I think Flair is struggling with dual consciousness issues. He looks at himself in the mirror and sees a 70+ yr old man who knows he can't live life like he used to, but then a loud, 25 yr old Ric Flair voice yells over him "FUCK THAT! I'M THE NATURE BOY RIC FLAIR!! WOOOOOO!!!" And he's incapable of reconciling the truth within.
I'm a lot younger than Ric. A hair younger than Steve. But yeah, 21 year old Dr Reefer keeps seeing an old man in the mirror and its weird. I'm grey and bald and my back is all fucked up.
Couldn't disagree more. He's been great anytime I've been around him, and nobody I know has a bad word to say about him. He plays the game, makes mistakes, sure, but you're on a recently constructed bandwagon.
Ric Flair is Grandpa Simpson. Burns: "Oh, Abe, can't you go more than 5 seconds without embarrassing yourself?" *Brief pause* *Grandpa's pants fall down* Abe: "How long was that?"
Okay let's not exaggerate that. He looks his age; matter of fact, he looked so is older than his age. Now DDP looks good for his age and actually looks younger than his contemporaries.
That was a business move. I met him at a signing in college and besides hamming it up a bit for some of the kids he was just very nice and talkative and normal with everyone.
@@jjalkman1999LoL no it wasn't. He gave his kids that last name and made a big deal about having a family philosophy based on what it means to be a warrior, it's in his videos, he lived that every day and it obviously contributed to a shorter life.
Jimmy V was a basketball coach who won a national championship with NC State in a HUGE upset...and then did pass away from cancer. He's famous for saying "Don't give up, don't ever give up" on the inaugural ESPYs.
@@jones82176 - They were the #6 seed out of the West bracket, so the ~20th-25th best team overall. The team they beat for the title, the Phi Slamma Jamma Houston Cougars led by Hakeem Olajuwon, were the consensus #1 team in the country. NC State winning that game and that tournament was a huge upset.
@jmurdock8303 I don't either. I feel bad for Ric. I know what he's going through too. I don't think a lot of people put it together. Self sabotaging is a main part of grief and if you don't heal it, it'll become a cycle and that's exactly what has happened with Ric.
@@FramedFiguresphotography when I lost my daughter I didn't want associate with the real. Kinda what live in a haza. I came out of it but I feel what he feels. Though I don't drink
I remember when they put me on Abilify, Zoloft, and Geodon at the same time and both of my aunts passed away in the same week, I spent over $1k on Hot Topic, trashed my entire room and tore up my artwork. That was back in early 2010. I'm not on those medications anymore.
I completely agree. As a more younger fan compared to the people who have watched him in his prime days, my only exposure to him was during his time in tna. But his content on youtube is what has truly made him memorable for me. He clearly knows a lot about the business and isnt afraid to share his opinions in articulate ways.
Just like Maven. So many dummies in the comments acting like theyve been rocking with Maven for the last 20+ years. Had he not become a youtube juggernaut of the industry, he would be a distant thought for 95% of wrestling fans BUT because he is so goddamn incredible at what he does and has really carved an amazing niche for wrestling in "new media" he will be immortalized. Both Maven and Stevie deserve every ounce of success for what they've achieved POST wrestling careers.
I'm 45 and dont care for modern wrestling. But hearing the stories from the guys I grew up watching is almost as good as living through the Monday night wars. I love Big Stevie Cool more now than I ever did in the 90s. Keep it up man, love your channel.
same age as you and i feel the same exact way. the new stuff just doesn't grab me at all but the old guys doing interviews are good enough to give me my old rasslin fix.
@@JohnnyFletcher-s5uI'm 36 haven't watch in 15 year's recently it go back good. Blood back which sold it more. Swearing coming slowing back. And the ladies are showing more
I was ordering at a kiosk at a WaWa in south Philly next to Shane Douglas after Wrestlemania was over this year. For some reason I kept looking over at him and couldn’t distinguish the character from the person and was so afraid to say hello and shake his hand. Hearing Stevie talk about how wonderful of a person Shane Douglas is outside of the ring really makes me regret not doing so, could’ve changed my whole perspective. Just goes to show that sometimes the character we see on TV is just a normal person living a normal life, and that’s completely cool too. Thanks for the shift in perspective guys.
Dude, I met Shane at a Walmart or something like that shopping and approached him, nicest guy you could hope to meet. Shot the shit with me about his ECW and WCW runs, you definitely should talk to him if you run across him again.
I believe it was Jim Ross. I don't think Flair likes the real him that much. Vincent Furnier also talked about how Alice Cooper took over his own life.
Anyone who's ever dealt with an alcoholic can instantly identify what ric flair is from his behaviour over the last... 20 years? 30? His entire adult life? The only mystery to me is how or why so many people have given him a pass for so long. 🤷🏻
Dude can't handle his alcohol. I can be drunk and not get into a fight or embarrass myself. Everybody around him is just giving him a pass like "Oh that's just how Rick is". If you're a real friend you need to tell him what he really needs to hear.
