by Ric Flair
Becky was the first to go to the ring. Her energy and connection with the audience made her the perfect person to kick things off. It’s like she says; she’s “straight fire.”
The next was Sasha. The Boss looked fantastic going to the ring with her signature swagger. And for WrestleMania, Snoop Dogg, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before, performed a special version of her theme song. It was a grand entrance befitting the Boss.
At first, I thought, How do you follow Snoop Dogg? Then I did something I do each time before I walk through the curtain: I kiss my hand and point to the sky. After I did that this time, I looked at my dad from the corner of my eye. He didn’t notice. I looked at the monitor and saw the stage and the path to the ring. That’s when I realized this was the aisle he was supposed to walk me down first. All along. This was my destiny.
I heard Lilian Garcia’s voice. My music hit. It was time to make history.
When I walked onstage at WrestleMania XXIV to receive my dad’s Hall of Fame ring, my legs almost buckled. I didn’t know how he had done this for so many years. This was eight years later. I was doing it with the greatest of all time beside me. I walked through the curtain with the most confidence I ever had.
I took my first steps in my robe onstage. I raised my arms and rotated 360 degrees. On this night, nothing felt more natural.
As I got closer to the ring, the enormity of the moment and the historical significance of the match became even realer. I stopped a second time to show the beautiful artistry of the robe for everyone to see, along with, for the final time, the Divas Championship. The splendor of the pyrotechnics and wonder of WrestleMania provided the perfect celebration of my father’s legacy and my future.
When I entered the ring and saw WWE Hall of Famer Lita holding the new WWE Women’s Championship, it was another instance of my coming full circle. Lita had been pivotal in my development as a member on the main roster.5 The girl who had accidentally found her way into Lita’s dressing room in England and was in the front row the night she and Trish Stratus main-evented Raw in 2004 never thought she’d be in the ring with her one day.
A Triple Threat Match is another match where the structure does not favor the champion. The champion does not have to be pinned or submit to lose. In this case, our story featured two top heroes against a villain. This time, I was ready to take the new crown. We were going to take the audience on a ride they never expected!
The crowd chanted, “Women’s wrestling!” The three of us stood there—now WWE Superstars—and enjoyed the moment. The three women from NXT were in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania with more than one hundred thousand people on their feet waiting to see our match. They were waiting to see who would emerge victorious and be the WWE Women’s Champion.
Our debut on Raw last July signified that it was our time. This moment meant that it was our time to take over.
The first act began with “the Lass Kicker” Becky Lynch and the Boss joining forces to take me down. That quickly proved to be temporary. They showed that Triple Threat matches are every Superstar for themselves and traded quick pinfall attempts to end the match early.
I put an end to that when I drilled Becky with a boot to the face. Then came a standoff between Sasha and me. The Boss showed the audience that she was ready to throw down. She blocked my offense and flew from the top rope with a Hurricanrana. After Sasha took off from the second rope, Becky followed that by giving me a German suplex. The two fan favorites spun the match so fast, going move for move, while I plotted my next strategy on the outside.
Triple Threats have the creative challenge of keeping all the participants involved throughout the match while giving the Superstars time to battle it out one-on-one.
Becky seized the moment and dove off the ring apron onto Sasha and me. It was time for Becky and me to take the chemistry we’d developed during matches at live events and raise the stakes on the grandest stage of them all.
All three of us had submission moves that could come into play at any time. Becky was the first to incorporate an offense that specifically targeted an opponent’s arm just to let the world know that she could lock in the Disarmer arm lock at any time.
We kept the pendulum shifting as I teased going for my Figure Eight submission on Becky. Sasha returned and took the attack to me, only to be sent out of the ring courtesy of the Lass Kicker. Becky, making it clear that she was going to win the championship her way, continued to fire her high-powered offense. The crowd roared when she locked in her Disarmer submission move on me. Being trapped in the move in the center of the ring meant I had nowhere to go. As he was so adept at doing, my parent in crime on the outside got the referee’s attention to buy some time.
Sasha broke up the hold to ensure that I didn’t give up, thus giving Becky the victory. The Boss found herself back on the stadium floor. The tables continued to turn. I was able to regain control and blast my former best friend from behind. I stood over Becky and held her leg up an extra second. The more than one hundred thousand fans cheered, “WOOOOO!!” in unison, and that’s when I knew it was time to lock in the figure four.
As the second act opened in dramatic fashion, the pages of this Women’s Championship story continued to turn. Before I could bridge from the figure four into the Figure Eight, Sasha soared from the top rope with a perfect Five-Star Frog Splash that would have made her hero Eddie Guerrero proud. The crowd couldn’t believe their eyes when my shoulder came off the canvas just before the referee’s hand touched the mat for the third time.
Becky displayed her trademark resilience and tossed Sasha and me around the ring like rag dolls with her suplexes. Becky covered me. Sasha moved like a cat and broke up the pin to keep the match going.
