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Interview with WWE?s Ric Flair, appearing at Magic City Comic Con in Miami

Posted: Jan 16th 2016 By: Jim Varsallone - MiamiHerald.com

Two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will be part of Magic City Comic Con Jan. 15-17 at the Miami Airport Convention Center.

Magic City Comic Con is Jan. 15-17 at the Miami Airport Convention Center, and two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will be appearing Jan. 16-17.

?I do a lot of comic-cons, but I haven?t been to Miami in years,? said Flair. ?I?m looking forward to it. Miami was always a town that was kind to me as a wrestler. It?s a great wrestling town, and it?s a great town period. There?s so much to do in Miami. I love Miami. Some great stories. Great times.?

Not too far away, the Miami Beach Convention Center, which houses Florida Supercon in the summer, stood as the hub for Wednesday night pro wrestling during the heyday of Championship Wrestling from Florida.

?Miami was a key market. Tampa and Miami,? Flair said. ?We did TV in the morning and then flew down to Miami and spent the night. Miami was almost sold-out every time. It was a great town to work in. Dusty [Rhodes] of course, one of my closest friends, who just passed away. Gordon [Solie] who passed away just before our induction into the [WWE] Hall of Fame in 2008, Gordon and I were very close. A lot of great memories. Eddie Graham. I wrestled just about everybody there. So it was a phenomenal time of my life.?

Gordon Solie, who became a national treasure, served as the legendary voice of Championship Wrestling from Florida, and the American Dream Dusty Rhodes persona birthed in CWF. Promoter Eddie Graham, a former tough guy wrestler, was the mastermind behind the success of CWF.

As for the post-show, Miami nightlife, were there some hot spots to have some fun?

?Are you kidding me? That?s a ridiculous question,? Flair said smiling. ?Fort Lauderdale would be in even better.?

Social media back in the day would have meant what to the Nature Boy?

?I wouldn?t have been around. I?d be in jail,? chuckled the limousine riding, jet flying, kiss stealing, wheelin? dealin,? son of a gun. ?It would have been different I?m sure.?

Noted for the high-life, party lifestyle, Flair is actually more noted for being one of the greatest wrestlers all-time, Top 5 for sure. He earned the right to have some fun. He wrestled seven, eight times a week, carrying the company many times as its world champion. Multiple times he won the NWA title, WCW title and WWF title, because he could handle the job. He put lots of butts in seats.

And The Four Horsemen, legendary.

?It was a great life,? Flair said. ?Make no mistake. We worked hard, and we loved every moment of it. They couldn?t have worked me enough. I really loved the business, and I loved being a part of it, and I would have been miserable being left out of it. Once I got a taste of it, I couldn?t get enough of it.?

So many great matches and great opponents.

Recently announced, one of Flair?s main rivals, Sting, will be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 32 Week in Dallas.

What made Sting so popular, so successful?

?Charisma, a phenomenal look, a great physique, the spiked blonde hair, an incredible work ethic,? Flair said. ?So the look, the body, the charisma. He had a lot of ability as well. So it?s pretty hard to deny [Sting] anything.?

What would Flair think of inducting Sting into the WWE Hall of Fame?

?I would love to be that person,? Flair said. ?I haven?t been asked, but I would love to.?

Flair, 66, is still involved in WWE, supporting his daughter, the athletic and beautiful Charlotte. She debuted in 2013 and is already the WWE Divas champion.

?Believe it or not guys, it?s not because of me,? Flair noted his daughter?s success is her own. ?She?s a better athlete than I ever was all day long. She?s done a fabulous job. Her work ethic is second to none. She works out everyday. She?d rather be dead than miss a workout.

?She?s on tour in India right now for the week. I?m not sure what the training facilities are like there, but I guarantee you, if there?s a gym in New Delhi, she will find it.?

Charlotte excelled in volleyball, playing at a high level on an NCAA Division I platform for North Carolina State. Flair said she also shined in basketball, cheerleading, diving and gymnastics.

?She had a lot of choices,? he said. ?She picked volleyball, but she could have done any Division I sport. Track & field, too.?

After college, then came time to have ?the talk.?

Flair said: ?I just said to her [wrestling is] a huge commitment of your time, and you?re going to be moving away from home -- not that she was afraid to move away form home -- but it?s hard to explain the commitment you make not only to yourself but to the business to be successful in it.

?Once she got into it, there was no turning around. She got to be patient once in a while, but that happens with the system. Once she got her foot in the door, it is hard to kick her out of it.?

Flair will return to Miami on Jan. 25 for WWE Monday Night Raw, the night after the Royal Rumble in Orlando.

