)​
Children2
Parent(s)Ric Flair (father)
Relatives
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)David Flair[1]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Billed weight177 lb (80 kg)[1]
Billed fromCharlotte, North Carolina[1]
Trained by
DebutJanuary 17, 1999
RetiredMay 15, 2009

David Richard Fliehr (born March 6, 1979), better known by the ring name David Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he held the WCW United States Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship. He is the son of professional wrestler Ric Flair, and the half-brother of professional wrestlers Charlotte Flair and Reid Flair.[1]

Professional wrestling career

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World Championship Wrestling (1993, 1998–2001)

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Growing up, Fliehr did not want to become a wrestler, like his father; he always wanted to be a state trooper. He appeared on camera backstage with his father at Starrcade 1993 in World Championship Wrestling. In the storyline, his father was going to have to "retire" if he lost his match, so his family appeared to increase the emotion. In late 1998, David was back on WCW TV sitting front row and getting involved in some skirmishes with Eric Bischoff and the nWo.

He eventually decided to become a wrestler and teamed with his father in his debut match at WCW/nWo Souled Out on January 17, 1999. Flair wrestled under his father's altered surname of "Fliehr". They wrestled Curt Hennig and Barry Windham and won the match.[2][3]

On February 21, 1999 at SuperBrawl IX, David turned on his father and joined the nWo Elite. He used a taser on his father to help Hogan win their WCW World Title match. He did not wrestle for a while but did appear in vignettes with Samantha (Torrie Wilson) while he was training at the WCW Power Plant.[1]

Flair started to wrestle a regular schedule in May 1999. He made up with his father who then had the Four Horsemen help Flair win matches. Ric, being the on-screen WCW President, stripped WCW United States Champion Scott Steiner of his title and awarded it to Flair. On July 11, Flair defeated Dean Malenko, with the help of Ric and Arn Anderson, to keep the title in his first defense on pay-per-view.

Flair was joined by Daffney at Starrcade in 1999. He was joined a little later by Crowbar. They formed a team and won the vacant WCW World Tag Team Titles in a tournament final on January 3, 2000 over Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner with Anderson as the special referee.[1] They lost the titles to Big Vito and Johnny the Bull, "The Mamalukes," on January 19. Flair soon split with Crowbar and in May 2000, joined Vince Russo's New Blood. He dumped Daffney and took Miss Hancock (Stacy Keibler) as his valet. He also turned on his father again which led to a match against him at The Great American Bash. Flair lost, but the next night, he won a match against his father to retire him and shave his father's head.

Independent circuit (2001)

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Flair toured in the independent circuit for the first part of 2001. He teamed with Don Factor to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship on March 21. They lost them on March 23. He then teamed with Romeo Bliss to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship on March 24. They lost them on April 21.

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–2002, 2003, 2006)

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In May 2001, the World Wrestling Federation picked up Flair's WCW contract and sent him to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He stayed there and feuded with Val Venis and had a brief tag team with Mark Jindrak until late 2002, when they dropped his development contract. He did make two appearances on WWF TV during 2002 as he was beaten up by The Undertaker on March 4 and wrestled the Undertaker on March 14 as part of the build-up for his father's match against Undertaker at WrestleMania X8.

In May 2003, Flair did a series of dark matches for Sunday Night Heat and Velocity.

In January 2006, Flair lost to William Regal in a dark match.

NWA Total Nonstop Action (2002–2003)

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Flair joined NWA Total Nonstop Action in December 2002. He joined Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.) group. He had a brief feud with Curt Hennig and then left S.E.X. to form Next Generation with Brian Lawler and Erik Watts. Together, they feuded with Dusty Rhodes and mocked him with an old NWA World Title belt. David left TNA in early 2003.

Late career (2003–2009)

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After NWA TNA, David toured the independent circuit, winning the IWA Intercontinental Championship from Ray Gonzalez on November 28, 2003 in Puerto Rico. He lost it to Gonzalez two days later. Flair quit IWA after problems with IWA promoter Víctor Quiñones.

In January 2005, Flair appeared in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling.

On December 6, 2008, he wrestled a match with his half-brother, Reid, who was making his professional wrestling debut, defeating The Nasty Boys via submission in Charlotte, North Carolina, with Hulk Hogan as the special guest referee.[4][5]

Personal life

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Flair dated Stacy Keibler in 2000, when they both worked in WCW.[6] Flair married Robin Haskell in 2004, and they reside in Shelby, North Carolina.[7][8] They have two children, Pyper and Carter. Pyper is a nationally ranked gymnast.[9][10]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "David Flair profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
  2. ^ "Souled Out 1999". World Championship Wrestling. January 17, 1999. Archived from the original on November 25, 1999. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  3. ^ Powell, John (January 18, 1999). "Hall zapped at Souled Out". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Andrews, Kenai (December 5, 2008). "Reid Flair about to strut into the spotlight; Charlotte supershow has big names, young and old". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "Full Reid Flair debut show results with Nature Boy and Hulkster doing spots in the match". WrestlingObserver/Figure Four Online. December 8, 2008. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  6. ^ "Revealing Stacy Keibler interview". Gamespot. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  7. ^ Cawthon, Graham. "Flairs fall in defeat at wrestling fundraiser". The Star. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
  8. ^ WWE: Superstars > Hall of Fame > Articles > Flair of emotion
  9. ^ "How many children does Ric Flair have?". www.msn.com. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  10. ^ "2019 Junior Olympic Level 9 Eastern/Western Championships begin Friday". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  11. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2002". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  12. ^ "WWE United States Championship". Retrieved May 25, 2020.
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