Source: The Sun
The article below is taken from The Sun out of the United Kingdom. In it, Ric Flair talks about a variety of issues. Enjoy!
TNA Wrestling star Ric Flair has revealed all about his legendary career — grappling in the ring and partying outside of it.
The Nature Boy appeared on our award-winning WrestleCast to discuss a life that has included four marriages and 16 world championships.
Ric also vowed to lace up the boots in January, at the age of 61, and wrestle on TNA’s Maximum iMPACT! 2011 UK tour.
You can see Flair in action — alongside Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam and Beer Money — in Glasgow, Manchester and London on January 27-29 2011. Get all the details from www.tnaeuro.com.
As always you need to download the whole chat to get the full taste of Flair — but the best bits are below:
On returning to the ring: “I went to work for WWE immediately after my retirement in a PR position. I was traveling around the country, to promote Smackdown switching networks — so was basically getting paid to start drinking at 6pm rather than 11pm. I was having a good time but it just wasn’t fulfilling. I still like being part of TV and feel I can contribute to the show.
“So when the opportunity came up to wrestle Hogan in Australia, I called Vince out of respect and I called Shawn — and that was OK because it was another world.
“Then I came back and Hogan called me every day about doing the TNA thing. I thought about it long and hard and then I called Shawn — I didn’t call Vince — just to see how he felt about it.
“Wrestling is wrestling. I had a magic moment with Shawn, but he knew I missed the business and wanted to be involved.
“I’d already gone back in WWE and wrestled Randy Orton one time in a street fight. It was 20 minutes long but I wasn’t wearing my wrestling gear so I guess they didn’t call it coming out of retirement. There’s a double standard there and I felt like I was out of retirement anyway.
“If Shawn hadn’t given me his blessing, I probably wouldn’t have come back — I have that much respect for him. But I knew he would say ‘yes’.”
On TNA’s best wrestlers: “I’m more attracted to the guys that are unselfish and are good enough to go out and lose every night, if they have to, but still be good enough that nobody remembers. And that would be Beer Money for sure — those two kids have a ton of talent.
“The flagship players, the two guys that stand out, are AJ Styles and Kurt Angle. Sting is a flagship player too, but he doesn’t wrestle all the time.”
On Kurt Angle: “Kurt is really good. Is he better than me? No. He’s better than me now, but not when I was 35! Angle v Flair will happen, we’ve already got it cooking.
“Kurt Angle is in a class by himself. He’s got that magic — charisma, a fabulous look, second-to-none credentials and he really loves the business.”
On John Cena: “The guy who could be me, but he knows when to draw the line, is John Cena. John Cena can rock ‘n’ roll, let me tell you.
“We were in Nottingham, England, just after he won the title and I didn’t know him that well.
“I said: ‘I’ll tell you right now, if you want to be the world champion and be someone that they’ll remember then you better starting buying drinks for this bar.’
“All I know is I missed my flight the next morning!
“John is better than good. He’s a great guy, a great champion and without even flinching is the face of the WWE.
“But he just got married — the idiot!”
Looking back: “I don’t regret a minute of it, I really don’t. I’ve had a good time. And I wouldn’t have survived 38 years in this business if I didn’t have a good time!”
