Ric Flair Discusses Coming Out of Retirement, Reid’s Future, ROH, More
Posted by Larry Csonka on 05.14.2009
Woooooooooooooooooooooo!
- Alex Marvez recently interviewed Ric Flair for his syndicated wrestling column, here are the highlights:
On Coming Back to Wrestling: "I want to wrestle again. I watch (WWE) and I can still do better than 90 percent of the guys there. I weigh one less pound than the day I retired. I still work out really hard and I wrestle my kid (Reid) all the time. It's not like I haven't been in the ring. People in Europe are offering me a fortune. I'm tired of signing autographs. I can make more money wrestling."
On What is Stopping Him From Coming Back: "But I respect Shawn and (WWE) so much that I wouldn't do anything to disrespect them. They would have to give me full approval (to wrestle again). They put me in a special place. I think it's going to be a long time before we see something come across again like what they did for me (with the retirement ceremony). I didn't think it would be that big a deal. We'll see how this turns out."
On Working With ROH: "The people running Ring of Honor are really nice guys and have a lot of integrity, which mean a lot in terms of wrestling promotions. They're not trying to put (WWE) out of business. They just want to have their own business. There's nothing negative unlike in TNA where all they talk about is trying to beat Vince."
On Reid's Future and the Rumored Reality Show: "It all depends on how he gets himself put back together. The biggest thing about that is that it's a disease. It's not so hard for me to say that after being at an outpatient clinic with him where they talk about a chromosome deficiency causing stuff like that. It's curable, but he's going to have to work real hard at it. He's doing that."
I am sick of all this I dont want to upset Shawn. FUCK HBK if you want to wrestle ric then do it.
Posted By: Steve (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 03:37 PM
Yeah, he's one of the greatest ever, but damn he needs to get over himself a bit. He's spot-on with the TNA thing, but doing better than 90% of the E's roster? The only reason his last match was so good is because he was in there with someone better than him.
Posted By: Smooth (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 03:49 PM
Better than 90% of the guys? Flair has been a HORRID wrestler for over 10 years now. Nothing is bigger exposure into wrestling being fake than watching a Ric Flair match where he dodders around selling pathetically and blowing simple moves and transitions. Please Ric, don't ruin your already tarnished legacy.
Posted By: HAHAHA (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 03:52 PM
i want to know who's idea it was for him to retire in the first place...his or vince's. if it was his he should stay retired or run the risk of being brett favre like.
Posted By: MATT (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 03:54 PM
How would Flair know that beating Vince is all that TNA talks about? Has he even been in the dressing room there once?
Posted By: Guest#9459 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 03:59 PM
I agree with you Steve, fuck HBK if Flair wants to get back in the ring he should do it. It's sad that Flair is charging people for his autograph though.
Posted By: Captain America (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:05 PM
he is better than 90% of the wwe roster, its sad but true.
Posted By: kevin (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:11 PM
Dear Ric Flair,
Please stay retired.
Period.
End of story.
Finished.
Sincerely,
Your friend,
Chico
Done.
Posted By: Chico (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:25 PM
I don't think it's sad Flair is charging for an autograph, imo. People should be aware there is a fee when going to these things. What's sad, imo, is guys like Vincent or Hardcore Holly charging for an autograph.
Posted By: Jimmy (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:26 PM
How would Flair know that beating Vince is all that TNA talks about? Has he even been in the dressing room there once?
Posted By: Guest#9459 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 03:59 PM
What a dumb, dumb point. Cause I'm sure Ric Flair has no friends in TNA, doesn't talk to anyone in TNA, etc. I've never been to a volcano, but I know lava is hot. Get a new argument besides "oh are you there?!"
Posted By: Guest#0104 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:29 PM
"I want to wrestle again. I watch (WWE) and I can still do better than 90 percent of the guys there."
*****
In terms of getting the crowd into a match and building it properly, I'd probably agree. In terms of being physically "capable" of doing a match for more than fifteen minutes or having the moveset to fill it? Doubtful.
Posted By: Chief Runs With Beer (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:31 PM
How would Flair know that beating Vince is all that TNA talks about? Has he even been in the dressing room there once?
Posted By: Guest#9459 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 03:59 PM
Ric Flair & Chuck Norris are EVERYWHERE!!! You're either a chop or a kick to the back of the head away from death!!
Better watch your back and your lips son...
Posted By: fallenhardforROH (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:39 PM
God lord, just stay retired Ric!
Posted By: RepoMan (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:42 PM
First of all, I'm sure Flair has a MUCH better understanding of the TNA locker room without having been there than ANY of you smarky little twits. He has friends and colleagues that work for TNA both in the office and as wrestlers, so yeah...there is such a thing as phone calls. Secondly, when talking about "exposing" a business that everyone and their Mother has known to be scripted for the last 25 years AT LEAST is just really, really ignorant. The fact that a 55 year old man is portrayed as a threat to any wrestler half his age is just as silly as Rey Mysterio contending against Big Show. Pro wrestling fans that complain about ANYTHING being "unrealistic" is without merit, because any mark or moron can sit there and pick apart every little thing that looks fake. You know what we'd be left with if you took all the "fakeness" out of pro wrestling? Not much at all.
What Flair means when he says he can go better than 90% of the roster is that yes, he does in fact have more WRESTLING SKILL than 90% of the roster, which is true, at least on the surface. WWE's heavy mandate of the punk-kick-finisher style doesn't help much, either. Fact of the matter is, Ric Flair would get a better crowd reaction just standing in the middle of the ring than most of WWE's main event would get for winning a World Title. Respect where respect is due.
Posted By: Big Money B.G. (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:44 PM
Can someone hire that bear to take out ric flair once and for all.
Posted By: Grizzles (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:52 PM
Outside Ric's retirement match and final Raw episode.... watching Ric in the ring was very sad, it wasn't that he couldn't wrestle it was his apperance of an aging man way past his prime.... WWE gave him a beautiful memory to end his career as a wrestler which he is lucky because if he didn't have that he would of been percieved as a washed up has been.... Ric don't do it!!!! Stay retired from the ring, become a GM or someones manager but DON'T step in the ring for an official match again. You saved your legacy just in time don't threaten ruining it again :S
Posted By: Andrew Barbarash (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:02 PM
Flair ..it's over...i dont want to see you in the ring ..i dont even want to see Undertaker or Shawn Michaels return...time to step aside and let the young guns do their thing.
Posted By: tones (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:06 PM
"I want to wrestle again. I watch (WWE) and I can still do better than 90 percent of the guys there."
UGH...an i thought ppl dissed Bret for thinking highly about himself
Offtopic - Wouldnt mind at all if Bret made a televised appearance to endorse The Hart Trilogy. Its better than Legacy already !! Randy Orton is the MAN , but legacy as a group are chumps !!
Posted By: Guest#1199 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:30 PM
I have nothing but respect for Ric Flair. While there is a part of me that doesn't want to see him wrestle again I'd cheer my ass of if he did.
More importantly I find it interesting that there has hardly been any comments/columns about Reid Flair after all the backlash towards Nick Hogan (much of it deserved) but fair is fair. Reid's lucky that he didn't hurt anyone when he got his 2 DUI's and let's not forget the heroin possion. I'm betting since most of you love Flair there won't be many questioning his parenting skills when all you could do is shit on Hogan's. I mean I'm sure he was a great role model with all his partying/road rage. As I said fair is fair.
In conclusion I blame neither Hogan or Flair for their son's mistakes. Both are old enough to know right from wrong. It's ashame that some of the IWC anti hogan/pro flair attitude caused such an unbalanced take on this issue. In reality it would have been nice to have a fair and intelligent discussion about the mistakes that the son's of two legends made and the impact they could make on their father's legacies. But instead we ended up with the equally predictable attack on Hulk Hogan's character and silence on Ric Flair's flaws.
Posted By: Guest#8738 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:30 PM
"I am sick of all this I dont want to upset Shawn. FUCK HBK if you want to wrestle ric then do it."
you will understand respect and honour when you grow up and become a man. for now, go back to watching Spongebob, eating twinkies and begging your mommy to let you stay up late on school nights.
Posted By: Darth Mortis (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:37 PM
jesus Ric stop being a shill for vince's bullshit like ol JR and do what you want !
Posted By: HHH Hater (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:41 PM
Ric..
you've put over a lot of people in your career. and ur basically the best in that department.
but are u better ATHLETICALLY than 90% of the roster? maybe 10 years ago...
Posted By: rooooar (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:49 PM
They would have to give me full approval (to wrestle again)
Translation:
They would have to give me a large sack of money
Posted By: Guest#2079 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:55 PM
You don't stand a chance, Naitch!
Posted By: The Bear (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 05:57 PM
Go crawl into a hole and don't come out you criminally overrated, geriatric, rotting, stinking and incoherent piece of Garbage..
Posted By: Propagandhi (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 06:09 PM
ric flair and sting are friends
what about a sting vs flair retirement match now that would put the 60 year old in a dilemma
Posted By: The warriaaaaa (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 06:17 PM
Yeah... just what I wanna see.
A flabby, saggy old fart doing the same exact fucking match I can see him doing a hundred times on DVD when he was younger and could do it without making a mockery of the business.
Posted By: Funky Freddy Feelgood (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 06:22 PM
'chromosome deficiency'
I LOL'D HARD.
u got bad genes Ric.
