• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Ric Flair talks The Four Horsemen, Jim Harbaugh and WWE Women's champion Charlotte

Posted: May 13th 2016 By: Mlive.com

WWE living legend Ric Flair and his buddies, The Four Horsemen, are making a very rare appearance together in Michigan. It's so rare, Flair tells me this is only the second time they've ever done this.

The event: You can meet Flair, the Stylin', profilin', limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin' n'
dealin' son of a gun and The Four Horsemen at Motor City Comic Con at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. The event is Friday, May 13 through Sunday, May 15. Flair and the Four Horsemen will be there Saturday and Sunday.

About The Four Horsemen: The Four Horsemen are considered to be the best pro wrestling faction ever. They formed in the mid-80s with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and JJ
Dillon as their manager. Flair is a 16-time world champion and only two-time member of the WWE Hall of Fame. He is currently the manager of his daughter, Charlotte, who is the current WWE women's champion.

Flair tells me Metro Detroit is only the second time The Four Horsemen have ever made an appearance like this.

"It's just hard because I work all the time, Arn works all the time, Barry has had some health issues and JJ works at a correctional institute. But, it's all good because we're all getting together. The first appearance we did was so successful, it was scary."

Many consider The Four Horsemen the best faction ever. So, who does Flair think is the second best faction of all-time?

"To me it would be Evolution. And, not just because I was a part of it. There's no better in ring performers than Randy Orton and Triple H. The two of them, when they are both at the top of their game and healthy, are two of the best in the ring. Bautista was awesome. I was older, but I still had
a lot of entertainment value. (laughing) As my skills declined, I could entertain the fans."

Who does Flair think is the best current faction in WWE?

"Well, WWE really doesn't have a faction like that right now. The New Day isn't really a faction, if that makes sense. I think you have to be on the other side of the fence, bad guys, to be a faction. You have to have a nucleus of people who can perform at the highest level and talk at the highest level."

"That's what we had. There was no better big man in the business than Barry Windham. Arn, to me, was the greatest of all-time and one of the greatest talkers. Tully was fantastic. JJ was the most unselfish guy. He kept us balanced and kept us on our schedules. He made sure we caught our flights on time (laughing)."

I wanted to know if a day ever goes by that someone doesn't yell "woo" at Flair.

"No, never. Thank God! Now my daughter is stuck with that curse the rest of her life. It's not a bad curse to have, though."

What would Flair have done if he didn't become a professional wrestler?

"I don't know. I never even really thought of it. Once when I was in college, I was put on the inactive list because of grades. All I wanted to do was wrestle. Right place, right time. I spent a couple years at Minneapolis, then down to Charlotte and I never left the business. 44 years now, isn't that amazing?"

Is there anyone Flair never wrestled that he always wanted to?

"I think I wrestled everybody. Ricky Steamboat, Triple H, Bret Hart, Randy Orton, Hulk Hogan. I also wrestled a lot of the guys in Japan. With The Four Horsemen I wrestled Dusty Rhodes, Sting, The Road Warriors. Looking back, I don't think there's anyone that I missed."

Out of all of those guys, who did Flair enjoy wrestling the most?

"Ricky Steamboat for sure. That's documented. Sting, Dusty, Michaels, Triple H, Randy. I made a lot of money and feuded with the greatest of all time."

What are some of the worst injuries Flair suffered through in his long career?

"I tore both my rotator cuffs in the ring and worked for a year before I had them repaired. I once cracked my neck and worked through that. I basically just stood on the apron and let the other guys do the work. Thank god for the Horsemen, that happened back when they were hot. Other than that, I've
been pretty lucky. Knock on wood that the airplane crash in 1975 didn't hold me back. I broke my back in three places."

Who are some of Flair's favorite current WWE Superstars?

"Roman Reigns for sure. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose. I'm also a big fan of Dolph Ziggler. I'd really love to work with Roman Reigns, though."

Flair says he loves Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. You'll recall he even made an appearance at the U of M football signing day earlier this year.

"I got recruited and almost went to Michigan. I just needed a letter from my academic adviser saying he thought I could achieve the minimum grade point average. He didn't write that, but I signed a letter of intent. I spent the weekend with Dan Dierdorf and those guys in the Beta house. I was sold. i wanted to go there."

"When Jim Harbaugh called me (about the signing day), I said hell yeah, I'm Blue and Gold right now! In fact, I'll be at three or four of the games this season on the sidelines. I think Harbaugh is a phenomenal coach. Those guys are going to be national champions. If not this year, in a couple of
years. What a gentleman he is. He's everything Michigan needs."

"I love Ann Arbor. One of the reasons my grades were so bad is because I had a girlfriend at U of M and I went there to visit a lot."

So, what does the future hold for Flair as he currently manages his daughter, WWE Women's champion, Charlotte?

"I have no idea how long this will last. Charlotte is flying high right now. I don't think she needs me, but it's a good storyline for TV. She doesn't need me to be successful."

"She has people booing her, which is hard to do. Next to Stephanie McMahon, she's probably the hottest bad girl in the company. She's got heat and it's made the whole division better. It makes it more fun for the audience and the wrestlers competing in the matches. That's what we had for
years with the Horsemen. Fans hated The Four Horsemen."