We ALL need Ric Flair to still be around. What the f*@k are we supposed to do if the alligators try to take over the world & there's no Ric Flair to keep that uprising down?! C'mon, man, THINK!!
drinking probably masking an underlying condition. multiple divorces, hugely charismatic to strangers, heavily narcissistic .. most likely a psychopath
Rick has had signs of CTE and his brain cooked from the alcohol for years. We are past the time for concern to get him out of the limelight. He has been awkward and embarrassing for nearly a decade.
Personally, I think he's talking about Charlotte. I think he tried to get her to put in a word to get him back in with WWE and she refused and he's throwing a fit about her not doing what he wants.
Possibly. If so, I can't imagine how Charlotte might be feeling. Like her 75(?) year old dad comes to her, asking to get one more pot of money or chance to get in the ring, and she has to try to get him to come down because he legitimately could hurt himself, because he can't let things go, because whatever. Especially when Charlotte herself is doing quite well and could certainly support him in his retirement.
I might be 16 months sober, but I will always be an alcoholic, and with that said, there's no mystery to his behavior whatsoever. He's an alcoholic to the bone. People need to realize that alcoholics drink all day, EVERY SINGLE DAY. Try to imagine the long term effects that has on the brain. He's not steering his body and mind anymore, the alcohol is.
It has a name, Alcoholic Use Disorder. My mom has that, she has been sober the last 15 years. Unfortunately it's genetic. My cousin has it, she's been in rehab 7 times and relapsed.
@@ASuicuneOnTheOBX The idea that it's genetic has never been proven, but it is widely believed. It's a great way to avoid holding yourself accountable. Just blame it on your genes!
That reminded me of the scene from "Coming To America". "Just between me & you... how old is Joe Louis?" "Just between me & you? Joe Louis is 137 years old! *137 YEARS OLD!!!"* 😆😂😆😂😆😂
Well wrestlers don't usually live this long so they don't usually get these years to do a lot of other things. Didn't the Funk brothers keep going until they died? If a lot of the guys lived longer they would probably be like flair too
@@anthonyp6823 some of them did, it was just before social media and cameras everywhere. And like I said, they also didn't live long enough to keep doing it.
Jimmy V refers to Jim Valvano College basketball coach who died of cancer and right before he died he gave an emotional speech at The Espy awards for ESPN.
Who knew Ric's most dangerous foe would be himself on social media? Seriously, the guy for years had an aura about him, then when the curtain is pulled back you can see that he's kinda a sad lush.
It feels like a situation where Ric feels and realizes that he's less wanted/people care less about him these days. Not in a negative or bad way, just that time moves on and our industries do as well, especially after we retire or fade from the limelight. And that can feel really scary, really lonely, really depressing. It can compel people to do things to get that attention again - to get that feeling of being wanted again, to feel valued for something - to feel valued for something you were exceptional at and that shaped you and defined you no less. Like... I get it, I do. But there's healthier ways to handle it.
He should probably take note of how the "Immortal" Hulk Hogan was greeted on the inaugural Raw on Netflix - the Los Angeles crowd booed him nearly right out of the building. There is a point where you've lit it entirely too much on fire to come back from. Ric's got to be pretty close to that line, too.
Kinda sad to watch. He appeared as a guest on Kill Tony several weeks ago and was pretty much laughed off the stage midway through the show, because he was so drunk and rambling on about things that seemed important to him but had nothing to do with comedy.
Went something like “that kid will do great things in football, we need to respect someone young wanting advice. Reminds me of my son that died years ago”
He really is the man... great takes. Very gracious and courteous... maybe sometimes a little TOO nice---- but that's more of a testament to the good, cool dude he seems to be (obviously I don't know him, though bumped into him at one of THE BIG EVENTs in Queens, and I started a mini convo with him, and he just replied/talked like anyone else you bump into and make small talk with, even though he was just showing up (late 😉 lol) to the show), and not some kinda BS "brown-noser." HOWEVER Him being "a genuinely nice guy" DOES NOT stop him from making some good, kinda hard hitting comments when it calls for it He should be on some promotion's creative somewhere
A drunk embarrassing mess. Which is Ric on a normal day. It's always sad when somebody gets so big that the fan boys won't allow them to be brought back to earth. It hurts their own hero.
He did the best promos ever, hands down. And he wrestled in some of the best matches ever. I think his biggest problem has always been severe alcoholism. Combine that with his advancing age and maybe a few too many chair shots and what you see from him becomes understandable.