When I rolled out of the ring, the fans waited to see Sasha and Becky once again go toe-to-toe. As they traded exchanges of great offense, both women showed the heart that makes them incredible performers.
The saga took a sudden turn when Sasha ducked a clothesline from Becky. Instead of going back at Becky, she launched herself through the ropes, flipped in midair, and sent me down to the floor.
Moments later, not to be outdone, Becky took flight. Just when everyone thought Becky was going to take out the Boss, Sasha pulled my dad into harm’s way. Becky got a little payback after all the times my dad cheated her out of a victory. Our hearts were racing. We could feel the audience’s flood of emotion. With both my opponents occupied, I climbed to the top rope. I wanted to do something I was told not to do in the NXT Fatal 4-Way match. At the time, that bothered me. Now I realized why. Doing it now, at WrestleMania, would mean the most.
My heart and mind were racing at light speed. It was time to show the world that I backed up the edict of being genetically superior. I launched myself off the top rope and took both my challengers down with a moonsault out to the floor.
AT&T Stadium echoed with chants of “This is wrestling!” As we entered the third and final act of the historic story of the first WWE Women’s Championship, I was overwhelmed with intense, complex feelings.
I looked at my dad, took in that moment, and fed off the crowd. I grabbed both my opponents and declared, “This is my title!”
I dropped my challengers with a double version of my Natural Selection finisher. This should have been the end of the match. Becky escaped from my pinfall attempt. Sasha kicked out … Becky kicked out again … Sasha escaped … these women would not stay down. I exhausted all my options. The battle continued.
Becky fired back and drilled Sasha and me with a missile dropkick from the top rope. The Lass Kicker seized the moment and locked me in the Disarmer. I hung on for dear life. What looked like a clear path to victory became littered with roadblocks.
Sasha countered the Disarmer and had Becky cinched in her Bank Statement submission move. The fans shot to their feet to see the hero take the title home.
I took advantage of both competitors being down. I locked Sasha in the figure four, but she cont
inued to fight back and reversed the move before I could bridge into the Figure Eight. Just when I thought the match was won, Becky pulled Sasha to safety.
Each woman locked in her submission during the match. It was impossible to predict a winner. As storytellers who took pride in their craft, that’s exactly what we wanted.
We all endured incredible punishment. The drive to become Women’s Champion witnessed the three of us in the middle of the ring. I chopped them with everything I had. They fired shots at me and then dropped each other.
The battle continued as the three of us were on the top rope. Sasha hung upside down from the turnbuckle in the Tree of Woe. Becky sent me flying with a Bexploder suplex from the top rope.
After reversing a suplex attempt from Becky, Sasha regained the advantage and had Becky locked in the Bank Statement. This was where being the child of the Dirtiest Player in the Game helped again. I made it into the ring and threw Sasha to the outside just in time.
I seized the opportunity to lock Becky into the figure four. I bridged into the Figure Eight. I held on with everything I had. My dad held Sasha on the outside. The Boss couldn’t save the match this time. Becky held on for as long as she could, but the pain was too great.
It was all over. I wanted to grab Becky’s hand and say, “Thank you.” I sat on my knees for a moment. A tradition in the business was to never hold a championship until you became a champion. I didn’t touch the Divas Championship until I won it at Night of Champions.
I waited for the championship to be handed to me so I could take a moment to hold it in front of me. I wanted to acknowledge the championship the way it deserved—to show the world what it meant to the women’s division, to the sports-entertainment business, to the fans, and to me.
I was overcome with pride, holding that championship. I raised it over my head and pointed to my heart. I didn’t choose this path. It chose me. My father was with me. He played an integral part in helping me throughout this journey. It would never have meant as much without him.
I know there will be more chapters in my future stories with Sasha and Becky. I’m grateful for that. As I held up the new Women’s Championship,6 I was honored to be the first woman to have the opportunity to define what the championship meant.7
It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t orchestrated. It happened naturally. The women of NXT rose to WWE Superstardom together. At WrestleMania, we did what we had set out to do. Victory was ours. We had a great match, and we stole the show.
In the process, we became the guardians of women’s wrestling. The history of women in our business that began with great names like Mae Young, Mildred Burke, June Byers, and the Fabulous Moolah and continued with Wendi Richter and Sensational Sherri, Alundra Blayze, Trish Stratus, Lita, and Beth Phoenix—and the legacies of all the women who gave everything they had to this industry—were now in our hands.
We were ready. It wasn’t one woman who started this revolution; it was a group of driven women who worked together to propel it into an amazing transformation. We hoped that there was a little girl in the audience or at home watching TV who saw our performance and said, “This is what I want to do. This is my dream. I can do it.”
We’ll be able to take what we’ve done to a different level and set a new standard. We won’t stop smashing ceilings. The dreams are to main event WWE pay-per-views and achieve the ultimate goal—headline WrestleMania.8
Now that the glass ceiling has been shattered, the next generation of female competitors won’t have to battle the skepticism, the questions about whether or not women can draw money in this business. They will have the opportunity to show that, yes, they can do it. The challenge they will have is to top it.
Backstage, my father and I shared a deeply personal moment. We hugged. This time together meant so much to both of us. Our relationship was stronger than it had ever been. He was there for me every step of the way.
Yes, I’m the daughter of Ric Flair. Yes, I’m an extension of the Nature Boy. I’m proud of that. I’m proud of who my father is, and I’m proud to honor him. I’m proud to take the Flair name to new heights as a woman.9
I went back to the locker room. I was told that WWE’s corporate jet was waiting for me at the airport. I was flying through the night, straight to New York City, with newly crowned WWE Champion Roman Reigns, for an appearance on The TODAY Show.
I was told after the appearance on TODAY, I’d be back on the plane to Dallas in time to appear live on Monday Night Raw in the evening, where I’d be introduced as the new WWE Women’s Champion. And my dad would be right by my side. It was our time.
And so it begins again …
PART V
DEDICATIONS
Dear Champ,
One of the brightest days of my life was when you came into this world. My greatest achievement in life was that I was your hero.
I think of your smile after you played jokes on all of us or did one of your famous imitations, the Disney character breakfasts you loved as a boy, and how the ultimate fudge brownie at Harper’s was your favorite. Coming home and seeing the way your mom dressed you and how you and Ashley looked like twins always touched my heart.
Watching you become a standout athlete and pursue your dream made me so proud! What made me proudest, though, was the young man you grew up to be. Your love of family, the way you taught kids how to play sports, spending time with your nieces, and your affection for animals were just some of the ways you showed your thoughtfulness, kindness, and compassion.
It’s difficult for me to put my love for you and what a privilege it was to be your father into words. Your spirit lives in all of us—your mom, Megan, David, and Ashley.
We celebrate your life every day. I feel your presence wherever I go. I know that you’re not gone but in a better place.
I love you, Champ.
Love,
Dad
Dear Dusty,
It’s difficult to find the words to describe how much you meant to me.
It feels like yesterday that we drove the dirt roads of Amarillo, Texas, that you took me to Japan as a young kid in this business, and that we stood in the center of the ring nose-to-nose as opponents.
Even when we had professional differences—and we had our share—I felt we still had a mutual respect for one another.
We had so much fun. We made a lot of money, and we spent a lot of money. We lived life exactly the way you said, “On the edge of a lightning bolt.”
Some of my favorite memories were in recent years, looking back on our careers, talking about our kids, and discussing what was happening today. You were always better at the marriage thing than I was.
I never imagined that one day you’d protect and mentor my daughter Ashley the way you did for me.
I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for you. Your legacy will live on through your family and the generations of people you inspired to enter this profession. You encouraged them to “get a dream, hold on to it, and shoot for the sky.”
No one embodied the American Dream the way you did—the biggest star of them all.
I love you, Dusty.
Ric
Dear Reider,
I miss you. I miss you every day. I torture myself, not knowing whether I told you how proud I was of you enough. I get angry knowing that you never got to see me happy these last few years. I promise that I am happy now, and it’s all because of you.
Almost every day, I think about the letter you wrote me in Japan, telling me you didn’t give up because you thought about how hard I worked. Now I get to write you that letter to let you know that I don’t give up because of you. You changed my future that weekend in Miami when you told me that I should do this—that I should train to become a wrestler. I regret so many things. I wish I could rewrite history. I wish I had told you that I believed in your dreams because you were the one who believed in this path. I am doing it now, Reider. Your dream is coming true because I will continue to think about you when I want to
give up or when walking through that curtain seems too scary.
I feel like I lost the only person who really understood me. I just hope you know how much I loved you. If I let you down sometimes, I’m sorry. It’s funny. I always wanted to help you and give you advice, but in the end, you taught me the biggest lesson of all, and that was to have a dream. A goal. To live. Not to be trapped by what I thought and who I was. To believe in myself. You brought out all these things in me. If I had only known then that you were going to be the one teaching all of us now!
In Dusty’s words from your favorite interview, “I’ve wined and dined with kings and queens, and I’ve slept in alleys and dined on pork and beans.” Thank you, Reider. Thank you for everything.
I love you as big as the sky,
Winky
Dear Dusty,
We did it. I scroll through my phone to your number sometimes, wanting to text you. Every week when I get home from the road, I see the huge framed poster of you and my dad. It’s surreal to think what an amazing role you played in both our lives and how you were a mentor to both of us at different times. You took a lost girl with no vision for the future and gave me the confidence to be whatever I wanted to be. You also instilled that confidence in Becky, Sasha, and Bayley. I can still hear your voice saying, “I love my Divas,” with your one-of-a-kind lisp. When I debuted on the main roster, I still wonder, what would you have said to the promo class that Wednesday about Raw? What country song would you be playing loudly as we all took our seats before class? I know you would start off with “Did anyone see any good movies?” or “Who has the dirt?” We were your NXT kids, and you turned us into stars. Every big moment I’ve had up until now, before I walk through that curtain, I think about you. Can you see me?