Posted By: tommy knockers (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 06:32 PM
It's quite simple really, WWE should hire him as a manager. That way he could still be physical in the ring, interfering and such and still be able to pop a crowd. Flair, Piper, maybe Anderson, Santino...All could be effective managers in this day and age. Some of the crew could really benefit from having a mouth piece, who could I dunno adlib a few times, not be so robotic like....
Posted By: piperfan01 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 06:59 PM
"How would Flair know that beating Vince is all that TNA talks about? Has he even been in the dressing room there once?"
Maybe cause he's watched the show once or twice. You can't watch an episode of impact without somebody taking a dig at WWE. It's like Dixie is moist for Vinny Mac or something.
Posted By: WWE/TNA/ROH Fan (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 07:11 PM
"I watch (WWE
) and I can still do better than 90 percent of the guys there."
Are you serious Ric? Even the Divas are better than you, and have been since the late 90s..
Posted By: Propagandhi (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 07:11 PM
Interesting. I don't understand the need to rip TNA though. I thought TNA had been pretty respectful of Flair. At least it's on a channel people can actually watch, but maybe that's the point. No offense meant to ROH as I think it's great they are on a channel, even if it's only viewable by a few people and some dogs and cats.
He's too worried about kissing Vince's butt. He can go on ROH because it's way under the radar, even if it's just to talk at this point. I can understand that. If he showed up on TNA, you know Vince would be pissed.
After all that has gone down, he doesn't want to burn bridges. I personally don't think he owes HBK a damn thing. HBK won't fall in the eyes of his fans simple because Flair comes back. Does he need to? I don't know. Would I like to see him wrestle? Depends on how he's booked and against who.
What I really see going on is he is trying to bring his son up to the big leagues as the next generation of his family. If that requires Ric to wrestle, he'll get back regardless of HBK.
Interesting comments Not sure I agree with all he said, but the man has a right to his opinion.
It's nice to see him working with ROH to help get it more attention, but don't kid yourself. If they thought they could beat WWE, they'd be talking about it, and if the day comes when they beat TNA, they'll be bragging about that too.
Posted By: Guy Incognito (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 08:29 PM
Ric,
If you mean chopping people's chest 30 times, chop blocking them from behind, kicking a guy when he's on the mat, then going to the figure four, -....then yes, you're better than 90% of the WWE.
The reason your WM match was so good was that you showed moves you hadn't done on TV in years! Anyone remember Ric doing a standing vertical suplex at all in the past 5 years? No! At WM yes, because HBK helped you.
Posted By: Scoops Fears 411 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 08:30 PM
Ric, you old bastard, you should pawn that Retirement Rolex and use the money to fix your teeth. Or use it to pay for your fuck up kid's legal defense. Holla if you hear me....
Posted By: Big Poppa Pump (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 09:20 PM
"On Working With ROH: "The people running Ring of Honor are really nice guys and have a lot of integrity, which mean a lot in terms of wrestling promotions. They're not trying to put (WWE) out of business. They just want to have their own business. There's nothing negative unlike in TNA where all they talk about is trying to beat Vince."
In other words, I can use them to leverage with WWE so Vince will pay me more just to keep me from showing up somewhere in another promotion. But if I go to TNA, it will piss him off royally and i might burn a bridge and ruin years of kissing MaMahon's and HHH's asses
I saw wear his comment was going and what he's thinking before i even read it. Classic politician/businessman Flair.
Posted By: Guest#9902 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 09:25 PM
Now Flair loves ROH because they're paying him to. Of course back when it was Ricky Steamboat trying to help ROH out, Flair tried to talk him out of it.
Posted By: Scott B (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 09:27 PM
Maybe if Hogan was a better well-rounded person/character then he would be in the limelight like Flair. Instead, Hogan has marital issues. Flair had issues, multiple wives and divorces and flair still got game. Hogan is a wreck and a inch away from a heart attack.
Posted By: guest1228 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 09:33 PM
Did you all COMPLETELY miss the part where he brushed Reid's arrest off as no big deal whatsoever? "Oh it's just a CHROMOSOME DEFICIENCY! It'll be cured by an outpatient program! No big deal!"
Yeah I don't think that family learned a god damn thing from this incident...
Posted By: The REAL MP (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 09:51 PM
What happened to the days when people actually respected Ric Flair?
Posted By: guest (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 10:05 PM
Guest 1228, Hogan is obviously still in the lime light. It's all bad press but people still talk about him. He is the biggest star in pro wrestling history, the reason why most people started watching wrestling to begin with. No one talks about Flair and his divorces and Reid's problems because he isn't nearly as well known as Hogan.
Posted By: tg1977 (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 10:57 PM
Er..., Ric Flair's last match was actually against the Red Alert 3 Bear where he made him tapout.
If he managed to get Shawn & Vinces blessing for that match wouldn't it mean he needs to get the Bears blessings if he wanted to wrestle again?
Posted By: Eye Sea KewB (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 01:00 AM
Ewh,
Whatever he was in the past, I hope we never see wrestlers like Ric Flair wrestling at that age again.
He's made a joke out of himself with all his goodbye welcome back shit we see every week.
Just quit, the only thing he could do as of late were those oh so epic chops and slaps.
Posted By: Anaxes (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 01:53 AM
If anything I would love to see Ric as GM of RAW again. he did one helluva job in the 90's working as the GM. let him do it again.
Posted By: Guest#5827 (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 01:56 AM
"Better than 90% of the guys? Flair has been a HORRID wrestler for over 10 years now." Ill agree that Ric's workrate isnt what it was when he held the NWA belt but it is STILL better than 3/4 of the current WWE roster and FAR better than MOST of the current main event guys.
Posted By: CM Wolf (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 02:16 AM
I think Flair wants that one last epic with Sting. I've seen Sting vs Cactus Jack go at it again, now I want to see Flair take Sting home when the Stinger finally decides to retire.
Posted By: JD (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 02:54 AM
So according to Flair, personal accountability is something he and his son don't have because of a chromosome deficiency? If he and his son both had an extra chromosome then he wouldn't have cheated on his wives and his son wouldn't use heroin and drive under the influence?
The reason Hogan gets ridiculed so much more for his mistakes is because he chose to have his family's personal business aired as a miserable excuse for a television show just so he could make another million or so dollars. The Fleihr family has at least had the dignity to not pimp out their family's personal business to a third rate cable channel such as VH1. Then there's the fact that nobody in Ric Flair's family has turned a human being into a vegetable - but Nick Hogan did. Either Hulk Hogan is more of a failure as a father than Ric Flair is or Nick Hogan is just missing even more chromosomes than Reid Flair is. It would be interesting to hear some comments from Ric Flair's "best friend" Arn Anderson on all of this except Flair changes best friends based on what is good for his career. When choosing which wrestlers to criticize in his autobiography you can't name one wrestler who he made a brave stand against who happened to also be someone important in the WWE organization. Flair cowardly chose to save his criticism for people like Bret Hart, Mick Foley, and others who don't have any clout in WWE.
Posted By: Ted (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 04:03 AM
Can someone hire that bear to take out ric flair once and for all.
Posted By: Grizzles (Guest) on May 14, 2009 at 04:52 PM
Best comment so far! LOL
Posted By: Love it (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 05:03 AM
Flair/Steamboat @ Summerslam '09! the 20 year anniversary (give or take) of the greatest match ever.
you know i'm serious.
Posted By: 6d6 (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 05:18 AM
The problem with Ric's wrestling is that he has not kept up with the times. He is still stuck in the same moveset he was doing 20 years ago, except he does less of those moves. He has not added anything to keep up with the times. Look at how other legends have worked hard to keep up with the times and add variety to their moveset rather than rely on less and less of the same moves they always did. Terry Funk added a moonsault to his repetoire when he was well into his forties. The Undertaker has added new submission holds to his arsenal such as The Triangle Choke and other submissions from the MMA world that have become known to people over the last ten to fifteen years because of the huge increase in popularity of The UFC. Funk added more hardcore and high risk elements to his style over the years as those things became popular. The Undertaker has remained current by using holds he learned from watching the fastest growing sport in the world today. For The Undertaker and Terry Funk to do that as time went by showed a genuine work ethic to keep their movesets fresh and to keep up with the times. Flair has made not made the same effort. In fact I can only remember one match over the last five years where anything happened to him in a match that was new and that was when he fell off a ladder in a match with Edge, but that's not the same thing ass adding new holds or maneuvers to his moveset. It was just a result of him being in a ladder match for the first time and as far as I know he didn't continue to have ladder matches so it was just a bump that applied to one specific type of match. Adding a moonsault or new submission holds are things that increase your repetoire of moves for any style of match and help a lot to keep a moveset from getting stale. Something is wrong when the so called "greatest wrestler of all time" only has one submission hold that he has finished any matches with in the last ten years or more and has done nothing to keep up with the times and to keep his matches from getting overly predictable. A child can call the spots in a Ric Flair match before they happen.
Posted By: Ole (Guest) on May 15, 2009 at 08:16 AM
The only reason you people criticize Flair is because he's old. He really is better than 90% of the roster and would draw a bigger pop and PPV BUYS = $$$$$$......I'm sure more people would rather pay to watch Flair at 65 than Rey Misterio, Paul London (whom many of you love for some reason ), Samoa Joe, or any ROH, Lucha, or Poru wrestler in their prime. You're just "age-ist". END OF STORY
Posted By: Tbone3771 (Registered) on May 15, 2009 at 08:33 AM
I'd be okay with Ric returning.
...only to work one final program with Ricky Steamboat. It be a fitting end for both.
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