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Wrestling Legend Ric Flair recently took time out his busy schedule to talk to us. Here is what he had to say.
What made you decide to train for a career in pro wrestling and what was Verne Gagne like as a trainer?
In 1972. Because I was living with the fellow who was training for the '72 Olympic games called Ken Patera, He had already made a deal with Verne Gagne who sponsored him in his training period to become a professional wrestler, and he and I became very close friends. Verne Gagne was the ultimate professional, as a trainer, very committed promoter / wrestler to the sport of professional wrestling, he had been an Olympic wrestler himself in 1948, a great guy to be involved with. I was very fortunate to start out with him.
Are there any things that you learnt from him, that you will take on when you train other people?
I don't think I really absorbed one thing, at that point in time I was just learning my craft. The thing he really instilled, was work ethic and commitment.
When you broke your back in a plane crash in 1975, did you start thinking about a career away from wrestling or was a return to the ring always your main objective?
I was told that they didn't know if I would get back in the ring. Sports medicine was not nearly as sophisticated as it is now so, the answer was time will tell. It did heal and it didn't become an issue (knock on wood) and hasn't so far.
Do you think coming back from an injury has changed you as a person?
No I was young then you don't really think about the consequences on making a career as citizens. I was focused and determined to be a wrestler. I don't think back then I would have accepted no for an answer.
What was it like to win your first world title from Dusty Rhodes in 1981?
That was an awesome feeling; it was the epitome of what I wanted to be then in wrestling. That particular evening was really not a great night for me because I was in Kansas City and either Dusty or myself were very well received in that town, not well known. It was a political deal! Bob Geigel was the president of NWA . I couldn't really tell anyone about the fact that I was going to win because that was the nature of the business. The promoter that sponsored me was there, the guy that worked with him, my mum and dad came from Minneapolis, and it was a relatively quite night, with no fanfare there really. That particular night was not over the top for me, it was a nice feeling afterwards but with so many politics going on, at that point in time-it really was not the most rewarding feeling I have ever had, but yeah it was an important win for me.
What was it like when you first wrestled in front of your parents?
They liked wrestling but they never watched it on TV. They respected what I accomplished but they never lived and died for it, or watched it every day.
When you lost that title you then won it back from Harley Race-did you fight a different sort of fight against Harley Race than you did against Dusty Rhodes?
That was a big night in my back yard. It was built up for months in advance, a huge night, our first Starrcade, it was billed as a "Flair for the Gold" and Dusty Rhodes had put together a phenomenal promotional scheme to make it work and it did. That was one of those nights that is over the top in terms of memory and feeling. I knowing that I had achieved something big.
After that your success was huge. Did you have the confidence at that stage to know that you could go all the way?
Winning it the second time told me I had the ability to go as far as I wanted to go. Winning it the second time meant I wasn't a short-term success.
Whose idea was it to form the Four Horsemen and who chose the members?
It was Arn Anderson's idea. It was just four guys who got along great and it was a pretty cool concept. We actually were together before we had a name, and then Arn came up with the name one day. The best combination was Arn, Barry Windham Terry Blanchard and myself. Ole was very good he was the original, but he was at the stage of his career where his heart wasn't in the wrestling. He was a great wrestler and a great part of the history of the Four Horsemen.
In 1989 you had 3 sensational world title matches with Ricky Steamboat at the Chi-Town Rumble, Clash of the Champions 6 and Music City Showdown - which would you consider to be the best of the 3?
I couldn't say. I don't think I ever had a bad one with him. He was the best I ever wrestled against. A phenomenal performer. We had great chemistry and a lot of respect for each other and that good guy bad guy thing worked really well, it was awesome.
Do you prefer being a heel or a face?
I prefer being a bad guy. Why would you say heel or face? Are you a wrestler? You're not so why would you use that terminology?
Is that the wrong terminology? It's a question from a fan actually.
Well fans who use terms like that I have no respect for, because they're not wrestlers. That's a wrestlers terminology. See that's inside talk - I don't like outsiders using inside talk - I have no respect for it whatsoever. Everybody wants to think that they're a wrestler. The guy who wrote my book the first time, I'd go on record as saying is a *%$^