The Long Island News is reporting that Ric Flair’s finance company, called appropriately enough “Ric Flair Finance” has gone belly up. Slick Ric is blaming the credit crunch, when in reality the business was the worst moneymaking idea from a pro wrestler since Verne Gagne was hawking “Gera Speed” vitamins back in the 1970’s.

Looks like a weak economy has put a headlock on Ric Flair’s foray into the finance business after less than a year.

The 16-time World Heavyweight Champion’s Internet-based company, Ric Flair Finance, is no more. When visiting www.ricflairfinance.com, the site that once boasted the “Figure-Four Process” of securing a loan now simply lists contact information for booking a Flair personal appearance.

A person who answered the phone at the contact, the Columbia, S.C.-based Gillespie Agency, confirmed that Ric Flair Finance is out of business. The person didn’t know how long the company had been offline but that the finance company had been trying to “wrap things up for awhile.” The company opened last September.

When the Press spoke with Flair in March just prior to his WrestleMania retirement match with Shawn Michaels, he said that the company was making money but also spoke of the finance industry’s difficulties.

“There’s still a whole bunch of people trying to buy $500,000 homes with a 400 credit score,” Flair said, also mentioning the increase in foreclosures nationwide.

Ric Flair Finance is finished @ Long Island Press

The SAVSCI staff holds Flair in reverence–there’s several of us who owe our interest in fight sports to “The Nature Boy” and his NWA pro wrestling cohorts–but we never really thought that pro wrestlers were the people to turn to for financial matters. Flair, in particular, with his “custom made from head to toe” and “stylin’ and profilin’” ways never gave the impression that he was fiscally responsible. It’s sort of like turning to a porno star for marriage counseling. Anyway, the crack SAVAGE SCIENCE A/V team looked for hours trying to find a Flair Finance commercial to no avail. Instead, here’s a classic Flair promo from the early 1980’s: