Club Shay ShayWOO! Wrestling legend Ric Flair enters the ring! In this episode of Club Shay Shay, Flair lists his Mt. Rushmore of Trash Talkers, providing a history lesson on the verbal theatrics tin sports. He unveils his greatest catchphrase of all time, offering a glimpse into the mind of a master showman. The conversation takes a poignant turn as Flair gets emotional discussing his parents, being kidnapped then adopted, providing listeners with an honest insight into what truly lies behind the flamboyant persona. Additionally, he passionately defends LeBron James, adding a layer of contemporary sports discussion to the mix. Part 1 of this episode is a rollercoaster of emotion, charisma, and sports insight, making it a must-listen for fans of wrestling, sports, and captivating storytelling.
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I am the dialery ware rowleggs were limited riding private, get fine kids, stealing, wheeling, dealing clues, set them a gun.
They're having a hard time holding gators down. WHOA all my life?
Then grinding all my life, sacrifice, hustlebed price one slice, got the bonus all my life.
I grinding all my life, all my life, then drowning all my life, sacrifice, hustlebed prices, squash all my life. I be ground in all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Shay Shay. I'm your host, Shunning Sharp. I'm also the proprit of Club Shasha. The guy that's stopping by for conversation on the drink today is world renowned. He's arguably the greatest professional wrestler of all time. He's been wrestling for over fifty years. The most decorated celebrated world champion in sports entertainment history, A sixteen time world champion, the only man to be a two time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, an international icon. A limousine ride, Jeff flying kids Steenen Wheen in side of my gud whoa but that y'all borrow a Red Claire. It's good man. How you doing great man? We got a toast. This is my Kanyac. I don't know if you drank Kanya, but I gotta talk.
I don't, but I'll have something with you.
And we were telling y'all camera man, my grandfathers to drag us around the little small country towns before everybody knew who Rick Flair was, and that's when we fell in love with wrestling. Thank you, so it is an honor and indeed honoring a huge pleasure of mine to have you in this will step.
Him, Thanks you for coming in. Thank you huge family.
I said, how have you been?
I think great.
You was telling me earlier you had some medical issue the last several years.
Twenty seventeen, two thousand.
Seventeen was a pretty rough y tell us what happened?
Well, it actually goes backward twenty fifteen. I was I had a bad stomach gate, but I came back and forth right, and finally one day I woke up and it was really hurt me bad. So when he took me to the emergency room, my wife and they were operating me in ten minutes. Ruptured the pendix.
Oh man.
So you know the deal was a hospital, right, if you if you can't get out of there a by five o'clock, they're going to check in, right, I know.
I know that real well.
So I like the old patients stuff, right, So at five o'clock they were going to keep me, and I said, guys, I'm getting up. So I just got up, took the via, took ten steps, and I got to hurt you, right, So then Bingo fixed that. But while they were doing that, they nicked my ball for which caused ball obstruction. So that was a nightmare.
Right.
That's one of the most I've learned through just experience. That's one of the most horrifying things you're gonna do. So it's one in a million, literally one in a million, that it will ever happen again. But I was drinking with a guy from Dallas in Tampa at a bar and the next thing I know, I woke up thirty one days later. I see you for I mean, I see you for thirty one days. Wow, life support for thirteen days. My intestine completely a ruptured. I was septic, total kidney failure, pneumonia, and respiratory heart failure.
Wow. Yeah, And I you don't remember any of that?
None?
And I had no memory when I finally woke up, I had no memory. My memory went forward, but I had no memory of my past for six months.
Wow.
Yeah, strange right, And I'm.
Healthy as a whore. Yeah that's right. I mean, it's amazing.
We hear these great stories about your wrestling days and your partying and buckheating. How were you able, because that's how were you able? Because wrestling is such a taxing sport. How were you able to party all night and still do what you're doing in the ring?
I don't know.
I call a guide to gifts and now that I never missed her workout either. You know, we wrestled twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday.
I don't know. I just I like it. It's like I don't snow the cocaine. I never have.
I've eaten infused anics over the ear international flights. But I don't do any drugs, no pain killers. I haven't had any surgery, which is a miracle itself.
No.
No knee surgery, no himp, no knees, no hip, A couple of back, back surgery, none, none, none.
I broke my back an airplane crash into that right well yeah, yeah, and the guy told me i'd be wouldn't be able to walk at forty five.
I don't even have any pain at all. I'm reading Wow.
Yeah, and a crack seat five in on my neck and that's the background for the technology was such a my lat got smaller my left arm, but that's all.
Did What were some of your favorite spots in bookhead? Oh god, I can't remember it. They probably not even open anymore.
Oh gosh.
I'm trying to think that you're what fifty fine Google the other day because you're so damn entertaining.
Because because back then you and I was talking, our camera wrestling was very regional. You had Georgia Championship Wrestling, you had Florida Championship Wrestling, the mid Atlantic Championship Championship Wrestling.
Florida was the rough front asleep.
Because see I remember you in like the Dusty Rolls and all those guys mister wrestling number two pack song, you know, all those guys coming through and like like I said, my grandfather, we go in the backslop going to Valdelia, the Savannah Civic Center.
Anderson's Yeah yeah, yes, yes, yes, Savana Civic Center was a great that was our double shot. Yes, yeah, we worked like Charlotte, like at a three o'clock show and then drive. I think it's two hundred miles of Savannah for Charlotte something like that, right, yep, it's one hundred of Columbia and a hundred more in Savannah craft and uh, Savannah's great. And of course I had that great Saint Patrick's stage. Yes, yeah, yeah, it's a big thing, right, yeah, I'm sure you've been there. That's amazing, right, you wouldn't think, but that is.
Yeah. So I just love Savannah.
But Yellow wrestled there and it was a great venue for us, always almost always sold one.
How how did you become so popular with the rappers, Because you look at if said Rick Flair, drip Killer, Mike put you on the track, push your t It's like how did you become so popular with the rap culture.
I don't know.
I mean, like I'm literally was. I'll probably say Snoop while I'm out here if he's in town. I think because I wore jewelry and all that, and like that the drip thing came from the jewelry. I was wearing jewelries like Snoop side that was blinking for right.
Yeah, So when I'm I'm looking at you in your style, you came in with the roves with the feathers and you were talking. I mean you were really the first one that had the flair. You had that you had, as they say, the drip. You had the swag, that's what they call it. Swag.
You had that. Did you know that, like this is what I'm gonna be. Yeah, I did, but I didn't know how to get there. That makes sense.
And then it's a learning process, Like it's like going through school. You just you feel it and it doesn't happen every day. I mean, if you don't, if you don't really feel the character right, you can't you can't pull it off.
And I'm like I grew up.
All I could think about was Joe Namas three hundred Girls, a senior in your time. I mean, that's on my role models, right. And I got to meet Will Chamberlain. I mean I just I just I was just you know, by the way, what an athlete he I text Stephen a one day with them over the world's greatest athletes, And Steven Age said to me, I'm not putting them over.
Russell beat him every time they played.
But let me ask you, because if I'm not mistaken, I think Buddy Rogers was the first make absolutely and then you came along.
How so how did that go to? Did you ask him a buddy, do you mind if I use.
No, No, it's great, No, I I George Gott gave me the idea. Uh and I apparently he asked buddy. But I did meet Buddy so belly. He really was. He he dressed, he can great physique, much better than mine. He came walking in the locker room in Greensboro. He looked at me and walked over and said, Buddy Rogers, kid, remember one thing. There's only one diamond in his business in.
Here, and just met him.
And his diamonds are forever right. Yeah, yeah, he was. He was slick man.
The way that you lived in the seventies. Obviously, the money in wrestling is not was it then what it is now?
Oh gosh.
But you couldn't tell Rick Clair that because you live Yeah, two hundred pair of the Alligators.
She was at Bruce Friedman's. Wow you freedom right down street? Everybody has? How much buddy is Brucecott?
Like?
Well?
I mean if you if you were in the entertainment business or a basketball player and everybody came through there, they did, they did. Yeah, So what made you decide to take on that persona? How did you perfect that persona? I felt that that.
I mean, I just everyone ever since I was a kid, I just wanted to be I wanted to stand out, and clothing was a way of standing out, being a good athletes.
It's a way of standing out, being a real smart in school.
It was a way.
And obviously I went a really smart in school thirteen years.
In high school, so that was rough too. The good news is you're gonna stay another year.
So when did you realize that wrestling? Because I read you were pretty good in sports. But did you think wrestling was going to be your ticket to start them and ban them?
No?
Never, I bo because I went to Minnesota on a football scholarship, right, and I didn't predict We all know they were predict right. And actually all you had to do was go to class there, you know, back then right, check in and walk out the door right right. And uh, but I got a fraternity and that two mile walk and thirty blows are with her, it was, and then I got in the fraternity. Else it went over for me. I lived there for a year after but after I was out of school, and my parents thought I was still in school.
Because you're from Minnesota. Yes, born and raised, raised on a farm, so so obviously if you're on a farm, you got to work.
You No, no, no, I wouldn't raise on a farm. My dad was doctor doctor. My dad made me work on a farm every summer to just learned. I had to learn how to rework every tool, everything. And he had a friend who had a farm in southern Minnesota, and I spent a month there bailing. Hey, and my d just wanted me to learn how to do everything. But the first week I made a thousand dollars. I haven't unit attempted to started a lot more again, I won't. I won't sweep before So what if it's if it's viable and it doesn't involve I'm not changing the white bullb I'm not doing all that.
If somebody else can do what, you're gonna let them do it.
Yes, absolutely so. So this wrestling thing, I mean, you get the bug early on? Did you think wrestling was gonna be because like I said, it's so regional. Did you think it was gonna morph into what it can't?
Because I had no idea. I don't think anybody did. But it's so awesome that it has and it's it's now. It's I mean, I think a lot of sports, and you you know you you grew up on. I think a lot of sports take a lot of what we've done. And as far as entertainment like the NBA All Star Game where the anything all they all started, other Super Bowl, the because the wrestleman. If you look at WRESTLEMANI and the production values of shows like that, all the stuff, the glamor and the glipse. I mean all I think everybody's to get up from the wwe wwww.
But how did how long did it take you to perfect the Rick Flair? To be able to talk on cute, to be able to have the catchphrase, the sayings, and to be able to be what you became. You know what? I got that?
Actually I got that driving where we were.
We staid driving three three thousand miles a week, right and listen, listening to songs at night, draking beer, driving down the road. Just different stuff caught on of me. I was a huge fan of Chuck Berry and just I don't know, it's I just I caught a gift. Very few people get it right, but I you know, and I had a lot, a lot of enterities to.
This day, I still do. I feel great? Did the promoter?
Did be four? I feel seventy four?
And you had your last wrestling Mac what two?
A year ago? Last year? John? You done? Done? You done? I'm done physically, but mentally you feel you can still do it.
But the body just won't let you do it anymore.
But the body will, but they won't. Number one didn't want to see the body. I'm gonna work sure, Okay, the cosmetic issues were completed. They were rough beginning with, but after the surgery, shading the cosmetic issues, I wouldn't take my shirt out in front of my wife.
Right now, A part of your gift was trash talking. You once told someone, my shoes are worth more than your house. I spent more money on run One Road than guys spent them five years. I spent more money on spill and bars on one side of the world than you've ever.
Made, no than you made last year.
How did you come up with that? I mean, you're just sitting around like, Okay, what can I say?
That's what they got. It just rolled out. It just rolled out.
I've just been around so long, around so many cool people. You know, you hang around cool people, you learn things and just a little bit from everybody. Even today, I'll meet you, so I'll be the guy I'll say, God, this is really cool. And I mean and it's pretty hard to impress me right now. I mean you see in the statement to Stephen, they impersonate me in that. I mean, what what greater honor is there right than they have a guy was legendary as him impersonate Shire like when he came in Tampa for the Dallas game.
Well, he's struggling with Dallas this year, isn't it. Yeah, that look like they're doing pretty good things. They look great.
So when you started this, didn't appropriate because it seems to me like the really good wrestlers, like they really have an outstanding personality and they outshine you look at yourself.
You look at yourself, you look at the rock, you look.
At the John Cenas, you look at the guys that not only were great wrestler, they branched off went to the movie aspect was that something that was was was promoted? Did they want you to be?
Oh?
No, I had a chance to do a movie with a Ryan Victors. The guy approached me out here when I was wrestling the form in the eighties and they wanted me to do a James Bond character.
But the money I was going to make number one, I'd.
Have to take three months off and back then, you know, we didn't have a guaranteed contract you with the work, or you didn't get.
You didn't get paid.
Yeah, so I'd have to lose the world championship, you know, go make two hundred thirty thousand dollars in the movie or and I.
Hope that it did well. That makes sense. So I just.
I think I made the right choice because I just stayed with wrestling, and I you know, I've never looked back.
So you don't look back at you see the money that the Rock is making. You see what he became. You look at John Cena. Although I like it, but I don't think.
I don't think I was made for that, right, I mean those guys you know, look, you know the driss and glamor that's there.
But like the Rock gets up at four.
O'clock in the morning, Yes, every day, Yes, and John's the same way. They don't miss it workout right, and then it's all day long, take retake, take, Even when I make commercials ount after an hour, only sometimes I gotta look at a guy directing the thing because it's always now they have these two or three dregs. Right, I'll go, guys wanted to make the decision because I'm only at five o'clock. I'm leaving. I'm going to get a drink. So I don't know how those guys do it, but they they're successful. And jeez, Duane is just a placeble. Yeah.
So when when you started this and you and you started your persona, and then all of a sudden the cameras really came into effect and they started putting you guys on television, and that's kind of kind of like when the Rick Flair really really took off when people could actually see you, not just in the ring, but they could hear you also TVs. Yeah, yeah, that took off. So how do you like? Okay, I'm on, did you know you were on the did you know you were onto something?
Yeah? Oh yeah I felt that.
I just you know, and then I come inside you ever, Actually I'm good friends with Pete Rose, right, So Pete.
Said Inns buying his shoe. It was over it Friedman's right.
So I went over there with him and I was this meth one day and they spent they spent forty thousand dollars on shoes with Ozzie Dave Parker or whatever I can remember. And uh, Pete and I spent like three grand. But you know, let minister those alligators shoes.
So you got a pair, they got like ten pair yeh yeah, yeah, yeah, I got to surgrecut. Right.
So when when you talk about trash talkers, because you're one of the greats, So who would you put on your Mount Rushmore trash talkers? Ali Mayweather, Dion Sanders, The Rock, Michael Jordan. Who would be on your Mount Rushmore trash talkers?
Well, I am such a fan of Dion Sanders, but Dion's calmed it down. Yeah yeah, I in Vintages Dion, Yeah, I mean playing Dion in Atlanta. Yeah yeah, I mean I understand why and I he was able to turn down obviously, Muhammad Ali.
You know.
Trash talkers. I'm trying to think of myself. You know, it's hard to talk crash because some you know, number one people have got to be thick skinned, yes, because it's it's not real, right.
But you're trying to make big people made.
You try to make people mad. You're trying to sell them. I'm trying to sell things. So and back then I didn't go over and say I'm going to say this about you, and I'm.
So they had no idea that you were going to say what you were saying.
Never no, and with with me and Dusty, it was just whoever went first but last. And I made him a deal one day. I said, okay, you go, so we're not gonna argue about this because he could he could really talk. Yeah yeah, the American dream brother. He may be the most gift that Roddy Piper would Yeah, yes, so Roddy Piper. Ali Dusty Rhodes, dion I mean those all those guys I looked, I looked up to, and I mean.
A couple of them.
Roddie, my aid would be it would have been my age right, industry a couple of years older.
But I mean, those guys were great. And Dionna, my god.
I remember he was on that show when he talked about LT sending the girls.
Remember that, Oh yea you're talking about He was on a uh it's the NFL network. Yeah no, and he said he said the boomera assas centers, oh yeo on CBS.
Yeah yeah, he said, don't tell me that LT didn't send you one too. You've heard those stories, right, Yes, yes, I remember, and I know LT really well.
Sure you do. Are you?
Are you surprised by how many famous people No, Rick Flair rock with Ric Flair, because it seems like everybody they get the same like like when I saw you, because this is my first time meeting you, but I grew up watching you and a lot of famous people, the celebrities, athletes, entertained rappers get the same impression that I got when I miss you.
It's just a regular guy. Where we're going to next?
But because it seems like, like you said, you've been in this business for over fifty years. Yes, and anybody that's my age that watched you're the most recognizable. Now, probably you and Andre are the most because Andre was such a massive of a man. I saw him one time of my life. And when you're unbelievab sleven years old and you see somebody that's You're like, that's the biggest man I've ever seen. But you're so recognizable you can't think of professional wrestling without mentioning you.
I'm glad I'm mind to say that, are you. I've just been lucky enough to to live on. I mean, I think the fact that I didn't do a lot of drugs. Obviously, I drank a lot of that documentary over over again. But you know, drinking not illegal. I keep telling people all the time. They tell me, like a drink problems. Right, I'll say, at seventy four, let's say I'm a regular guy. I'll retire, right, and I go play golf all day and drink all day on the golf course. Then I go to the club boss afterwards, which is the way the way the day works, gamble, play cards, drink some more go home. You're just a regular guy. You go to the bar at five o'clock, stay at nine o'clock, you're an alcoholic.
That that's the way.
That's the way.
Our culture per season. Right.
You mentioned something, you said like, I've never done drugs and you're seventy four years old.
I've done dan.
But a lot of guys that were younger than you have gone on what what why?
Because they the I think it it applies to all sports, but to our sports, particularly because of the fact that we never had a day off. They don't understand the word moeration so hypothetically steroids. Right, Well, if I take one CEC of test one CEC of Decca, right, and I look like this, well I might, I should take two.
It's everything's about iteration.
It's like now I'm in the cannabis business, right, I can I can take two or three hits, right, But I can't smoke well with Mike Tyson.
I don't know a snoop. My god.
I mean it's unbelievable and I mean so and it's like now when we were selling the Edibles, like the Edibles Edibles got me off the Xenax. But you know, if I have a bad day, I still jump on a xanax. I said, you're going to tell you I don't. But the edibles, I mean, there's so much the benefit from that because how many people are eating xanax. I mean, I admit it, how many people are taking it. It's your damn hard to buy right now. You know that people are trying to abuse it.
Right, So what are some of your top If I said, okay, Rick, give me your top three catchphrases that you've used in your career. You know, I'm a woman, I'm every woman's dream, every man's nightmare. Of diamonds are forever. So it's Rick Flair styling profile and limousine riding jet fly. That's probably your most famous one. That's probably your most famous one. If you don't like it, you'll learn to love it. All women want to be with me, All me want to be like me.
Yeah.
If you said okay, they said okay, Rick, you get three, you got a hundred. Give me your three favorite.
I am the diamondy wearing Rolex word limit, your riding private, get fine, kid's stealing, wheeling, dealing?
Whoa soun of forgutten? Let's having a hard time. Hold these gators down?
WHOA not your number one all time? That's it, that's it. So how did you to be the man to beat the man? How did you come up with that?
And I am I got off a song about trucking. Some guy was saying in the trucking, and I just and.
You put road lakes where private jet, flying, limousine, ride, kiss, stealing, wheeling, daling.
Yeah, well here's what happened. The private jet thing came around like this. So I was United States Champion. I'm wrestling black Jack Mulligan. Yes, I'm glad. I can you understand what I drama? Yes, Charlotte was sold out, but I'm in Greg Guy in his wedding ferry Guy, and you broke me in. So I told George Guy, I said, I gotta have this Saturday. They got him Saturday off, he said. So I charted a private back then I got a Lear nine to go to Minneapol to Minneapolis from Charlotte and back for twenty seven hundred dollars.
And now that would be fifty grand.
Yeah, but twenty seven hundred dollars back then was a lot of money.
Yeah, twenty And they filmed me right, getting all the plate going back, and I made it the coliseum at seven point thirty and we were sold out, and so I started the private that.
Thing and then it just just kind of it went from there. But that that basically what that was.
I just said I couldn't disciplot my friend and not being his wedding right.
But I had you back wrestle.
George Gott says, you don't make Charlotte just keep taking playing in Memphis, which was like the end of the world that was born.
Did uh? Did people did it bother you when people called you cocky? No, because they were gonna come to see you regardless.
Yeah.
So when you wrestled, you mentioned like you and I know black Jack Milligan and Sergeant Slaughter and all those guys, uh, Baron Broun RASKI, you know, like you meant the Anderson brothers. So if you wrestle black Jack and Charlotte, you've traveled on down suth Allley wrestling him again.