@@teastrainer3604 Ric's good promos from 1992 until 2025 have been very few and far between. Ric didn't do shit after 1992. He wasn't a draw in WCW when he left WWE....that's why WCW had to buy Hulk Hogan, and even Hogan wasn't doing great business in WCW until he went heel and the NWO became a thing. Ric was great in the 80s and that was over 40 years ago.
@@teastrainer3604ironically, it was one of his targets, Mick Foley who said wrestling is like a circus. Maybe you won’t like the clown but maybe you will like the trapeze artist or the strong man. There is something for everyone. For me, I never like Flair’s promos or matches. Most of his matches were the same shite every time. His promos were also usually the same self aggrandising masculine playboy thing. He did it well but meh. It makes for a very 2 dimensional character, imo.
I remember Ric on the Legends of Wrestling - he was a general jerk to anyone he thought was beneath him. One episode was him, JR, Tazz, and Mick Foley. He was cordial enough to JR, a dismissive dick to Mick, and worse to Tazz. He made the show worse with his presence. It was weird to watch.
Are y’all going to talk about the Netflix Raw? Hogan getting booed out of the building? The Rock dropping his own gimmick? Taker showing up to ride his bike in a circle?
I think Flair's biggest issues is he still wants the lifestyle that he had in his 20s, 30s and 40s, and even 50s. He aged out of the lifestyle he wants and isn't able to deal with it.
Ric assaulted a flight attendant and basically got a pass for it. Hogan saying the n word or lying about his own life accomplishments or things he may not been involved in does not come close to that. Neither does voting for trump
Who cares about legacy at the end of the day? Mike Tyson put it best, we're all going to be 6ft under one day. Flair lived a rock star life and now he's going to meet his end alone in a hotel room somewhere. I don't think he would change much about how he's lived his life tbh.
The main issue is all you internet hate mongers. Not Flair, not Hogan, it's the noisy internet haters. Do you not think you're fn annoying and help RUIN all of pro wrestling?!
Jimmy V - is the college BASKETBALL coach who gave the most inspiring speech of all-time at the original ESPY Awards... "Don't give up, don't EVER give up.", and then succumbed to his cancer several days later. Every year ESPN holds a fundraiser for the Jimmy V foundation for cancer research.
Hogan shops at Walmart in Tampa and hugs and takes pictures with his fans. Guy sings Karyoke in his Bar with his fans. You're Clueless how Hogan. Probably another EMASCULATED Low T LIBERAL SIMP
Guys like Ric Flair, The Rock and Hulk Hogan have a permanent sense of "Main Character syndrome". They will always seek out attention because they are insecure.
Flair still thinks it is 1980 on some level. He doesn't get it. He just keeps digging the hole he is in. He is not equipped mentally to understand that the world has changed drastically. It isn't 1980.
no one else notice that the big opening video of the first raw on netflix, hhh said something about going in to obscurity just as flair is getting a sweet chin music. hmmmm
Flair has no other identity. He has been the Nature Boy for so long that he can not be anything else. His entire self worth and being are wrapped up in it.
41K is actually lower than the number I remember being reported that Cary paid him at the time, which was 50K. It's funny, because I was producing DVD trailers for ROH around this time and had to stop because they couldn't pay me anymore. I've always wondered if Ric Flair cost me that gig in some roundabout way.
I was going to make this comment. The injuries from the plane crash were horrible. I know from personal experience that injuries heal but they stay around and can dig into you over time.
Jimmy V is Jim Valvano. He was the head coach of the NC State basketball team and led them in a Cinderella tournament run to the National Championship in 83. He's famous for that and his Espy speech while battling terminal cancer in 93. He passed about 2 months after the speech.
Stevie Richards saying he’s not on social media I’m 2025 is funny. He’s the only wrestler I ever tried to follow back in 2005 on MySpace and he denied my request 😂
Glad I stumbled upon this channel it’s very interesting to hear insight from guys like you and maven and I honestly agree about ric he just can’t seem to let it go and he seems to have just lost himself over time and it seems like it’s gotten worse with time
I NEVER thought I would live to see the day Flair & Hogan would be booed. Im 44 & both of them are almost hated today. My childhood is upside down. Had they died 15 years ago they would be heroes. They lived long enough to become the villains. I will always love both of them. Having been a wrestler myself & having disabilities myself I know how hard it is. I drank for 10 years. Just because I couldn't sleep. I didn't wake up until 3pm today despite going to bed last night at 12. Why sleep 15 hours? I just cant get up! This happens everyday. I wake up if I drink but I cant drink anymore. I have neurological issues. Im SURE Flair does too but he is lucky he survived so long. Different biology & DNA. Humans arent all the same. Where I broke at 30... Flair is breaking at 70. You kinda have to have gone through it to understand.
