Shout woo! Ric Flair named the 2023 Gasparilla Pirate Fest grand marshal

Throw a glittery robe over your pirate outfit this weekend and get ready to “woo!”

Two-time WWE Hall of Famer and Tampa resident Ric Flair will serve as the grand marshal of the 2023 Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest, according to an announcement posted Monday morning.

Sgt. Maj. Matt Parrish, the senior enlisted leader for the USSOCOM Preservation of the Force and Family Program, will lead the event alongside Flair as this year’s community hero. Parrish “is a Green Beret who spent his entire career within special operations, having completed multiple tours to Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as Central and South America,” the post said.

Flair will lead the festivities at 2 p.m. Saturday, when 50 krewes, over 95 floats and seven marching bands will parade down Bayshore Boulevard.

The 16-time professional wrestling heavyweight champion, whose real name is Richard Morgan Fliehr, moved to Tampa in 2021.

He’s not the first pro wrestler to assume this swashbuckling responsibility. In 2020, the honor went to WWE star-turned-actor Dave Bautista. Titus O’Neil did the job for the Krewe of the Knights of Sant’ Yago Illuminated Knight Parade in 2020.

For more information, visit gasparillapiratefest.com.