Wednesday’s episode of Busted Open Radio was stacked with big-name guests as Ric Flair, Jim Ross and Tony Khan were on the show. Flair has been featured in storylines as the manager of Randy Orton in recent weeks. Ross and Khan were on the show to talk about AEW Fight For The Fallen.
Here is what Flair said about people calling him the greatest of all time: “Bret Hart said he is happy just to be mentioned in the conversation and that’s where I’m at. For a guy who has done so many screwed up things, and really, I was so wrapped up in me in the ‘70s and ‘80s, what you saw was what you got. Anything I said on TV was basically what I was doing. I was making terrible decisions personally, not wrestling wise, but personally. I had my ups and downs. I could have performed better but I had that anxiety issue that I kept inside for so long. How do you tell somebody about my anxiety. It is very crippling. To survive that and I’m talking to you guys, I’m just happy that I’m in the conversation and if people now appreciate how hard I worked. I worked hard everyday but I had fun. I didn’t like sitting home and that’s why I had a hard time staying married. When I went home I said, who are you? I didn’t know who I was living with. It was a stranger. When I was gone in ‘81, ‘82 and ‘83, I didn’t come home for 3 or 4 months at a time. That was just to come into Crockett’s territory. I didn’t have any days off. I was actually in the territory. Then I was out with my friends, Arn and everybody, and I didn’t want to go home then. I loved the business.”
Bully Ray asked Jim Ross: “Jim, with as much fun as you’re having, I know you see some little problems here and there. You are calling stuff you may not necessarily agree with. Do you talk to some of the younger talents about some of the things that you know they could be doing better to tighten the screws and hone their game, and are they receptive to it?” Ross responded: “Well, yes I try to and a lot of them go to me to ask questions. The issue is not everybody listens. Some think that, like tag ropes, we don’t have tag ropes anymore because some of them think it’s lame. I think it’s bullsh*t. Heels need rules to break. They need shortcuts. It’s just common sense. It’s basic human instincts. The villains, when they get outwrestled, they cheat. It’s never changed. It’s not going to change. Most of them listen and are appreciative. I’m glad they asked me. But, I can tell when their eyes get off the topic, when they are not looking me in the eye, they are not listening. So, why should I waste my breath? If somebody is not going to listen to you man, I’m cutting loose. We are done. Go out and do your own thing.”
Bully to Ross: “How do you feel about the dynamic between Taz and Brian Cage and do you think the company has been effective in making Cage the focal point in getting Brian cage over?: “We had some camera work that we need to be more aware of. Taz does not need to be standing in front of Brian Cage. I’m not knocking Taz. He may take it that way, but so be it. Nonetheless, we have to have better positioning in that regard. Taz has cut some damn good promos. I really enjoyed those quite frankly. When Brian got the FTW belt, he didn’t register it one bit. He was nonplussed. So, if it didn’t mean sh*t to him, then why should it mean sh*t to me, or you, or the fans? There have been a lot of good things in this build. I like Taz’s heel work. His promo work is as good as anybody we have right now, quite frankly. But, Cage has got to show more personality…He is a hell of an athlete and sometimes he works as a babyface with all the flying stuff and that may need to be addressed. It’s a learning process.”
Tony Khan said: “There was a WTF episode of South Park, the Wrestling Takedown Federation, which was a backyard company on South Park, had a set. The way they set up behind their house with bleachers in the backyard but the way it looked, it was like theatre in the round. That was the amphitheater I wanted to create. So, instead of putting the ring up on the stage where it would only be exposed to one side, we could put the ring down in the pit. We have this great big concrete pit and instead of using it as a mosh pit, we could put a ring down there and when you look at the two side by side, I took a photo and posted it on Twitter, side by side with the South Park Ring. Here is the inspiration. Here is the actual Fight for the Fallen setup. So, that is true for the Fight for the Fallen set.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Busted Open Radio can be heard on SiriusXM’s Fight Nation (Channel 156), Monday through Saturday from 9 am to Noon eastern.
