Oklafan.com v5 Beta

"Vince Knows I'll Steal The Show!"

Posted: Nov 16th 2007 By: CMBurnham

If you ask any professional wrestler who the greatest of all time is, they will tell you Ric Flair.

So it is some surprise that, despite being under contract to the WWE, the 16-time world champion hasn?t been on our screens recently.

Now, for the first time, Ric opens his heart on the situation and chats candidly about the arguments he has had with boss Vince McMahon over his role in the federation.

The 58-year-old Nature Boy admits feeling frustrated about being dropped from WrestleMania and at his lack of promo time, but says he will never leave a company that has been so good to him.

He also talks about his legendary career in the ring, future plans and the reasons behind his dislike for fellow grappling icon Bret Hart.

You can read the exclusive interview, in full, below:

Hi Ric, good to chat to you again. With Survivor Series coming this Sunday what are you memories of shows gone by?

The Survivor Series is one of the company?s four flagship PPVs, alongside WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. It is a very important show for the WWE, with a lot of history, and has played a big part in my career too. I had my first Survivor Series in 1991 and I was fortunate enough to be an instrumental part of the shows I was on. Last year was special as I got to work in the ring with Dusty Rhodes again. After all we?ve travelled through in our careers, it was a great honour to be involved in that match.

Do you have mixed feelings about the event though, as it was originally launched by Vince McMahon to destroy the 1987 Starrcade you were headlining for rival group NWA?

That?s a little bit more of a political question than I know the answer to. I can certainly make reference to what you are talking about, but I don?t know all the strategy behind that. But that is indicative of just how smart Vince McMahon is. He is always a step ahead of the competition.

You spent most of your career working against Vince, in NWA and then WCW, so was it hard being on the other side to his genius?

Well, there?s no way in the world I would ever tell you that their show was better ? as I thought ours was. That?s me standing up for my promotion, which I?m always going to do. I thought our talent pool was better and we had better performers. Don?t get me wrong they had great performers too, but from the opening match to the last match we were stronger. I knew what my job was and I didn?t see anybody in any position, in any promotion, performing at a higher level than I did. But Vince seemed to have the gimmicks and the showmanship. And that was the whole emergence of sports entertainment, which was a tough world for me to follow when it first came out. I don?t think it has demeaned the respect that the wrestlers get, but it was hard for the guys in my era to swallow that terminology. We didn?t think of ourselves as sports entertainment for a long time. But certainly that is where we?re at right now and the other sports ? NFL football, basketball and baseball ? all wish they had the entertainment we bring to the screen on a nightly basis.

Are you going to be on this year?s Survivor Series PPV on Sunday?

Not that I know of, no.

We haven?t seen you for a little while. Have you been injured or were there no storylines in mind for you?

That?s exactly it ? no storylines.

There were strong rumours that you had some sort of argument with Vince McMahon about direction and you were considering quitting the WWE. Is there any truth to them?

First of all, Vince McMahon doesn?t argue ? he tells you! I may have had a word with him about what I was going to be doing, but that?s all it was. I have utmost respect for the company and always have. Nobody can ever quote me saying anything negative about the WWE. I may have been a little bit frustrated, like I have been once or twice in my career. One of the problems with me is that I still see myself in the same light that I saw myself 25 years ago.

But the fans still react to you like they did 25 years ago.

I think they do!

So what?s the plan now? Have you signed a contract extension? Will you be back on TV soon?

I will be back on TV, but I don?t have a timeframe. As far as a contract extension, I think I have a job with the company for life. That?s the level of respect that they give me. That?s a verbal agreement, and I have gone on verbal agreements with the WWE and Vince before that have never ever backfired on me. I have never thought about doing anything else other than work for the company. What I?m doing right now ? talking to you and promoting the WWE and the Survivor Series ? is what I enjoy doing the most. I?ve never seen myself working behind the scenes creatively. It?s not that I don?t like that aspect of the business, however one of the problems I have is that I become impatient. The people that orchestrate and work behind the scenes are very patient, and they have to be because we have a lot of young talent. My problem is that I think everybody needs to work as hard as I worked when I was in my prime. And that?s something I just can?t change.

There was a brilliant promo you cut on Carlito on Raw, where you took him apart for not caring about the business. I guess that was how you felt about some of the younger talent in the WWE?

It?s funny, because a few people have asked me that and I?ve never had the chance to answer before. I had just had a big argument with Vince, so I was venting my frustration. Vince was trying to tell me that 1980s heels don?t work any more and that the stuff I did in 1985 he doesn?t like. And I never like to hear that! So what Carlito got was the aftermath of me and Vince having an argument about who I was. I said to him: ?Hell, I don?t even know who I am anymore.? Which is sometimes how I feel after getting into an argument with Vince... and never winning.

When you return to TV would you like more time to cut promos like that?

