Ric Flair On Facing Brock Lesnar After Steve Austin Left WWE, If Vince McMahon Would Have Joined WCW
On episode 31 of WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair, 'The Nature Boy' talked about Shane Douglas, whether Vince McMahon would have worked for WCW if WCW won the Monday Night Wars, and facing Brock Lesnar when 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin walked out on the company.
In regards to facing Lesnar when Austin walked out of WWE, Flair said that he knew Austin was no-showing that WWE Monday Night RAW show ahead of time. According to Flair, McMahon told him when he got to show that he would be facing Lesnar in Austin's place and that Flair's co-owner angle was being scrapped. Flair said that he was scared to get in the ring with Lesnar, but Lesnar was very careful with him.
"It was fun for everybody except me! Lesnar was twirling me around and I was going, 'please be careful! Please be careful!' Actually, I've played that match back. It was pretty good! Yeah, it's not because I wasn't afraid of him. I was scared to death of him. I'm 65 years old and I'm in there with this powerhouse, man! But, once again, another guy that was very careful with me. Thank you. And then I ended up wrestling him ten times, so it wasn't bad at all. He never did anything, but you couldn't tell me that walking down the aisle."
On the subject of Shane Douglas, Flair suggested that Douglas is a never was and he does not know why Douglas still shoots on him.
"My take on Shane Douglas is should've, would've, could've. Never had to. Never will be. And [WOOOOO! Nation co-host Conrad Thompson], he does shoot on me. I don't know why. I guess he blames me for his career. I guess he blames everybody. But every time I see him, he walks up and shakes my hand like nothing's going on, so I win. And why waste one minute of negativity on someone like that?"
When asked whether McMahon would have considered joining WCW if WCW put WWE out of business, Flair said that McMahon was never going to lose the Monday Night Wars and that McMahon would never have joined WCW.
"I never, ever thought that Vince would lose because I could see from behind the scenes the internal problems everyday and you can't have individuals arrive at the building at six o'clock for a show that starts live at eight [o'clock] and then change the whole show around. That went on [in WCW] for a year and a half." Flair continued, "Vince's ego would never let him come down [to WCW] and run a Turner company. Never. Never. And he wouldn't have. He never would have gone out of business. He would have figured a way out. Even if it got close, he may have had to do something with Rupert Murdoch or something, but he and [Ted] Turner didn't care for each other. And I just don't think you'd ever see Vince McMahon come to Atlanta [Georgia] to run that company."
In addition to these topics, Flair discussed Charlotte's possible WrestleMania 32 opponents, the League of Nations, and Mick Foley's recent criticisms of WWE. To listen to the whole podcast, click here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit XXXXXXXX with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair