"I lived in my gimmick," Flair says. "I was full-time Ric Flair, and I'm not sure that was working for everybody but me."

Full-time Ric Flair meant partying like that kiss-stealin' son of a gun. He went days without sleep, going out after matches. He remembers once after a cage match in Orlando, his heart was racing uncontrollably. He called his father, a doctor, to ask what could be wrong with him.

"When was the last time you had any sleep?" his dad asked.

"Let me think about that," Flair said.

But there was no time for sleep, not when there were beers to drink.

"A couple times, I melted down," Flair said. "The wrestling was hard, but there was so much going on back then, so much fun. It wasn't disrespectful to anybody but myself. We just had fun, bars open till 4 in the morning. Why not go out for a couple drinks?"

Flair counts Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Dusty Rhodes as his two biggest nemeses in the ring. Steamboat, whose real name is Richard Blood, had a long-running feud with Flair while they were wrestling in the Carolinas.

It was the classic good guy (Steamboat) vs. bad guy (Flair) scenario. Flair credits Steamboat for making him better. Steamboat says the two pushed each other because they were so competitive. "It was a macho-macho type of thing," Steamboat said.

Steamboat says the two rarely socialized outside the ring because of that. If he went into a restaurant and Flair was there, he would leave. "It's almost like two gunslingers," said Steamboat, who is a road agent for WWE. "A Western cowboy story. That was real-life stuff that was happening."

Flair rode his persona through the NWA and eventually became a part of the famed Four Horsemen. He helped establish World Championship Wrestling and is currently in his second stint with WWE. In his career, Flair has been WCW world heavyweight champion, WWE champion, U.S. champion, Intercontinental champion and tag-team champion in WCW and WWE.

He has stayed in wrestling so long because "it's something I love, and it's something I have a lot of passion for." But his time in the ring is drawing to a close. With his induction into the Hall of Fame, many think his career will end Sunday.

That leaves Michaels torn. He grew up watching Flair, hoping one day to be like him. Now he is the one who might end his career. On top of all that, what will pro wrestling be like without Flair?

"It's sort of like getting out of bed and seeing the sun shining," Michaels said. "It's something that's been a part of you every day that you've allowed yourself not to appreciate it at times. But when it's cloudy and dreary and ugly, you say, 'Man, I miss when the sun is shining.' I think that's something we're going to realize when that day comes."

When it arrives, expect to see those tears.