Newsflash: People who don't worship BS celebrities have known that these dudes were scumbags for at least 30 years. It's only now that the after decades of the childish behavior that people have stopped making excuses for them when they act like jagoffs
Yea, Arn Anderson got into an infamous scissor fight with Sid Vicious because Sid was badmouthing Ric Flair. Arn may have foolishly started the altercation, but in fairness, he got the worst of it. All because he was loyal and risked life and limb for his friend. But it appears that they are no longer friends at this point, at least according to what I heard.
Jimmy V was the BASKETBALL coach. Led North Carolina State to the national championship in 1983 as a 6 seed and they beat Phi Slamma Jamma (1 seed Houston) in the title game. He also gave one of the best speeches of all time imo before he passed. Rest easy, Jimmy.
Glad you brought up that episode of wwe legends James. I remember Taz and JR were part of that episode I believe. Ric scoffed at the thought of working for Walmart....Jr interjected and said "nothing wrong with working at Walmart." And Ric just rolled his eyes. He also said "who the hell is TNA." They would eventually sign his paycheck though. Phony as a Styrofoam sack of peanuts. Smh
Maybe this is off base. But as someone who has both previously & currently had to care for a much older relative who now is often difficult to deal with, I’ve also heard of many dealing with similar situations talk about this issue regularly. At some point during the late aging process, many of those folks (who are fortunate enough to live that long), just become different people, and often really different people. In some people, the changes are more superficial, are still able to be compartmentalized, & are thus easier to deal with. With some others, for whatever reason, the change is so drastic that they end up showing little resemblance to who they once were. But other times these changes wind up being being all of the bad characteristics they had during their younger years. But now it’s all them. All the time. I’m not aware of this being a form of Dementia, pre-Alzheimer’s or any other cognitive based medical disease or disorder… so whenever I see or hear about it, I’ve just chalked it up to the mind’s response to how exhausting the aging process is. And I don’t think any regular human can begin to imagine just how exhausted Ric’s brain must be at this point. While I’m not trying to make an excuse for him, I guess this could be seen as one. He’s an old alcoholic, & sex addict who is also still addicted to (& receiving) some sort of fame & the high that comes with it. The best thing anyone outside his family could do for Ric right now, is ignore him. Completely.
Stevie is so straight forward and comes off as legitimately decent him. Stevie and Al Snow seem like the two guys who came away from the business looking like good people.
How can someone not like Stevie? Dude is about the friendliest person I’ve ever seen do these things. Maven seems like a nice guy also, but Stevie has a warmth about him that’s unmatched
I thought it is obvious and generally accepted as a fact that Ric is just cognitively gone for years now. And honestly. It would be no surprise given his long career and dubious lifestyle choices he seemingly can't abandon
I was watching a documentary on ric flair here awhile back. Might have been one of those dark side of wrestling or something along those lines. But whatever it was, it was an entire episode about him. After watching it and seeing how he reacted when they brought up his son who passed away, and then him talking about being an alcoholic and refusing to ever get help because he's happier when he drinks, I started realizing I think his issue is he's an alcoholic which impairs his judgement which leads to stuff like this, but he can't stop because he never really recovered from losing his son and he drinks to run from those feelings he has when he thinks about it, ultimately causing him to never get past it. It's quite sad, and even though it's not the best way to handle it, I can understand it. Losing a kid is hard. I know more than 1 person who I personally know who has lost a child and they were never the same again. Honestly makes me kinda feel a little bad for the guy. If I remember what show it was I'll add it to my comment. Anyone who watches it will see what I'm talking about I'm pretty sure... Edit: so without rewatching it I'm not positive, but I think it was ric's "30 for 30" episode that made it pretty clear to me why he is the way he is
Love this show. I also thought that Jimmy V thing might be a reference to the late Jim Valvano. Coached NC state basketball to a national title. His ESPY speech is something everyone should listen to at least once.
I think Flair is struggling with dual consciousness issues. He looks at himself in the mirror and sees a 70+ yr old man who knows he can't live life like he used to, but then a loud, 25 yr old Ric Flair voice yells over him "FUCK THAT! I'M THE NATURE BOY RIC FLAIR!! WOOOOOO!!!" And he's incapable of reconciling the truth within.
I'm a lot younger than Ric. A hair younger than Steve. But yeah, 21 year old Dr Reefer keeps seeing an old man in the mirror and its weird. I'm grey and bald and my back is all fucked up.
Nobody cares what @@DrJReefer
@@BobMarley-yf2mj yeah you didn't care so much you clicked on his comment and typed out a response gtfo
Id watch a movie like that
@@DrJReeferJim, you are not a gimmick.
It's not cause of his age . He's just lived 50 years never being told no and living in a fantasy world.
Age is a big factor, though. They didn't grow up with any of this shit. It would behoove them to get some social media training.
Social media is cancer @@drockopotamus1
Sounds like Trump.
Sounds like a typical boomer what you described
@@fuscinulayeah and everyone is just supposed to accept that guy as the leader of the nation. Again! Talk about hypocritical.
Ric is one of those people who embodies the never meet your heroes trope
Shane Helms said the same thing about Shawn Michaels
Couldn't disagree more. He's been great anytime I've been around him, and nobody I know has a bad word to say about him. He plays the game, makes mistakes, sure, but you're on a recently constructed bandwagon.
@@user-vg5mung5764hgftjYeah, right. Just be glad that he didn’t offer to get you a drink and make you pay a 1000 dollar tab for him.
He's also one of those people who capitalizes every word for no reason.
@@user-vg5mung5764hgftj "he plays the game, makes mistakes" weird way of putting that he's a sexual predator and an abusive weirdo
Ric Flair is Grandpa Simpson.
Burns: "Oh, Abe, can't you go more than 5 seconds without embarrassing yourself?"
*Brief pause*
*Grandpa's pants fall down*
Abe: "How long was that?"
hey! dont insult Grandpa Simpson
lmao immediately what I thought of when I read the title, of course my mind is saturated by following the wrestling simpsons meme page as well.
@@sylentknight I think I might be in that one as well, if not, I need to change that. I'm in a few. At least 4?
🎵Grandpa Simpsons Reeks Of Gin🎵
One trick is to tell them stories that don't go anywhere
Stevie's 53?!?!?!??! Wowza, he looks significantly younger. Shows what looking after yourself can do.
53 ain't the same 53 if you were 53 in the 60s,70s or 80s. Back then you'd be receeding hair, gray and wrinkly.
Exactly. He looks 40.
No he doesn't.
Okay let's not exaggerate that. He looks his age; matter of fact, he looked so is older than his age. Now DDP looks good for his age and actually looks younger than his contemporaries.
@@tonshaad1230 DDP looks old, i thought he was 70-80 years old so no he doesnt although still looks health
A lot of wrestlers can't let their characters go. Hellwig actually became warrior.
Goldberg was a mark for himself
That was a business move. I met him at a signing in college and besides hamming it up a bit for some of the kids he was just very nice and talkative and normal with everyone.
@@jjalkman1999LoL no it wasn't. He gave his kids that last name and made a big deal about having a family philosophy based on what it means to be a warrior, it's in his videos, he lived that every day and it obviously contributed to a shorter life.
@@BigBadJerryRogers Uhm...you know "Guerrero" also means "Warrior", right?
(Bad joke sorry)
Rip Ultimate Warrior 🙏 He's still one of my fav motivational speakers
Jimmy V was a basketball coach who won a national championship with NC State in a HUGE upset...and then did pass away from cancer. He's famous for saying "Don't give up, don't ever give up" on the inaugural ESPYs.
Weren’t they like 6 seed?
Jim Valvano
@@jones82176 - They were the #6 seed out of the West bracket, so the ~20th-25th best team overall. The team they beat for the title, the Phi Slamma Jamma Houston Cougars led by Hakeem Olajuwon, were the consensus #1 team in the country. NC State winning that game and that tournament was a huge upset.
@@Maverick7613 I think Clyde Drexler was on that Houston squad too, they were loaded!
And Jimmy V is still looking for someone to hug.
To me, Ric hasn't been the same since his son passed away. He's self sabotaging. I did the same thing as a teenager when my mom died.
That's why I don't hammer on him because I know what it's like. I'll say when he is wrong but I don't do what James does
@jmurdock8303 I don't either. I feel bad for Ric. I know what he's going through too. I don't think a lot of people put it together. Self sabotaging is a main part of grief and if you don't heal it, it'll become a cycle and that's exactly what has happened with Ric.
@@FramedFiguresphotography when I lost my daughter I didn't want associate with the real. Kinda what live in a haza. I came out of it but I feel what he feels. Though I don't drink
I remember when they put me on Abilify, Zoloft, and Geodon at the same time and both of my aunts passed away in the same week, I spent over $1k on Hot Topic, trashed my entire room and tore up my artwork. That was back in early 2010. I'm not on those medications anymore.
He's been the same way since 1976
He's just a prick
In some ways, Shane Douglas was warning us about flair all these years.
Stevie has immortalized his wrestling career with his content & podcast.
I completely agree. As a more younger fan compared to the people who have watched him in his prime days, my only exposure to him was during his time in tna. But his content on youtube is what has truly made him memorable for me. He clearly knows a lot about the business and isnt afraid to share his opinions in articulate ways.
Stevie sucks
pfffft he was a legend before this shit shut up
Amazing content. It’s a bonus that I remember him from my childhood watching ECW wcw and WWF. Even the games
Just like Maven. So many dummies in the comments acting like theyve been rocking with Maven for the last 20+ years. Had he not become a youtube juggernaut of the industry, he would be a distant thought for 95% of wrestling fans BUT because he is so goddamn incredible at what he does and has really carved an amazing niche for wrestling in "new media" he will be immortalized. Both Maven and Stevie deserve every ounce of success for what they've achieved POST wrestling careers.
I forgot about his pizzeria crash out. 🥀 The crazy subtitles had me crying. "You're an egyptian!" 🤣
Yes I saw the video the whole 2023 pizzeria thing, he got drunk, flinging chairs and cursing out people.
“I put this place over!”
I'm 45 and dont care for modern wrestling. But hearing the stories from the guys I grew up watching is almost as good as living through the Monday night wars. I love Big Stevie Cool more now than I ever did in the 90s. Keep it up man, love your channel.
I totally agree. I'm 46 and love hearing the stories behind the matches that we grew up watching in the 80s and 90s
same age as you and i feel the same exact way. the new stuff just doesn't grab me at all but the old guys doing interviews are good enough to give me my old rasslin fix.
Stevie podcast better than hhhwwe.
Same here. 43 here and I know everyone say how good modern wrestling is right now but I just don’t care. I’d rather listen to these guys
@@JohnnyFletcher-s5uI'm 36 haven't watch in 15 year's recently it go back good. Blood back which sold it more. Swearing coming slowing back.
And the ladies are showing more
I was ordering at a kiosk at a WaWa in south Philly next to Shane Douglas after Wrestlemania was over this year. For some reason I kept looking over at him and couldn’t distinguish the character from the person and was so afraid to say hello and shake his hand. Hearing Stevie talk about how wonderful of a person Shane Douglas is outside of the ring really makes me regret not doing so, could’ve changed my whole perspective.
Just goes to show that sometimes the character we see on TV is just a normal person living a normal life, and that’s completely cool too. Thanks for the shift in perspective guys.
Dude, I met Shane at a Walmart or something like that shopping and approached him, nicest guy you could hope to meet. Shot the shit with me about his ECW and WCW runs, you definitely should talk to him if you run across him again.
Franchise!!!!
Shane douglas sat beside me and my dad at a Raw taping in Edmonton in like 2002
Shane is a super nice guy.
Like us mere mortals, wrestling superstars can have bad days too though?
I want to say JR said once in a dark side or other documentary that Ric Flair doesn't know who Richard Fliehr is and hasn't for a very long time.
Either him or Shawn Michaels
@@Lemont5236Only difference is the fact that shawn michaels ended up finding michael hickenbottom through god and prayer.
I believe it was Jim Ross. I don't think Flair likes the real him that much. Vincent Furnier also talked about how Alice Cooper took over his own life.
@@Lemont5236 Who would want to be Richard Fleher or Michael Hickenbottem⁉️🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Conrad probably been funding Flair's lifestyle for the last 10 years.
Anyone who's ever dealt with an alcoholic can instantly identify what ric flair is from his behaviour over the last... 20 years? 30? His entire adult life? The only mystery to me is how or why so many people have given him a pass for so long. 🤷🏻
I'm thinking that might be running its course. Just like people seem to be done giving Hogan a pass
Dude can't handle his alcohol. I can be drunk and not get into a fight or embarrass myself. Everybody around him is just giving him a pass like "Oh that's just how Rick is". If you're a real friend you need to tell him what he really needs to hear.
We ALL need Ric Flair to still be around. What the f*@k are we supposed to do if the alligators try to take over the world & there's no Ric Flair to keep that uprising down?! C'mon, man, THINK!!
drinking probably masking an underlying condition. multiple divorces, hugely charismatic to strangers, heavily narcissistic .. most likely a psychopath
Rick has had signs of CTE and his brain cooked from the alcohol for years. We are past the time for concern to get him out of the limelight. He has been awkward and embarrassing for nearly a decade.
I was thinking about that
Hogan and him need to get out of the spotlight and go home
@alesitercrimson24 and not make money ?
Personally, I think he's talking about Charlotte. I think he tried to get her to put in a word to get him back in with WWE and she refused and he's throwing a fit about her not doing what he wants.
He wants some of that Netflix cash 😅😂
You may be right, she is getting ready to make a comeback soon. And does have a lot of ex-wife's.
Possibly. If so, I can't imagine how Charlotte might be feeling. Like her 75(?) year old dad comes to her, asking to get one more pot of money or chance to get in the ring, and she has to try to get him to come down because he legitimately could hurt himself, because he can't let things go, because whatever. Especially when Charlotte herself is doing quite well and could certainly support him in his retirement.
@@PhotonBeastHer husband even worked as his tag team partner in his final match. He saw first hand he almost died.
If I was Charlotte, I’d tell him to kick rocks. I’ll still support you but you DONT need to be in the ring or spotlight anymore.
