Chris Van Vliet recently interviewed WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair about his life and career and what he is doing these days with his marijuana line.
Flair on the passing of Bray Wyatt
“Losing Bray Wyatt, who I wasn’t best friends with, but his dad and I were very close and his mother and I were very close. 35 years old, 36 rather, so he was the same age as my son. No, my son would have been 35 and they were all together when I retired in Orlando.”
On why Ricky Steamboat wasn’t considered for Flair’s retirement match:
“It just didn’t work out. You know, for health issue wise, Rick had some minor ones. I don’t know for sure. You know what’s funny. We’ve probably wrestled each other, without embellishing, we’ve probably wrestled each other between 1,500 to 2,000 times, so many times over an hour or an hour and a half. We became very close friends, but we didn’t socialize a lot. Rick is a quiet guy. He sticks to himself. He drinks some beer once a while, but he just keeps to himself and he’s too humble. He’s so great.”
On his last match:
“Everything went great including the 9,000 people we packed in there which was more than WCW or WWE had in the building forever, and then I just walked on the ramp and I just, you know, a combination I guess of being nervous and everything. It started out fine though and all of a sudden like, I don’t know why I got lightheaded for a second and I thought I made a mistake of saying to one of the guys, ‘I don’t feel so good.’ Well, they all thought I was talking about my heart or something like that, and that’s the worst thing I did, and then I got real lightheaded. I know that I was in and out all during the match.”
If he felt there was a point he couldn’t finish the match:
“Oh, yeah. I was fighting like hell to get through it, but I wasn’t hurting anywhere. I just felt bad because the guys had all panicked and worried about my health and we had constructed such a great match. If it had come off the way we practiced it forever, it would have been a masterpiece, but, you know, when I walked back to the locker room, Taker made me drink three Gatorades. Then I went to Kid Rock and drank all night long.”
If that was his last match:
“I want to wrestle again right now. Isn’t it crazy? I feel like because like Ricky Morton, the guy that I should have chosen for my last match, it would have been great. Ricky Morton is still wrestling. The best thing for me about it was I forced myself to really get in shape. I’ve heard this from guys over the years when they were older and I was in my prime. The older guys would say, ‘Man, I’m tired of working out.’ There is a time when you just get bored working out if you don’t have a goal. I mean, they gave me a goal and I just attacked it. I didn’t stop drinking or anything, but I was literally training three hours a day, five days a week in the ring, or I was doing the sled, the ropes. I got my bench press up for two and a quarter.”
On how he feels if Charlotte breaks his championship record:
“I certainly hope it happens. I don’t know what they’re doing right now, but who knows? It’s got to happen. It’d be the biggest thing in the business. If they’re really interested in doing something, because I feel like the women have had more empowerment right now than they ever had, and deservedly, but the biggest thing that could happen, John and I talked about this, John Cena. Can you imagine us walking down and congratulating Charlotte? What kind of rating would that get on TV to see that finally happen? I think it’s the biggest thing they could do right now.”
On his relationship with WWE right now:
“It’s fine. I don’t work for them. I mean, I’m always gonna be indebted and be thankful for the relationship over the years, but when you work with them, you’re pretty much locked up to, you know, to anything, and they have a really tough, enforceable contract, so I wouldn’t be able to do the marijuana. I certainly wouldn’t be able to have the energy drink unless I gave them 50% of it or something like that. I mean, you know, and in all fairness, I don’t like that, but I can understand. They’re gonna give you the TV time and help give you the opportunity for yourself to become a star, if you have that star quality, then they deserve to get a part of the money. I understand it. I don’t like it, but if it’s only fair and I’ve seen a lot worse situations for people.”
On who he feels is the G.O.A.T.
“Well, I think to me, the GOAT is the guy that did the most for the business, not necessarily had to be the best wrestler, but the guy that meant the most to our business,and the guy that saved (it), in my eyes, saved the WWE, Steve Austin. I mean, what Steve did, and then to be injured and retire at 39, I mean, I keep forgetting this until people remind me, well, I don’t see Steve as much as I used to, but he quit. He had to quit because of a broken neck at 39. He got back in, but I mean, think about that. They put one label on him, but when he found that niche, him and Vince, The Attitude Era, but it was Stone Cold, Shawn, Mike Tyson, and we were arguing about the NWO, who’s gonna win a match. Can we go with three minutes instead of 10? I mean, it’s just bullsh*t., but that’s when all of a sudden where Bischoff didn’t know how to run a company and then he put himself into it, which made it even worse.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Also, be sure to subscribe to “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” on your mobile device by clicking here if you have an iOS device or here on your Android device.
