Ricky Steamboat Talks About His WWE Status, Not Turning Heel, Having Respect For Flair, More

WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat recently spoke with The Post & Courier's Mike Mooneyham to promote next week's NWA Legends Fanfest in Charlotte. Below are some highlights:

Never turning heel and suggesting the idea to Pat Patterson in the 90's:

"I cannot come up with a main-event name who throughout their career didn't work as a heel or a face at some point. Not that I didn't try. Pat simply told me that it would probably ruin my career. I just wanted to experience what it felt like on the other side of the fence. As we all know, the heels have the most fun out there in the ring."

Having respect for Ric Flair during their rivalry:

"We never had any kind of locker-room disputes or anything outside the ring. We were very respectful of each other. We grew to enjoy each other in the ring only because of the respect we gave each other and our respect for the business ... and for the match that particular night. It didn't matter if it was 200 fans in Columbia of if there were 15,000 fans in Greensboro. We would go out there and take them on a ride."

Meeting fans at Fanfest on Friday:

"It'll be a good day. If it wasn't for the fans who came out and bought tickets, none of us would be where we're at. It takes the family package to put it all together. And it will be good to see some of the guys I've worked with and sit and reminisce. I've been put here to hang around a little bit longer and very happily give back."

His WWE status:

"I am under a Legends contract. I'm like a diplomat. I do appearances and autograph sessions and speak for the company. It's a great gig for me. I'm glad I'm still able to do this and still have some notoriety, to keep this old dog going until it's time to ride off into the sunset."