Jim Valvano. Former NCAA Basketball coach who passed from cancer in the 90's.
I might be 16 months sober, but I will always be an alcoholic, and with that said, there's no mystery to his behavior whatsoever. He's an alcoholic to the bone. People need to realize that alcoholics drink all day, EVERY SINGLE DAY. Try to imagine the long term effects that has on the brain. He's not steering his body and mind anymore, the alcohol is.
congrats on being 16 months sober!!!
It has a name, Alcoholic Use Disorder. My mom has that, she has been sober the last 15 years. Unfortunately it's genetic. My cousin has it, she's been in rehab 7 times and relapsed.
@@ASuicuneOnTheOBX The idea that it's genetic has never been proven, but it is widely believed. It's a great way to avoid holding yourself accountable. Just blame it on your genes!
Jimmy V.Was a college basketball coach who started a cancer research organization. RIP Jim Valvano.
he can't stop spending money, so he has to keep doing it. No matter how cheap and dirty. It's kinda sad.
He has 4 alimony's
Man, as much as I love and respect Ric Flair, he's 130 years old and needs to sit down.
That reminded me of the scene from "Coming To America".
"Just between me & you... how old is Joe Louis?"
"Just between me & you? Joe Louis is 137 years old! *137 YEARS OLD!!!"*
😆😂😆😂😆😂
Rob Feinstein sent him the text !!!! “ I’ll pretend you said 18 “
He has absolutely nothing to fulfill him outside of being Wrestler Ric Flair. It’s pathetic.
Well wrestlers don't usually live this long so they don't usually get these years to do a lot of other things. Didn't the Funk brothers keep going until they died? If a lot of the guys lived longer they would probably be like flair too
@@BigBadJerryRogers They didn’t constantly embarrass themselves in public.
@@anthonyp6823 some of them did, it was just before social media and cameras everywhere. And like I said, they also didn't live long enough to keep doing it.
Jimmy V refers to Jim Valvano College basketball coach who died of cancer and right before he died he gave an emotional speech at The Espy awards for ESPN.
Stevie, I'm with you, Social Media is ridiculous, and watching yt is as close as I come to it.
YT is the only social media I have
No twatter
No instabeg
No shitbook
No smash apps
I'm with you. UA-cam is the closest that I get to social media and UA-cam is just a file sharing website with a comment section.
Same, I’m only on UA-cam, although I do use FB messenger just because I don’t have everyone’s phone numbers.
The users of social media are ridiculous.
Who knew Ric's most dangerous foe would be himself on social media? Seriously, the guy for years had an aura about him, then when the curtain is pulled back you can see that he's kinda a sad lush.
Many of the top guys in the day would NOT survive today's social media landscape. For better and for worse.
If you lost a child before ?
Social media has really destroyed the myth of celebrity
@@camerondalton1495I still think Austin has done it the best. Retired in his Prime.
@@StJohnSB Luckily he handled that domestic issue with his wife before social media truly took off. They would've eaten him alive.
It feels like a situation where Ric feels and realizes that he's less wanted/people care less about him these days. Not in a negative or bad way, just that time moves on and our industries do as well, especially after we retire or fade from the limelight. And that can feel really scary, really lonely, really depressing. It can compel people to do things to get that attention again - to get that feeling of being wanted again, to feel valued for something - to feel valued for something you were exceptional at and that shaped you and defined you no less.
Like... I get it, I do. But there's healthier ways to handle it.
He should probably take note of how the "Immortal" Hulk Hogan was greeted on the inaugural Raw on Netflix - the Los Angeles crowd booed him nearly right out of the building.
There is a point where you've lit it entirely too much on fire to come back from. Ric's got to be pretty close to that line, too.
Kinda sad to watch. He appeared as a guest on Kill Tony several weeks ago and was pretty much laughed off the stage midway through the show, because he was so drunk and rambling on about things that seemed important to him but had nothing to do with comedy.
Went something like “that kid will do great things in football, we need to respect someone young wanting advice. Reminds me of my son that died years ago”
That was September 2023
I just want to buy Stevie lunch and sit and hear his wrestling stories all day.
You can't be a xtrian without being a hypocrite.
Ric Flair dripping from the brain. Must have drank too much WOOOOEnergy.
Cocaine. Booze, and head trauma combined with being RIC FUCKING FLAIR WOOOO! and also being 70 something.
After eating too many WOOOOOOings.
@@dbone3356 Beat me to it 😂 The single greatest clip of any wrestling podcast is Cornette and Last laughing at the video of Ric Wooing-ing
Have lost a child before?😊
Subscribed amazing podcast Steven Richard's deserves the HOF he was quite a character during his prime during the Attitude Era.
I see Stevie, I click.
