Ric Flair Reveals Touching Gift Triple H Gave Him Following Reid's Passing
In honor of his 72nd birthday week, two-time WWE Hall of Famer and 16-time world champion Ric Flair came on The Wrestling Inc. Daily today to chat with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman about his illustrious career. Flair opened up about losing contact with his fellow Four Horsemen and the McMahon family embracing him after his son Reid's passing.
"I've moved on. Trust me, I've had words with Hunter, and I've had words with Stephanie," Ric said. "I've argued with them, and we've had tough times too. I was drinking a lot, and Steph and I had a bad argument. I said something terrible, but they've forgiven me and so has Hunter, and Vince has never left my side ever since the day I met him. And they couldn't have done more for my son.
I can remember after we buried Reid, I put one of my Hall of Fame rings on Reid. At NXT one time, Hunter said, 'I need to talk to you,' and I maybe thought I had done something wrong. And he called me into his office, and he had a duplicate ring with Reid's name engraved on it. That's someone who cares. I spent half the time with Hunter than I did with those guys (the Horsemen)."
Ric Flair called his relationship with the McMahon family "golden" speaking on how Stephanie was there for him during his bad moments. Flair got emotional recalling the times he called out Shawn Michaels and Jim Ross after his 30 for 30 and understanding that he was in the wrong in those occasions.
"It's golden. It always has been, but I don't give it enough attention," Ric admitted. "Stephanie, before I was getting divorced, she was there. She knew I was dying with Reid. Years ago in her 20s just supporting me and Hunter's always been there, and Shawn's been there.
"After my 30 for 30, I was mad at Shawn and went out on social media and said that thing. I was so damn mad but actually what he was saying was the truth, and Jim Ross was saying the truth too. I got mad at Jim, and I called him and said, 'F**k you Jim. Why are you saying that?' But you know, it was the truth. I don't know how to be alone, and that's going back to when I was just a kid.
"But anyway, we're all good now, and that's all that matters. I've apologized, and I really hurt Jim's feelings. He went to Ashley (Charlotte) and said, 'I'm so upset about your dad being mad.' I just can't emphasize enough to people that you can't just go out half cocked, have a drink and start calling people out, that's what I did. I was mad at everybody. Nobody wants to hear the truth."
Hausman noted the growth and the acceptance that Ric has learned through his life.
"My gosh, you grow everyday," Ric noted. "Where would I be without Wendy? The other thing that I've learned to do is to put things in a time frame, and Reid's problems started before I got divorced. I spent forever trying to digest how much impact and how much hurt that put on him, but it started when I sent him to a prestigious boarding school and things going on up there.
"I have learned, which has made me a little more at peace with myself. It's just one of those things. There's no explanation. I just can't put my finger on how it got started. He read Hunter's fitness book 500 times and was under the desk in our living room. He idolized Shawn, and Shawn had talked to him. I know he might have wanted to be like me, hopefully the good side of me.
"He was just the greatest kid in the world. A great athlete. He ate health food, just conscious of his diet, worked out everyday but he just had this thing. I learned that it's not an addiction. It's a disease, and diseases are hard to beat. Addictions you can beat but disease, that's what he couldn't beat."
Visit RicFlairShop.com for all your official Ric Flair merchandise and gifts! You can follow Ric on Twitter @RicFlairNatrBoy. You can find the full audio from part one of Ric's interview via the embedded players below: