WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair spoke about the passing of Antonio Inoki and his legacy on the most recent episode of the “To Be The Man” podcast. Additionally, Flair discussed some recent happenings in the world of pro wrestling.
After learning that Ricky Steamboat will be competing again, Flair was questioned about the rumors that circulated regarding his future in the ring:
“When I say it inspires me to want to do it again, it’s not that I couldn’t. I will stand by this. I wish I hadn’t said it was my last match, and I don’t want to disappoint a bunch of fans by doing it again, but I got myself into good shape. Then I made what turned out to be a drastic mistake by not hydrating, but I feel great. I feel like as long as you’re healthy, you should do what you want to do when you get to my age. I mean, you know, I feel like we limit ourselves to what people think we should be doing sometimes as opposed to what we’re doing. What the hell? I can do that and probably better’, and he probably will. You know he’ll look better. He always has and always will.”
Flair also compared the wrestling show he was a part of when he first started to shows today:
“I look at the 50 years and I think what makes me different is that there’s nobody I haven’t wrestled. I look at the cast of characters, I look at the show now and I go, man, it’s so different. I mean, I can’t even see Hansen and Brody wrestling right now. The guys wouldn’t know how to handle them, or Mulligan, I mean, Jesus Christ. You couldn’t say a word to Jack without him punching somebody? Can you imagine one of the guys giving sh*t to Harley Race? I mean, it’s just a different time.”
“The difference is, and I’ve gotta qualify this so everybody understands what I’m saying. The difference is that you had to, number one, you wrestled every possible imaginable character and style in the world, and if you’re in Japan, you had to fight for your life. Now, it’s a much more controlled environment. Let’s put it like that. Of course, the choreography is totally different. There was no choreography. You just went out there and hoped that you had the chemistry and through practice and trial and error you found the right guys. I would like to think I found a lot of guys that I had great chemistry with, from Dusty to Harley to Terry.”
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
(h/t to Wrestling News for the transcription)
