A TRIBUTE TO THE "NATURE BOY" RIC FLAIR

E-MAIL ME AT PDMJR26@AOL.COM WITH YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT RIC FLAIR AND I WILL POST THEM AT THIS LINK WWW.RFGOLDS.COM/FLAIRFANSMESSAGEBOARD.HTM 

EVERY WEEK WWE ANNOUNCER JIM ROSS CHOOSES HIS "SUPERSTAR OF THE WEEK" AND THE WEEK OF 1/18 TO 1/25 HE CHOSE THE "NATURE BOY" RIC FLAIR AND BELOW ARE HIS COMMENTS AS TO WHY HE MADE THAT DECISION. IT IS A FANTASTIC ARTICLE THAT I KNOW YOU FANS WILL ENJOY.

J.R.'s Superstar of the Week -                 Ric Flair

Greetings friends and neighbors from under the 200X, black Resistol hat from your barbeque-lovin’ Okie, who is happy to be home from an exciting trip to the Pacific time zone that resulted in more surprises than I ever expected at No Way Out and on Monday Night Raw.

The winner of this week’s coveted Raw Superstar of the Week award is an easy choice. No, it’s not the lovely and talented actress Lindsay Lohan, who spent the afternoon at Raw in Anaheim, Calif. and who certainly would have gotten Jerry “The King” Lawler’s vote (King loved Ms. Lohan’s freckles.), but another individual with a “party reputation” of sorts and who just happens to be the greatest wrestler of all time – the first announced inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2008, Ric Flair.

Ric’s going into the WWE Hall of Fame is a no-brainer as the 16-time World Heavyweight Champion long ago earned the distinction of being the best in-ring performer ever in wrestling. Some of my most cherished and memorable moments involve the “Nature Boy” who is just as much fun to be around outside the ring as he is to watch do what he was put on Earth to do – and that is wrestle. Ric’s influence on generations of wrestlers is far-reaching, much like many basketball players of today were motivated as youngsters to play in the NBA by watching Michael Jordan.

Ric Flair is a Rembrandt in tights, and as I said long ago, is painting with oils on his canvas while others are utilizing water colors. There have been many memorable moments at WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies over the years, but none may approach the emotion many of us will feel when Ric takes the stage in the Amway Arena in Orlando, Fla. the night before WrestleMania XXIV.

Ric, who gave yours truly a signed pair of red, patent leather, game-worn wrestling boots that are framed and hanging in J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Norman, Okla., will receive a box of products from www.jrsbarbq.com, where we are getting plenty of your e-mails about “Naitch” going into the Hall.   

There isn’t a day that passes by that I don’t count my many blessings that WWE and the wrestling business in general have provided my family and me. Now with Ric Flair joining “the HOF club,” inclusion in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 has taken on a whole new significance. Congratulations Ric. No one has ever done it better.