Reid Flair

I was on the road in Spartanburg, SC on Friday, 29 March when I got two simultaneous texts after 1pm.  Reid Flair is dead they both said.  Tragic news and I thought what a shame, and what a loss, and what a lesson.  I'm not going to go into the wrongs or rights about Reid's life - it's not my place.  I was just a wrestling photographer.  So I'm going to show you some pictures.

These were taken on 6 December 2008, at Vance High School in Charlotte.  Wrestling in the Queen City on  Saturday night - a great feeling.  I was working for Highspots doing the VIP photo ops for Ric Flair.  This was the year of Ric's retirement and his big match at WrestleMania 24.  Everybody wanted a photo with the Nature Boy and I was lucky enough to get to be the cameraman.

His appearances for Highspots would culminate at a Premiere Wrestling Showcase show on 12/6 where he would be at ringside with his sons David & Reid versus The Nasty Boys with Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart. The special guest referee: Hulk Hogan.  The match was touted at Reid's debut match...which was sort of true.

As you can see below, Ric was a proud father at ringside.  He spoke before the match about his history in the Charlotte area and thanked the fans for supporting his sons and his career.  The Flair family was at ringside also.  The Nasty Boys did their best to beat the crap out of Reid, but in the end it was a 3-way Figure Four leglock that ended the show (the crowd went apeshit for this-it was a wall of sound coming at me from behind).  I had forgotten about the last two photos, and they seem more important now that Reid is gone.