Well, since we?re being so candid here, I think they need to give me more promo time. For sure.
It?s like they forget sometimes that I can do it every night, three times a night if I have to. If they gave me the time to talk that they gave The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin I could be out there all night long. And I told them that. But the problem is, and I get it, what do you then do with somebody who is 58 years old? But even when you?re in a high-profile feud your opponent seems to get the mic time ? when everybody knows that give Ric Flair a microphone and he?ll cut you an awesome promo every time.He will steal the show... and that?s the problem! You can quote me on that.

In terms of the wrestling side of things, I was at this year?s WrestleMania and was disappointed to see you in a non-televised match rather than on the PPV itself.

Not nearly as disappointed as me! That was another argument that I didn?t win. I have never talked about this openly before, but obviously I was not happy because I didn?t see myself in that position. Then again that?s me and I have a tendency to see myself in a role that I?m not in anymore. I also have a tendency to think that I don?t have to do certain things, because of what I?ve achieved in the business. That doesn?t mean that?s right, that?s just me. And ultimately I haven?t won but once again it?s not really arguments. It?s me saying: ?What do you think about this?? And Vince telling me: ?I don?t like that, you?re going to do this.?

When you?ve had those conversations, is there a part of you that thinks about going to TNA where you?d be treated like a king?

No. I would never in a million years go anywhere else. My future lies either with the WWE or at home with my wife, four kids and two and a half grandkids ? I have one on the way.

There is always talk of a Hulk Hogan tour, would you be interested in that - Hogan v Flair going around the world?

That would be great... if Vince McMahon endorsed it. Because without him endorsing it, I don?t think it would get off the ground. And one thing I will never be prepared to do is go outside the realm of the WWE. I?m going to be very candid about this. Whatever notoriety Hulk Hogan enjoys in life and whatever post-wrestling success Hulk Hogan has enjoyed in life, as with myself, it is a result of working for that company. Don?t misunderstand me, we both worked very hard and travelled more than we had to, but we were both part of a machine that has promoted and taken a lot of people, including us, to the level of notoriety that we have today. So for me to leave the company or break the relationship I have with them is never going to happen.

A match everyone would love to see is Ric Flair v Ricky Steamboat for one last time. Now Steamboat has won the rights to use his ring name back from his ex-wife, could this happen?

The answer to the first half of that question is yes, everybody would like to see that. There is a health issue with Ricky though, as he had a back injury which ended his career. I don?t think it bothers him anymore but, if this came to be, he would have to make that decision, roll with it and put himself in the position to have the injury arise again. If he agreed, I?d say yes. For sure.

When we chatted a couple years ago you upset Mick Foley by calling him a ?stunt man? and then made similar comments in your autobiography. Did the programme you worked with Mick in the WWE afterwards change your opinion of him or his wrestling legacy?

What happened was that originally Mick said something about me in one of his books. I have never read it, but 200 people told me about it. As I put in my book, what I was saying was a receipt. I respect Mick Foley, everything he has done for the business and especially what he has done to his body. And as a human being I think he is awesome. I?m just never going to tell you I think he?s a great wrestler.

Your book was also rather unkind about Bret Hart, who responded here and in other interviews. Again has your opinion of him changed, after such a frank exchange of words?

My problem with Bret is, once again, I heard he was saying things about me. He?s not qualified to talk about me. There are only a few people who are. I will argue with Vince McMahon about me, but there is nobody else right now who I would. Because nobody else wrestled Brody for an hour, nobody else wrestled Hansen for an hour, nobody else wrestled Steamboat, Wahoo, Harley Race, Pat O?Connor, the Funks, the Briscos and I can go all the way right up to John Cena. Nobody has wrestled everybody in the business like I have, especially not Bret Hart. Bret Hart wrestled within a very high level organisation. He was never a main eventer at the Kiel or the Checkerdome in St Louis, he never main evented in Tokyo. He never wrestled Fujinami or Jumbo Tsuruta. I can go on and on as to why I don?t recognise him as being able to talk about me. Bret thinks he?s the greatest wrestler who has ever lived. And he?s not. But the thing that really perturbed me was that the situation with him, Shawn and Vince at the Survivor Series 10 years ago became a predominant part of a very tragic situation when his brother Owen died. Hard feelings that were incurred by everybody over a business decision should never play into the tragedy of someone?s death. But I?m sitting there, hearing about the tragedy of Owen in one breath then in the next Montreal. I thought it was very unfair to the McMahons and the promotion.

Finally, what would be your advice to a young wrestler out there who wants to be the next Ric Flair?

My advice to anybody who want to be like me would be to rethink it! When I started in the business I had a passion for it that meant nothing else in my life mattered except me being a good wrestler. I didn?t realise at the time, but that is a not a good way to live and looking back I hurt people. To be successful I don?t think I did anything different to any other top guys, I just went to work and strived to be the very best I could be every day.

Tags: WWE, NWA, Ric Flair, Mick Foley