Yeah, different different cars. Yeah, we had we had the k Fave back then, and you know, there was no talking with different locker room. There was you could you could you could get you could get fired for riding with you one of your opponents.
Really.
Oh yeah, back then it was because they they want.
Because they wanted the appearance that you really didn't.
Like yet yeah, you know, of course. Yeah.
Now they it just accepted and it doesn't It hasn't hurt the indust year. But back then the word KFA was huge. So and the guys were It was a really tough business back then too. I mean the guys were tough guys. Right, there's over there, no no, we wanted to lose, you know what I mean. And there was no wordy there was a twenty five agents to talk about it.
It was just two guys, you know. So how so how did you come so? How did how do you come up with a strategy like who's going to be the hero, who's going to be the heel, who's going to win, who's going to lose? How did you guys come up with that? Well?
I think the personalities made the determination on who's going to be the good guy the bad guy? And then to be honest here for me, because I just wanted to get along. I said, beat me, I'll just be better than you mean to myself and I was. So by the time you got through. By the time the match is over, you could be right in the middle ring everybody going, I gotta see that guy who's laying on his back. That was I went to war with every night. You know the tape right there, and when all those fails.
Cut it, you're already for spiring. Yeah, bloods don't be everywhere. You've got the blood hair.
Yeah yeah, Savannah was pleading grounds. Yeah. Man, you don't know how many thunder bulla boat dog too, boy?
Oh yeah, see now you're going away now that's all Georgia Championship wrest Man.
Those were the good old.
Days undern But you know now they got schools that will teach you how to wrestle.
Did you guys have that when you were You just learned it on the fly.
Well, I went to wrestling camp. They just beat us up. Nobody even taught me from my first match. I never did anytho get beat up for eight weeks by Verney.
Guys.
You know guys that are amateur wrestlers are you know the real good that are in the business right right?
Because they wanted they wanted you to.
They wanted to break here, right and if they broke here, then you didn't make it, right, So the objective of them when I broke in the business was to break you or see if you had it, and once you had it, then they'll then they'll then they'll start helping you.
Right, So the different But now, so did they teach you how to fall? I mean you do the drop kick? And do you fall like there or when they soon place you? And how to you know, you do the body you come up the top rope?
Yeah, that's all you all learner, You learn by yourself.
Right, But that's what but and people like, oh okay, scripted, but you still have to learn how to fall. You're still falling, absolutely, and you're falling from ten to twelve feet.
And some of the match are just like this, Yeah, I mean now like ww is they But basically even today it's four wife fours plywood and are and are like a wrestling mat, right, you know that that's all it is.
It's hard, but it has to make that sound. There's a sound that the people that the audience needs to hear, and it's and it's still to the same to the day to this day, just like when you wrestle, it's kind of the same.
Yeah, whether ringing that much better around better.
Yeah, So how do you I mean, like you said, you're doing it every day and some days you're doing it twice a day. Is that why you think some of the guys maybe did the drugs in excess because of the.
Pain, of course, of course.
And you know what I noticed a lot of a lot of ex football players started wrestling. Ernie Ladd turned into wrestling. Big Yeah. See who McDaniel played with the Broncos.
Who is my mentor?
Man? Yeah? So what is it? What is it about?
And we see you know a lot of what's the paul?
You know, you know, I know, I'm glad you know all these guys. You know why who had to stay high school Russian record and until Billy Simms broke it?
Wow?
Yeah, Waho the Wahoo ran a ten flat hundred.
Yeah.
Yeah, he played for the Bronco and I didn't.
And the Jets the Briers story about Wahoo when they drafted name of every time he made a tackle was the Jets right? They take you played in the linebacker? They said, guess who, and the whole crowd would go Wahoo. And then they drafted Jet their minutes, they drafted Joe true story. They traded Wow, does I think he ended up with Miami?
How? I just wanted to ask you this because your name either, although it's felled differently, it was I think f L e u R I e h r I e h h R. How do you how do they determine the name? How do you do you get to keep your real name? Or do they give you a name? How did that happen? How do you get a name?
Well?
I want I wanted to be I went to Vernon eyt it broke Man. I said, I want to be Rambling and Rickey Rhodes.
I wanted.
I wanted to be a Destiny's brother, right, okay, And and very kind of looked at me and said, you're crazy. I don't know what you could do. I don't think what we just see it. That's the end, Dick. We're just funny guys. They just enjoyed life. And uh, he said, you're Rick Flair. That's a cool name.
I said, Rick Flair is cool. He said yeah.
And then you know, and I went by that name and uh, when I went down to Charlotte, it just sounded natural and it got on and then I was at an autograph sign and it's funny. I mentioned that maybe a year ago and Terry Bradshaw was there, so I know Terry a little.
Bit, right. He said, Rick Flair, that's the greatest name in the world.
I like Ric Flair. I said, I'm looking at myself and I wanted to call myself I'm a Rocky Road.
It wouldn't. I don't know if you'd have been the same. No, the nature bore the Rick Flair, the blonde hair.
I had my haird curled and everything like Dusty.
You had curly like Dusty.
Yeah.
Because doctor, if I'm not mistaken, he lived in Marietta, right.
He said, yes, yep, Yeah.
