Ric Flair Has Major Praise For Top WWE RAW Star
During the latest episode of the Ric Flair Wooooo Nation Uncensored Podcast, the 2x WWE Hall of Famer spoke about the latest news surrounding Kevin Owens resigning with WWE. Flair shared how much respect he has for Kevin Owens and revealed the moment he knew he was a respectful person.
"I think the world of Kevin Owens, not a more respectful nice guy I ever met," Flair mentioned. "Unlimited talent, he's got a hell of an interview. The word respect, I told you this story before but before he ever used the Stunner, he called [Stone Cold] Steve [Austin] and asked him. That's respect.
"When I did a segment with him on the Thanksgiving Starrcade show and it was the KO Show, he said 'what do you want to talk about?' and I said 'You're the boss,' he said 'You're Ric Flair.' He's a very respectful kid with a ton of talent. He takes these huge bumps, I'm happy for him and I wish him nothing but success, he's a great guy."
"Kevin wants to be at work, there are some guys getting paid that don't care if they're at work or not. Kevin wants to be at work, he wants to be on top and he wants to be thought of in that light and he's very close to it. Give me another year of watching him but he can be anything he wants to be, But most of all, he's a very respectful man."
Since Owens signed with the WWE, AEW will not be able to get their hands on the former Universal Champion, and Tony Khan revealed the company was interested in bringing him into AEW. The Montreal native spoke about why he decided to resign with the company he's spent almost a decade with, stating it was the best thing for his family to stay with the company.
Ric Flair continued to talk about the WWE vs. AEW debate, revealing why WWE is still the best wrestling company in the world. The Nature Boy compared his experiences in the past to what is going on right now with wrestling talent, stating that when he was the NWA World Champion, he would call his company the best but knew in his head that it was clearly WWE. Flair also detailed why he thinks that WCW changing it's name from NWA was one of the "biggest mistakes in the history of the business."
"It is still the big show," Flair said. "Here's the difference, I was the NWA Champion and you couldn't have told me differently but really, the big show was WWE. Anything I'm saying, the kids in AEW can't turn around on me because I'm using myself as an example. You could've never told me as NWA Champion that the big show was WWE, but what was the big show? I didn't want to go there because I was the champion and I was in a prestigious position. If I had not been a champion, I may have gone there early too. I certainly could've gone there a couple times but I was loyal to Crockett, I was the World Champion and what more could you ask for?
"I think the biggest mistake in the history of the business, I don't know what happened in the negotiation, but why in the hell would you ever change the NWA to WCW? What the hell. I know there's some politics behind that statement, I'm not sure what they were but I'm dead sure with all of Ted Turner's money they could've made it right."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ric Flair Wooooo Nation Uncensored Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.