A TRIBUTE TO THE "NATURE BOY" RIC FLAIR

The article below came from the Burlington Times and it features info on Ric Flair's appearance at the Burlington, N.C. Walmart on Wednesday July 8th 2009, there were around 400 people who came out to meet the Champ and from what I was told there were no shopping being done inside Walmart because all eyes were on the Nature Boy.

Still the Man: Hundreds turn out to meet Ric Flair

The Wal-Mart on Garden Road in Burlington was swarmed on Wednesday evening by fans of wrestler "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who was signing autographs in the infant section of the store.

The line of fans zigzagged from the baby section, where an autograph table was set up in front of a display of Coca-Cola boxes that spelled out Flair's signature exclamation "WOOOO!", to the front of the store.

John Henley, who was holding down the first position in line, made a five-hour journey to see the man he regards as "the greatest athlete of all times."

Henley, a 49-year-old nurse from Augusta, Ga., was hoping that Flair would sign the "portrait of the great athlete" he has tattooed on his back.

After a five-hour wait, the Greatest World Champion of all Time finally appeared, but there was a slight problem: He refused to sign the fan's back.

According to Henley, who took three vacation days to travel to Burlington with his wife, Flair was not permitted to sign the tattoo because Wal-Mart is a public place where it would be unacceptable to expose his back.

Henley, who works at the Walton Rehab Hospital in Augusta, is a longtime fan of Ric Flair. "I saw him retire, I saw his last match, and I saw him go into the Hall of Fame," he said. "I even saw him at Wrestlemania 24."

One of two Burlington police officers that were on site estimated there were 400 fans in line waiting to see Flair.

Nikki Hudson, who was the last person in line, was worried that she and her sons would not get to see Flair before he was finished signing at 8:30. Hudson, who takes her children to local wrestling events every two weeks, did not know about the event until her daughter's boyfriend informed her of Flair's appearance when he arrived at 6:30.

Henley's trip was not a complete loss, however, and he did have a backup plan. Instead of the tattoo, Flair signed Henley's replica world championship belt.

Credit on the article above goes to Michael Billy of the Burlington Times