I'm sorry. I just I was I beat. I was crazy. Oh no, I'm like I thought about being a wrestler. Was like, man, yeah, well you got that. Yeah, all that falling football was tough enough and to do that every day for years and years and you did it for fifty Yeah.
Wait, let me tell you you wouldn't.
You'll be a surprised at a number of football players that could come in and didn't make it.
Man, right, remember you remember the guy that mars.
Man from the played for Oakland from too lumbers Georgia, No sac.
Black guy. Otis is strung, Otis is drunk.
Yeah, yeah, he came in the ring one day gone and the other guy homes that played, uh Hotsburgh Homes. But the Pittsford guy one day he was out there, the guy that was shooting the rifle. Yeah, yeah, he was only there one day too.
Not good.
He won.
He was tough, but he didn't like you know, it wasn't you know, you know, we didn't like the wrestling.
Now that's yeah, I mean, but but.
There they put out you'll know the name because you like wrestling. They put the orders in drunk. In the cage match with mad Dog for Seine, mad Dog was jumping around, he was clawned.
So how do you how do they determine the type of match? Because you got the Texas Death Match, you got the cage match, you got the bull rope, I remember the bull. You know you're tied to each other, and you know.
You got the steal cage match, you got the Indian strap matcher while whipping with that damn.
So how do they determine the type of match?
They did promoters the promotion to this day, they tried every on something different to capture the imagination of public.
So who who is your favorite wrestling opponent.
Of all time?
Steamboat Stebot or the drag Wars thing? Who one went on here and out?
Okay because Sting had the main event? He had a gym and and and uh at lampsing main event? Yeah thing, yep, yep. Partner, who's your favorite partner? Because you've had some partner. You had Greg Valentine, you the Four Horsemen, but I think it was you Valentine Tully Blanchard.
Uh about my favorite partner? He didn't be Greg or An Anderson. I wasn't allowed tag matches. We're another eight man the War Games and all a little crazy Jesus, but they sold out. But my examined come in last who was a legitimate badass, right, and we'd be throwing blood on Mike and everything. He'd get that tag man when he came in because they're going home.
He would kill everybody. We just we didn't do it.
Because occasionally is high, right, right, there's a seeing that right, you can't crawl off it, right, right. So he picked up JJ Dylon Animal's Shoulders, which is a movie you don't want to do period. But JJ is a manager, right, and the hawk jumped off the top rope and fun a j separated his shoulder almost.
So what happens when you have because obviously guys have had separated shoulders and dislocated elbows and torn a c ms. But you slotted to wrestle thirty minutes and that happens ten to fifteen minutes.
Well, they used to say, make you know the time out.
Like I bet reference to me hazes, like Michael Hayes the ps from the Free Words, right as an agent, he told her a free because they have ear pieces, right, tell them the telling them the tough it out these rick flair.
Okay, my lips.
What happened is I hit the rolle, came back and with me in the face, broke my nose cut you know, right, tough it out.
But now it's stout the matches.
See, I remember that the heavy heavy screwiny, and that they of the head shines, no more shares of ahead and.
No more to the You remember just slinging to the rope and bitch in the head.
With uh still do that?
Yeah?
Kick that? Oh sure, yeah? You just hope you had to hope guy knows what he's doing.
So when you when you look back and you look at all the names that you've wrestled from Andre to Giant to like you said, uh, Steamboat and Bobo Brazil and Thunderbowl.
Yeah you remember, I do that. Iurn Michigan, Abdullah the Butcher. Yeah. Aby he also late that.
The Beaty Jail because he used to have a barbecue spot.
In Tampa and Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. I have used to travel the Caribbean with Abby a lot, right, Yeah, it'd be an Abbey against Colos Cologne and somebody else over there. And you talk about BLOODBN, I talkd Forto Rigo. That's all they wanted.
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Download game Time today, last minut tickets lowest price guaranteed. You mentioned you was you was born in Memphis. How how many years did you spend in Memphis? Because I know you ended up being in Minnesota, but I only spend a month.
I'm adopting. Oh okay, that's interesting.
Is it true that you were stolen TiAl traffickers and you ended up being adopted? So how old were you when you you found out that this was your adopted parents and not your biological parents.
Let's take it to hold me when I was like five?
Did you ever seek out your So you don't, so you don't know if you have brothers, sisters.
No, I don't as recently funny that the guy. How many years? What was that, Wendy? This is six years ago. Somebody reached out my brother, my last my real name was Fred Phillips, right, and my brother reached out to me. I didn't have any interests. Really, probably want to borrow money. You know, you.
Didn't want to. You didn't want to leave him anybody. I'll call Steve Austin. Steve, I don't have borrow any money. To call me back. You mentioned your dad was a doctor.
Your mom was an actress.
Uh, she worked for the the She wrote a book in Search of Audience, and she was a She was not actress, but she worked at the agent shirt Tyrone Guthrie Theater.
And she was like, what was just saying? I don't know. They both were very smart.
My dad had too the doctor therees, one in theater in English and one in medicine.
What type.
When you talk about your dad, you you light up. He was a big influence on you, wasn't. Yeah.
He made me learn how to do everything. Five o'clock I would be five years old downstairs shoving me out. It was back then. He was obj I went right. There were when there was just a woman wanted her doctor. They weren't being passed around the way it is now. Right who's on colleges or right? I mean, I can't tell you shovel me out right. And he wanted to make sure I knew how to work every tool.
But he was that. We spent a lot of time together.
I read where you had a list you had an impediment as a kid, I had one. Did kids make fun of you back then?
No, I don't remember.
I don't think it was in fun of me by my parents sent me to a speech therapist and all that, I mean's funny, like they did all this stuff in and I was just I was just so I would just like to have fun. And they spent a fortune, probably on races and then I never won more retainer and right there, and I do put the retainer on, but it didn't Does that make sense?
I just I just like to be out having fun.
Did you understand that your upbringing was kind of different than your your friends in the neighborhood because you had a doctor as a dad. Did you understand that or you just looked at it. That's my dad and I'm a kid, and I just want like you said, you just wanted to have fun. Yeah, just fun.
Oh yeah, I don't think anybody people Actually, I hadn't didn't judge anybody could be a doctor. A guy, another guy across street runs worked for hire as Rupberg.
If you remember them years ago. I mean another guy was an architect.
I mean the neighborhoods, neighborhoods or family back, I mean a whole different deal. Now everybody's so judgmental and everything read where you went to boarding school? Thirteen years?
So why why did you? Why did your parents send you to a boarding school?
Because I got in trouble riding a motorcycle around. Uh well, first of all, I was trying. I got busted driving to buy alcohol.
Now were you?
I was at fifteen, but I had I had a letter jacket on. They like I like, I was in college, right, And so they rested me.
My dad.
I was on Father's Day.
They had to come get me.
And then.
At a time I wrote my parents had.
Bought me a hond to fifty and I was riding there innocently around Lake CALHOUNA and Minneapolis, and they got arrested and so the guy said to my mom and dad, it's military school, reform school. And so they put me away in the academy. And back then ten thousand years a lot of money. Yeah, for sure, back in sixty if I started in sixty four.
But when you when you when you think about it, they really loved you, Rick because they could have.
Yep, yep, yep.
I know, do you do you look back at that time and and like, wow, this could have went this way, could have went that way, but because of them, it went that way.
Well, you're asked, I'm going to get emotional. I even though.
Even though I didn't do anything that is illegal or anything bad, I just feel like I was I didn't do them justice. That makes sense because they were such a good people. I was just just wild, not bad wild, just just and I mean they drank and all that.
It was like that.
But I just you never know, I know, like when my dad died, it took me a week, not a week, five days literally to go tell my mom my dad died. The health care keeper kept calling me, your mom wants all your dad. I said that he's finding fire. The minute I walked in that room and told her that my dad had passed. She looked out the window and she never stopped looking on the window for two years. And then she died two years later, and she never spoke of.
Wow.
So I don't know what she thought interesting that you're asking that. And I'm sure that was a lot of people. Man, I couldn't fifty nine and a half years they were like this.
Then to tell her, even though she lived two years longer, she really died when.
You told her he had, she just looked out the window.
Is that why you took you five days? Because you knew the impact that was gonna have on her? Oh?
Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, that's one of my parents.
But they bought a place in a real prestigious retirement community in Charlotte. They moved to Charlotte by then, and uh, when my mom had to go into a sist living, my.
Dad was still in the apartment.
So my mom's they would call me and say, your mom wants you to go to find about where your dad is. Well, my dad was up at the bar. She couldn't walk to get there. Boy, she didn't like it at the bar drinking at seventy eight years old.
I think about that. Those are the funny stories. Yeah, they were very close my dad.
My mom and dad would would read a three hundred page book a day of piece Wow. My dad would just read drinking red wine at lunch and then a five Manhattans.
And I remember I.
Bought my dad a bottle of jack one time, and I said, why would you spend the money on this?
Or when I bought that, I bought a two million dollars in Charlotte.
But my mom and my dad was so proud to show him right, right, And my dad walked into the foy and had marble floors and everything.
He said, what Dad is that?
I was saying, it's nice graduations, But.
I mean, it's just it's crazy. They were just they were so conservative.
Right, What did you think your father wanted you to become? Did you think he wanted Do you think he wanted you to be a doctor or travel along that path?
No, let me tell you this is another true story.
So when I told my dad I wanted to be a wrestler, and I was moving to to Charlotte, and I was married at that time, my first wife, mother of my two old youngest oldest kids. And uh, I said, I got borrowed four hu dollars. He said, no, I'm not going to invest any money in something that's three. I went to Verne, guy into the promoter, got borrow four. And now I said, no, this is when there's hard we grow up learn how to do it. So I left.
With no money in your pocket? How much did you buy?
By about fifteen hundred? And I had like thirty five hundred and four thousand that I left with with Leslie and my my oldest star. And then I got down there and Crockett liked me right away, and he pulled me aside and said I I was just working out for it. I said, I love it, And he said, well, here, you want some money in the movie your family down He gave me ten thousand dollars. Wow, I went, what the hell are you kidding me?
With the Jim Crockett, Jim crocketbermos.
The best it was. Yeah, but you.
Did get I mean out of high school year you were three, if I'm not mistaken, a three sports star. Yeah, you wrestled, played football.
Wrestling, treeers, played all state and football and shot put out of an average.
Yeah, you got to scholarship, played football University of Minnesota.