?I will be in Miami,? Flair said. ?It?s always huge. I love Miami. I love being there, and I?m bringing [NFL Hall of Famer] Lawrence Taylor with me. So you tell me how much fun that will be. LT and the Natch, the combination to beat.?

Flair won WWE gold at the Royal Rumble in 1992, the only time a champion was crowned for winning the Rumble.

?[Before that] I was down on myself because of the way my relationship deteriorated with Jim Herd and WCW,? Flair said. ?I was so miserable working for Herd. I cut my hair. I was down on everything, but once I got there [WWE], I got my psych back on and was ready to go.?

At this year?s Royal Rumble, for the second time ever, the winner will also become the WWE champion.

Speaking of champions, Flair is a long-time fan of the NFL?s Carolina Panthers, who are one of the teams to beat in the NFL Playoffs.

?I?m friends with Cam [Newton] and Greg [Olsen] and [Luke] Kuechley,? said Flair, who is billed from Charlotte, N.C. ?A lot of the other guys I knew are gone, but obviously, I?m pulling for the Panthers to do well. After watching Seattle the other day, I don?t know. They got it back together, and [Russell] Wilson is red hot. He played tremendous [against the Minnesota Vikings]. The Playoffs have been great. I feel bad for Cincinnati and [Coach] Marvin Lewis. I like Marvin, but at that level, the guys are intense.?

Flair enjoys talking football -- pro and college. He has his own podcast at

http://www1.play.it/audio/wooooo-nation-with-ric-flair/

?[Podcasts] can be very lucrative,? Flair said. ?I?m heading down to do one right now with Chris Jericho. It?s fun, and you learn form them. My problem is I can?t critique the [WWE] show, because my daughter?s on the show, and I?m still actively working for the company. The other guys who do podcasts can critique the show, but I wouldn?t be caught dead doing that.

?Actually, I don?t have anything negative to say about it anyway, but if there was something I thought, I couldn?t possibly say it, because I would basically be cracking on the hand that feeds me. I don?t feel like there?s anything negative on the show anyways...If anyone really took a look at the injuries on our roster right now, it?s mortifying. Seth Rollins, John Cena, Randy Orton, Cesaro, [Daniel Bryan, Tyson Kidd]. A lot of guys to lose. Rusev is hurt right now, but I don?t know to what extent. Sasha?s hurt. Paige has got a concussion. It?s a lot going on.?

Time for others to step up.

Charlotte and Paige stepped up their game at the end of last year, battling for the WWE Divas title, and Charlotte?s brother, the late, great amateur wrestler, Reid, became part of the emotional banter on a Monday Night Raw in November, which upset fans who disapproved harshly via social media.

?It was said that I was upset, but I wasn?t,? Flair said. ?Those kind of things are going to happen periodically. The emotion is real. She and Reid were very, very close. I certainly wasn?t offended by what happened [on Raw]. I just don?t like to see her cry.

?That was somebody?s thought, and she ok?d it. They said, ?[Charlotte], do you mind if we do this?? And she said, ?No. I don?t mind at all.? It?s the business, and sometimes things that are real come across in a way that the people are mad about it, but if I?m not mad, and [Charlotte?s] not mad, and we?re the key players...

?We have to live with it. It?s still fresh. It?s been less than three years, but it?s something that happened in our life, and we have all had to make adjustments. Legitimately -- which is very, very true -- Reid is the one who talked her into [wrestling]. He pushed her big time. ?Go ahead and do it. We?ll be together.? That was his dream, and that was his love. He?s probably saying, as I?ve said before, that he?s glad to still be a part of it.?

@RicFlairNatrBoy

www.magiccitycomiccon.com

At Magic City Comic Con, Jan. 15-17, also meet the stars of Doctor Who, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Game of Thrones, Sesame Street, Rick and Morty, X-Men, Mulan, Pocahontas, Regular Show, Power Rangers, Face Off, Black Dynamite, Supergirl, WWE, The Flash, Pokemon, Star Wars, Star Trek, Fallout 4, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and more. Plus, don?t miss special guest Bill Nye The Science Guy on Friday, Jan. 15.

Magic City Comic Con offers three days of fun featuring celebrity guests, comic book creators, voice actors, industry guests, cosplayers, artists, writers, panels, Q&A?s, films & shorts, costume & cosplay contests, vendors, parties, anime, workshops, video gaming and more.

The full schedule of events is at

https://register.growtix.com/schedule/magic_city_comic_con_2016

- Tickets

Tickets are on sale at

https://register.growtix.com/e/magic_city_comic_con_2016