Ric Flair On When He Found Out He'd Win WWE Title, Not So Wild Evolution Partying, Early HBK Match
On episode 28 of WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair, 'the Nature Boy' talked about 'the Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels, winning the 1992 Royal Rumble match, and the origins of Evolution, among other things.
As to whether Flair knew Michaels was special in 1991 when they wrestled on WWF Prime Time, Flair said he knew Michaels was a special talent even before then.
"Yes, I sure did. We only had four minutes to wrestle [on WWF Prime Time], but I knew. I'd seen him and he was still in the tag team situation. But yeah, he was tremendous. Yep, I sure did."
Flair claimed that he was told he was winning the 1992 Royal Rumble match the day of the event.
"An hour before I won it. Yep, [I had] no idea."
In regards to how Evolution came together, Flair said that the stable was Triple H's idea, as he wanted to groom some younger talents.
"Evolution, [the] complete idea came about as a result of Hunter wanting to bring up some young guys. And Hunter and I were very close friends and he said, 'what do you think about this and that?', and I didn't know Randy [Orton] and Dave [Batista] at the time. And they got there, Hunter came up with the name, and talked about different names. And it just was a fresh start for those guys, a fresh start for me, it gave me an opportunity to position myself with some great young athletes and, at that time, probably the best worker in the business, Hunter, either it would be Hunter or Shawn, and I couldn't be in a better place. But we had a lot of fun together. Just Randy and Dave were just great guys and to this day, I remain very friendly with them."
Flair stated that he does not have any crazy party stories about Evolution, as the professional wrestling business changed by that time.
"There [are] not any Evolution stories. I couldn't get Hunter to have a glass of wine if I had a million dollars. It didn't happen. Now, Dave Batista, I did go out with a few times, Randy a few times, but I was very conservative. Those guys, both wonderful guys. Now Dave, I did get him to take off his shirt a few times in a bar when Hunter wasn't around."
On this episode of WOOOOO! Nation, Flair covered many topics including his regrets from his professional wrestling career, his favorite keepsakes, and the possibility of Cesaro feuding with Brock Lesnar. To check out the entire podcast, click here.
Source: WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair