Ric Flair has owned plenty of expensive watches over the years, but one missing Rolex still hits differently. Flair revealed that a Rolex he originally bought for his father was later sold by his son to buy heroin during his battle with addiction.
Flair told the story during a conversation with Roman Sharf, where the two were discussing when Rolex first became connected to the Nature Boy image. Flair said he initially bought the watch as a gift for his father at a time when owning a Rolex was nowhere near as common as it is today. Flair said the watch eventually became one of his most treasured possessions. Things took a devastating turn when his son, who Flair said had a heroin addiction, repeatedly asked him if he could wear his grandfather’s Rolex. Flair said what happened next made him realize just how far his son’s addiction had gone.
“He kept saying to me, ‘Dad, let me wear a grandpa’s Rolex.’ I got—I said, ‘Jesus, honey, that’s the most prized possession I have, you know.’ And finally he talked me into it.”
“And he—this was what told me there was something really wrong. He sold it to buy heroin.”
Flair didn’t simply accept that the watch was gone. He said a friend who was a retired police officer and had previously served on SWAT went looking for it.
“And I had a cop that was a retired cop who was a friend of mine, formerly on SWAT. He broke down on every door of every bad place in town to get it back. We never got it back.”
Sharf told Flair he had dealt with a similar situation involving a sibling, leading the conversation into how addiction can cause people to do things their families could never imagine. Flair simply admitted he was stunned by what had happened.
For a guy whose entire image was built around Rolex watches, private jets and expensive living, this particular watch clearly meant something completely different. Flair never got his father’s Rolex back, turning what started as a Christmas gift into one of the darker stories attached to the Nature Boy’s famous collection.
What do you make of Ric Flair opening up about losing his father’s Rolex this way? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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