Interview: Ric Flair on Coming out of Retirement

Source: Nigel Brown and Chris Smith of Sport.co.uk
Arguably the most decorated wrestler in the history of the industry Ric Flair is officially wrestling royalty, the mat equivalent of Jack Nicklaus or Roger Federer. Recognised as an eight-time NWA heavyweight champion, a six-time WCW heavyweight champion and a two-time WWE heavyweight champion, Ric Flair has beaten them all to get to the top of the mountain. The Minneapolis-born wrestling legend dubbed ‘the dirtiest player in the game’ has recently come out of retirement and signed for TNA wrestling, joining legends such as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scot Hall.
Despite being 61-years-old, Flair still holds an enthusiasm for the sport that sees him mixing it with the best new talent in the business week-in-week out. Taking a break from styling and profiling Ric Flair sat down with Sport.co.uk in a boutique London hotel to talk about his career, whether or not TNA can take on WWE head on, his beef with Bret Hart, and why he came out of retirement once again. May we introduce a true legend of the modern game…Wooo!
What was the main reason for coming out of retirement and signing with TNA?
Just my love of the business. I saw the opportunity to come and work for a company that is pretty intent right now on building their brand and making the awareness of their product bigger, which I’m pretty good at doing.
What are some of the positives you see coming from TNA?
Well there are many positives; I think it’s really good for the wrestlers to have an alternative place to work. It opens the door for more young guys, that have the ability, to have somewhere else to work. I also think it creates a bigger awareness to the wrestling fans. There are two shows now; one that has been established for ever, but one that is relatively new also. I don’t mean new in terms of eight years, but new as in wanting to promote their brand to the same level as WWE.
Do you see the Monday night ratings wars kicking off as they did with WCW and WWF?
Well we’re not on Monday night anymore, and I wasn’t sold on that to begin with. With Football coming up and all that I think they made a good decision to go back to Thursday nights.
Do you think that the TNA fans are with more comfortable with that Thursday night slot?
I don’t know about that, I’m not sure what that level of comfort is. I think the wrestling fans that were aware of the fact we were on a Monday night thought it was great, but once again it’s all about awareness. The shows were great but nobody knew we were on. You can’t just change the market place over night, that would cost millions of dollars on behalf of the network.
It is ten years on since those Monday night ratings wars, what has been learned in that time to allow TNA to build in a different way to take on WWE?
The challenge is to develop your own brand, not to compete with someone else. You need to be oblivious to the other company and just work on your own brand. Obviously people get ideas back and forth from watching each other’s shows, but the idea to be successful in anything, whether you’re a surgeon or a lawyer, is to be the best at what you do, not worry about what the other guy is doing. Be aware of it, but don’t focus on it as being the main thing that makes you strive to be the best.
WCW only achieved relative success when trying to take on WWE, what do you think the fundamental reasons were for WCW failing in the end?
Fundamental reasons? Lack of co-operation with talent, lack of management, lack of leadership and paying guys that weren’t worth a dime a lot of money.
What do you think your experience can bring to some of the younger guys at TNA?
Energy. I bring a lot of energy.
Are you enjoying working with anyone in particular at the moment?
I love it. I love working with all the guys there at the moment. There a tremendous bunch of guys. I couldn’t be happier.
Were you surprised to see Bret Hart return to wrestling and what do you think of his current storyline in WWE?
I haven’t watched it so I wouldn’t really know. I wasn’t surprised, every day they look for something different to create a little interest. The only thing is that he has got a few health issues, which makes it very hard to wrestle. I think they’re a big part of his life at the moment, from what I’ve been told anyway, I don’t know for sure but I hear from guys that know him and speak to him.
From a personal perspective, I’m a massive Ric Flair fan and I’m a massive Bret Hart fan so it was a little difficult for me to watch you two exchange a war of words for a period, are you guys doing OK now?
I haven’t seen him or talked to him, but that’s not my problem. I’m not mad at Bret, I just said what I thought. I thought that the tragedy of Owen Hart was completely different to what happened in Montreal. When the two became intertwined again, I thought that was in really poor taste. What happened to Owen Hart was a tragic accident and no one’s fault, but once again the first thing that came up again was Montreal. What happened in Kansas City with Owen has nothing to do with Montreal, but it just rolled into the whole thing again. That’s what I said that made Bret mad.
I thought the focus should have been on Owen, not go back and talk about Montreal but that’s what surfaced again, as fast as the Kansas City thing happened. Everybody knows that I just wasn’t afraid to say anything about it. How could he get mad at Vince McMahon? Nobody made Owen go up there, he wanted to do it. It was a tragic, tragic moment and someone’s life was lost, but it certainly wasn’t because Vince McMahon made him go up there and jump, and it had nothing to do with Montreal.
