Sean Waltman Apologizes To Ric Flair For WCW "Slap Incident"

WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair appeared on the debut episode of Pro Wrestling 4 Life with Sean "X-Pac" Waltman and discussed getting slapped by Waltman during a promo on WCW Nitro in 1997.

"What happened with me 'Naich is I got out there ... and I wasn't doing a very good job at talking," Waltman recalled. "You were eating my lunch, Naich. So, I bowed up on you, and you pushed me. Instinctively, I smacked you, and I figured if you caught me, I would have gotten my ass kicked."

Waltman recalled he was getting "stirred up" backstage before the segment about other wrestlers not wanting him in a particular tag match with Flair.

"People were stirring me up, like, they were telling me in the six-man match — you, "Rowdy" [Roddy Piper], and Kevin [Nash], y'all didn't want me in it, you wanted Hulk [Hogan]. And you should! That was more appropriate for you and your team. This is what was told to me and so it got in my head, 'Oh, they're trying to hold me down!' So, I had this huge attitude. I feel really bad about it, looking back on it now."

Flair didn't recall wanting any changes being made to the match, noting that he wanted a wrestler who can "really go" during the match, and that was Waltman.

"I crossed the line on more than one occasion, I feel like I disrespected you," Waltman continued. "And even if you don't feel that way, it's always been something I wanted to make right with you and I'm happy to be able to tell you this right now in front of everyone. I'm really sorry about that."

Flair appreciated his words and said he never thought of Waltman being someone who disrespected him. Flair was then asked what he thought of Waltman's impression of him during an nWo – Four Horsemen parody sketch.

"Here's a very honest answer — I would have been upset at all, if Arn and I had a rebuttal interview," Flair responded. "How do we not have any interview after that? How can I get mad at you when I found out it was Terry Taylor's idea? It was good TV, but it's only good TV if we get to go out and talk about it."

You can check out the promo from Nitro in the video below.

A new episode of Pro Wrestling 4 Life with Sean Waltman drops every Thursday morning on all major podcast platforms and in video form at YouTube.com/XPac!