No, I got where's that happened? I signed a letter of intent. That's why I'm so loyal to Harbor. Okay, Okay, so you're your old enough to remember Bump Billion Bump was the coach, Pete was a d Okay, So I signed a letter of intent. And then my academic advisor would not write a letter saying that I could I could predict, so I couldn't go to Michigan. So I will recruited me, and I went and spent the weekend that he polled lag so then and I felt love that social war. But in the summer I went home and I met a guy at the gym and said, why don't you look at Minnesota? So I met Mike McGee. Okay, remember Mike, right, it was really uh he memory he played played at Duke, but he was eighty in South Carolina, eighty at Southern Caline. I don't know if he's still living or out, but he said, And I went and met him and went. Murray Warmerth was the coach, and right, so I walked on, but then said, once I got getting that gott in that fraternity man.
The booze the girl football wasn't nearly is important.
Yeah, the Boods was great, but the girls are better. Right next door to the Traidet's house.
Right, So your first you wanted to go to the University of Michigan.
Yes, that's why, and so loyal to dad, to Jim, right, Jim and I have been friends since eighty nine, right, and John, we're great friends.
Right.
So what's when you said, Okay, I'm gonna be a wrestler, you go all in. You move to Charlotte and basically you go all in. So what was the training? So you know, Jim Crockett ended up giving you ten thousand to move your family down. But at that point in time, there's that point of no return. You have crossed the rubicon. There is no turning back now. No, this is this is it. This is what you've decided to be.
I think I'm the only wrestler that I can think of. It's never removed. Then wanted me to move to Atlanta. They wanted me to move to New York. They wanted me to move to Florida. I just never did. Now that I live from Florida, I wish I thought I loved I loved them, right.
So basically you just commuted.
Wow, when they's got two places at Rosemary Beach with Pananal. Yeah, she comes to visit me stage for a week. She said, I'm only coming to the fraternity house for a week. Now I'm out of here, right, She's going back to the Quiet Beach.
Right, So what's say? What's how do you train for wrestling? I mean, do you like, you know, you bench press, squad, you do cardio? What's a wrestling? I mean, obviously you have to wrestle to get you know, to understand the moves.
How do I train? Yeah?
How do you train?
When I was training, why, I did five hundred free squads every day, okay, and then when I was heavier, I told he was sixteen forty, So I did a forty five bench five thirty squad and uh, six hundred dead live Okay, I could, I couldn't stand on the squad, but I wighed three hundred and ten bounds. So even after I broke my back, that's so I went down to one eighty right and the plane crash.
I never got my bench.
Back over maybe three and a quarter right, But you know, at that point it's just standing. Great shave the key for my success that I was in better shape than a lot of guys. It's hard to go an hour two hours on one day. When with Ricky and Morton we did it two hours on Saturday, two hours on Sunday, and we did one So that nine hours in one week.
Nine hours are wrestling. It's a lot of yes, a lot, I mean nine out of a car.
But so, how do you you're let's just say you're wrestling Ricky steamboat? How I mean, are you guys? Okay, I'm going to sling into the rope?
So how do you how do you know this call?
He trusted me. You gotta be it being a ring general. You know, I'm sure you have said to do it because I don't know who. I can't remember which quarterback, John, but I'm sure there were time you said, John Sow to me, I'll catch it, right, I know I can beat the guy.
It's kind of like that they try your trust ee other, right.
And then and then you have chemistry, and the chemistry is there. I mean, it's that's one of the key things you guys talk about.
You know.
It's like I'm watching Lebron last night. I mean, I don't know what in the hell, but the guy is unreal. I think he had thirty eight points last.
Ye had twenty eight, he had twenty eight, ten or eleven?
Yeah, get Joe twenty eight.
Yeah yeah.
I'm watching on airplane flying there, right, and I'm thinking to myself. Alan Hahn calls him an old man, right, you know, Alann, that's a guy. And he gets on, get up one and so on. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, calls him an old man. Want to insult. I want to jump from the TV and strangle so you. Oh god, I love him.
You're kidding me.
The king So Lebron Jordan, I mean Geordan's from North Carolina, had a place.
I know, Microwell.
Yeah, but when it's Michael right, you mentioned the playing six to eight Yeah, two hundred and sixty five pounds, sixty six to fifteen.
Right, I know, I know he was unreal. But what record does Lebron need to break to be just? I mean, he may average thirty points a game this year if he wants to do it, it's unreal.
He and he don't take time off, no, no, if he if he's I mean, the thing is, he doesn't cheat the game. You know, when he's out there, he's giving you everything he has. Yeah, and for him, if he can't go, you know, something is seriously wrong because he really for him to maintain the level of excellence that he's had for twenty one years, that's love, that's dedication.
Well.
I was sitting there watching and if you watch the whole game, I was like he stared at all. He just got it, turned it over a couple of times. It's like it's been doing it to me. It's like he's been doing it so long, right, and he spends so much time in my mind, I perceive it trying to get other players in it.
He does.
He loves to get the ball.
Yeah, the guy is Yes.
Then when anyone says they're not making the baskets, he said said on the score, you know what, he just scores and wants to right, But who's gonna stop him driving the lane from the outside. I mean, unreal pulls up a three point all of a sudden. See all your guess theyll play that.
I don't.
I don't know how he does it.
He's unbelievable. Yeah,
