Ric Flair on Monday Night Wars, Charlotte, Ronda Rousey in WWE, & More

The Mirror held a recent interview with Ric Flair discussing the Monday Night Wars, Vince McMahon hiring Eric Bischoff, Charlotte’s match at Wrestlemania 34, Ronda Rousey being in the WWE, and more.

On the topic of the Monday Night Wars, Flair stated he hated WCW’s management for trying to make things too personal during this era.

“Worse. I hated WCW. I’ve said it on record. Not the guys, but the way it was run. It was ridiculous. Literally, my prediction, I said they will kill themselves. And they did. You can’t go out on Nitro and say openly to Vince, ‘we’re putting you out of business’. He’s forgiven a lot of people.”

On the topic of being told to verbally trash WWF on television, Flair stated he refused to do so whenever asked and was a big reason for the strained relationship he had with Eric Bischoff in WCW.

“Yeah. They wanted me to go out there and say that. I said ‘s*** no’ I’m not going to go out and say that. ‘I’m not doing it’. It’s one of the reasons me and [Eric] Bischoff didn’t get along. They wanted me to go out and put WWE down like Hulk [Hogan], Scott Hall and [Kevin] Nash and those guys were. Not a chance.”

On the topic of Vince McMahon hiring Eric Bischoff in 2002, Flair stated he was shocked when it happened and proof Vince is a very forgiving person in the industry.

“I was really shocked. I wouldn’t badmouth WWE on air out of loyalty to Vince. I used to work for his dad [Vincent J. McMahon]. He’s forgiven a lot of people man, Bruno [Sammartino], the Ultimate Warrior, Kevin, Scott…”

When asked about Charlotte’s upcoming Smackdown Women’s Championship match at Wrestlemania 34, Flair stated her match has the potential to be a huge draw for the WWE especially if she faces off against Ronda Rousey.

“Oh huge. Ronda because Ronda gets so much exposure from ESPN as well, which we do a lot of stuff with. That’s why Brock [Lesnar] brings so much to the table, because Brock used to get so much ESPN stuff, which gives us an audience that might not normally watch it.”

Later in the interview, Flair was asked for his thoughts on Ronda Rousey being in the WWE. Flair stated an encounter between her and Charlotte would not be in Ronda’s favor and hyped up Charlotte’s advantages as reasons for why she would be victorious.

“No. Charlotte will beat her when she wants to! Ronda better watch out. I can tell you this, Charlotte is not afraid of her in any way, shape of form. She is a lot bigger than she is. [5ft 10in to 5ft 7in and 144lb to 135lb]. She can deadlift 300lb and squad 250lb.”

Other topics discussed during the interview included winning the 1992 Royal Rumble match, not getting to face Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania VIII, and Bobby Heenan’s greatness as a commentator.