Konnan On Ric Flair: ‘It’s A Shame How He’s Fallen’
Although WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair isn’t in the spotlight that often these days, his name still comes up from time to time in discussions regarding the world of pro wrestling. On the most recent episode of MLW Radio (Episode 197), former WWE writer Court Bauer and pro wrestler Konnan discussed a number of topics, including Konnan’s recent travels in South America with Rey Mysterio and Alberto El Patron as well as Hulk Hogan’s recent appearance on Good Morning America to apologize for his much-publicized racist rant. They also addressed Ric Flair’s recent comments on a podcast about working a match with Konnan back in WCW.
According to Bauer, Ric Flair complained about the dysfunctional environment with WCW, noting that his “loss” to Konnan was a good example of the company’s problematic booking decisions. It’s worth noting that during his run with WWE from 2001 to 2009, Flair lost matches to wrestlers who were considerably lower in status than the former world champion, including Kenny Dykstra, Carlito, and The Great Khali.
For his part, Konnan was less that impressed with Flair’s recollection of their work in WCW.
“For you to insult me, I must first bow to your opinion, which I don’t really give a f*** what he has to say,” Konnan said. “Maybe if he was a friend of mine, I would be offended but we’re not friends, I respect him – one of the greatest of all times on the mic and in the ring. He’s full of himself. He’s a big mark for himself and I’ve always found him to be very disingenuous. But I still am… a mark for what he did when he was on top because he was one of the best ever to do it, but it’s kind of a shame how he’s fallen. He didn’t know who the f*** I was, either, bro. He probably thought I was just one of those f***ing 90 Mexicans that were in WCW. And, y’know, he’s a f***ing white boy. What do you expect?”
It is widely known that over the course of recent years, Ric Flair has struggled with regard to his standing in the wrestling business as well as a number of personal and professional issues. Most notably, Flair has struggled with financial matters, including the collapse of his short-lived lending company and recurring issues with unpaid child support. Flair has also been involved in a number of domestic disputes with his fourth wife, Jacqueline Beems-Fliehr.
Bauer mentioned that in a previous conversation, Konnan had mentioned that Flair called all of his spots from the match in “carny,” speculating that Flair was intentionally trying to throw Konnan off and make him look bad. While it’s possible that Flair was just trying to work the match in an old school fashion, Bauer suggested that Flair might have just assumed Konnan didn’t speak English. Konnan summed things up by saying that the whole experience was embarrassing.
“Who knows, man?” Konnan said. “I just know that he was saying some bullsh*t, saying ‘F**k, man—What is this guy even talking about?’ And I was so lost during the f***ing match… I was kind of embarrassed because I was like, ‘Wow, [maybe] all of the old school workers use this [language]’ But really what can I tell them? I was so confused in that match. And it really wasn’t that bad of a match when I look back on it.”
After retiring from in-ring competition in 2008, Ric Flair returned to the ring a short time later for an Australian tour with Hulk Hogan. He also worked matches for TNA during his run with the company from 2010 to 2011, including a hardcore match against Mick Foley. Ric Flair is currently under contract with WWE where he occasionally makes appearances in support of his daughter, WWE Diva Charlotte.
[Image via WWE]
