Ric Flair On Who He'd Come Out Of Retirement For, Who Is On His Mount Rushmore Of Wrestling
It's been nearly eight years since Ric Flair last wrestled as his final match fittingly came against Sting in Impact Wrestling. The 70-year-old Hall of Famer appears to finally be done after a lifetime in the ring, but Flair did leave the door slightly ajar in a recent interview that was conducted before his recent health scare.
Flair talked with Wrestling Travel about the one person that would make The Nature Boy consider coming out of retirement to face.
"I'd love to wrestle Roman Reigns," Flair revealed. "I'd like to be a bad guy against Roman if I was 35 or 40 years old. They couldn't afford to pay me though [laughs]."
Flair has wrestled thousands of matches and has thousands of stories. He told one about a trip to Tokyo that became two trips to Tokyo.
"I'd been wrestling in Florida," Flair said before rattling off the names of his opponents, "and I knew I had to go to Tokyo on Monday. I was dreading it because I knew when I landed, I had to wrestle three one-hour matches.
"So, I was so stressed out that I drank all the way over there. Back then we had a paper ticket and I just made up my mind that I was quitting. I took that paper ticket and walked across the gate and asked, 'What's the first flight back?'"
Once Flair found out he could take a flight to Seattle, then connect to Chicago and then back to Charlotte, he said "Bingo!"
"I got out and went all the way back to Charlotte. This is all in 28 to 30 hours," Flair stated. "I landed in Charlotte and a Jim Crockett employee was waiting for me and I didn't even go home. Back on the plane and I made it all the way back [to Tokyo] in time for the first match. I wrestled then went and got drunk that night and never thought about it again. But it was the anxiety of that hour-long match. They can be fun but they can be long."
As a 16-time World Champion and the first two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Flair would be on anyone's Mount Rushmore of wrestling. But The Nature Boy was asked who would be on his Mount Rushmore.
"I think because of time put in, I'm in that category," Flair said. "But I'd have to go with Hulk, Stone Cold and The Undertaker. I know people are gonna say I should put Andre the Giant in. But I actually think The Undertaker has had as big a run and as big an impact on the business without having to be champion and just being the character.
"Number one, he's a great guy. Number two, it's the most unique and greatest gimmick in the history of our business. He's got sick of it a couple of times and changed it around. But at the end of the day, whether it's riding a motorcycle or getting out of a coffin, it's the greatest gimmick I've ever seen."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Wrestling Travel with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.