In your entire career, what would you say the favorite storyline you participated in is?
The four horsemen. The original four, plus Barry, but Lex Luger was good too. After that though it got a little loopy. I did have a good time with Benoit, Margo and Dean Malenko too, but it was almost going to get too good again so they stopped that right away!
Did you experience a problem at that time of not getting enough opportunities within the company, despite the ratings suggesting your worth?
Well that is just it, whenever they needed something they just plugged me in. If Vince McMahon didn’t want you to leave, he’d have made it worth your while not to leave. You can rest assured that when they left, like when Bret left WWE and WCW gave him a huge contract. If Vince McMahon thought it was worth it, he’d have kept him. He wasn’t drawing anything, he didn’t leave because Vince went ‘god I’ll give you all this money.’ He left because the contract he was given was too heavy to carry. Make no mistake; If Vince wants someone to stay because he’s worried about there being a problem, in terms of posing competition to him, it’s not going to happen. Vince is a smart guy and he has the money to do what he wants to do.
Was there a particular one-on-one feud that you enjoyed the most in your career?
Well I guess the best was the longest-running feud I had- I loved Dusty Rhodes, that ten, fifteen years that we had. I also thought Steamboat was great, Sting was great, and I enjoyed the run I had with Hunter. The short one I had with the Undertaker was great that we had for Wrestlemania, but of course I fought taker a lot in the early 90s. I’m actually having as much fun right now; Hogan and I could be at war forever. People are cheering me and there’s always that issue because they’re always going to love me, but the minute he walks out of the door I’m automatically bad and we’re fine playing the crowd around like that.
And how is your relationship with ‘the Hulkster’ these days, and is it as good as it has ever been?
It’s good. We agree to disagree, that is all we’ll ever be. It is all business. It has always been magic, there is always going to be interest. If he could wrestle right now it would be limitless what we could do. Until he resolves his health issues we can’t, it is definitely in his heart to wrestle, but he just physically is hurting really bad right now. Hopefully surgery can fix that over the next few months. He would definitely love to be in the ring every night.
In your opinion, what ingredients make up a perfect wrestling storyline?
Well I think the perfect storyline is always good versus evil, but once again it is the components in a storyline that make it good or bad. There is really not that much experience in the business at the moment to do that, there is a lot more good guys than bad guys. It is really hard to be a bad guy; it’s hard to make people mad. It is all about your attitude, the way you wrestle, the way you talk and the way you carry yourself. People hate arrogance, but the problem I had was they got so used to it they started to like me! But now I’m turning it on bad.
Are you enjoying working with A.J. Styles and do you think that he can build on his already established platform and become a true legend in the business with your guidance?
Yeah very much so. He is a great guy and a great athlete too. I think he will become a true legend, with or without my guidance. He is going to go places- if he stays healthy. He can’t be one of those guys that goes home and sabotages his body every night. Greatness and legend status’ that you talk about requires a longer period of time than just four or five years, or even ten years. You can make your mark, but to carry a brand forever takes a lot of time. It’s important to avoid injuries.
Have you ever had a moment in your career where you have been uncomfortable to get into a ring with someone?
No, never. I’ve been in a ring a lot of times with people that I don’t think belong in a ring with me but that is different.
Is there a wrestler that you haven’t had a chance to wrestle with?
The only guy I never got to wrestle was John Cena. I’ve wrestled everybody there is. You can name someone in the roster from over the last thirty years and I’ve wrestled them. I would love to work with John, I think he is fabulous. A lot of people have said he lacks skills but he speaks well and works hard and he is a great guy for the company. He is a great guy.
What do you think is left for you to achieve in wrestling?
I don’t think there is anything left for me to achieve, it is just up to me to maintain that high level of work rate. I’m back in that role now where people expect me to work hard and stay in great physical shape. You never know when you’re going to have do something in the ring. I’m tired of working out every day, that is a true story, I’m tired of it, but I will keep doing it because I am motivated and there will be a day where I won’t be able to wrestle again. I love it though, it is the most fun I have had in years.
What is your biggest regret from your wrestling career, if you have any at all?
I don’t really have any huge regrets, but I wish I had left WCW earlier. I could have, but I kept thinking it would turn around and I was loyal to the brand and loved being an NWA guy. I kept thinking there would be a turnaround but as soon as Ted Turner left it just got even worse.