He really is the man... great takes. Very gracious and courteous... maybe sometimes a little TOO nice---- but that's more of a testament to the good, cool dude he seems to be (obviously I don't know him, though bumped into him at one of THE BIG EVENTs in Queens, and I started a mini convo with him, and he just replied/talked like anyone else you bump into and make small talk with, even though he was just showing up (late 😉 lol) to the show), and not some kinda BS "brown-noser."
HOWEVER
Him being "a genuinely nice guy" DOES NOT stop him from making some good, kinda hard hitting comments when it calls for it
He should be on some promotion's creative somewhere
I'll never forget when Ric Flair walked off Kill Tony , a comedy podcast , because he was upset at jokes being made
He was so drunk 🥴 so sad
He spent his carrer talking shit and banging wives and thinks he has a moral high ground lol
A drunk embarrassing mess. Which is Ric on a normal day. It's always sad when somebody gets so big that the fan boys won't allow them to be brought back to earth. It hurts their own hero.
Bill Burr nearly did the same thing. He's never been back.
Bill Burr sadly got woke sometime after breaking bad. He's a sad case of somebody who used to be a comedy god
Ric is a complete narcissist, it's just that simple.
He did the best promos ever, hands down. And he wrestled in some of the best matches ever. I think his biggest problem has always been severe alcoholism. Combine that with his advancing age and maybe a few too many chair shots and what you see from him becomes understandable.
@@teastrainer3604 Ric's good promos from 1992 until 2025 have been very few and far between. Ric didn't do shit after 1992. He wasn't a draw in WCW when he left WWE....that's why WCW had to buy Hulk Hogan, and even Hogan wasn't doing great business in WCW until he went heel and the NWO became a thing. Ric was great in the 80s and that was over 40 years ago.
@@j.rivera6402Should have retired in the mid nineties and never looked back ‼️🙈🙉🙊
@@teastrainer3604ironically, it was one of his targets, Mick Foley who said wrestling is like a circus. Maybe you won’t like the clown but maybe you will like the trapeze artist or the strong man. There is something for everyone. For me, I never like Flair’s promos or matches. Most of his matches were the same shite every time. His promos were also usually the same self aggrandising masculine playboy thing. He did it well but meh. It makes for a very 2 dimensional character, imo.
Flair is almost 80, and he's still partying like he's in his 20s.I'm surprised he's lasted this long.
Evil lives forever.
Shoutout to the Millennium Falcon in the back.
I remember Ric on the Legends of Wrestling - he was a general jerk to anyone he thought was beneath him. One episode was him, JR, Tazz, and Mick Foley. He was cordial enough to JR, a dismissive dick to Mick, and worse to Tazz. He made the show worse with his presence. It was weird to watch.
Are y’all going to talk about the Netflix Raw? Hogan getting booed out of the building? The Rock dropping his own gimmick? Taker showing up to ride his bike in a circle?
The biggest elephant in the room for Stevie.
Jimmy V was the Coach of the North Carolina State basketball team in 1983 when the won the NCAA championship. He later died in 1993 due to cancer
I remember that round table that James was talking about. Ric talked down to Mic like he wasn't sh!t.
Even though I grew up watching them, I have no desire to see either Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan on my screen ever again.
With all the years of constant drinking by Ric, I would be surprised if he didn't have dementia or something.
Agreed. There's alcohol induced dementia. 😪
@@dixiewinxeqandmore356 It's called a "wet- brain"
Flair is a red-nosed squishy brain
I think Flair's biggest issues is he still wants the lifestyle that he had in his 20s, 30s and 40s, and even 50s. He aged out of the lifestyle he wants and isn't able to deal with it.
Ric Flair has ruined his legacy equally as bad if not worse than Hulk Hogan... and I am sick of pretending he has not
Ric assaulted a flight attendant and basically got a pass for it. Hogan saying the n word or lying about his own life accomplishments or things he may not been involved in does not come close to that. Neither does voting for trump
Who cares about legacy at the end of the day? Mike Tyson put it best, we're all going to be 6ft under one day. Flair lived a rock star life and now he's going to meet his end alone in a hotel room somewhere. I don't think he would change much about how he's lived his life tbh.
Stop putting your hero expectations on other people who you don't even know maybe? Fans act like these people still owe them something
The main issue is all you internet hate mongers. Not Flair, not Hogan, it's the noisy internet haters. Do you not think you're fn annoying and help RUIN all of pro wrestling?!
@extremepop324 amen
I don’t even believe Rick could type out that tweet with proper use of commas. He must have a handler.
Jimmy V - is the college BASKETBALL coach who gave the most inspiring speech of all-time at the original ESPY Awards... "Don't give up, don't EVER give up.", and then succumbed to his cancer several days later.
Every year ESPN holds a fundraiser for the Jimmy V foundation for cancer research.
Flair, Hogan, Hart, and Goldberg are examples of people who bought into their kayfabe to a degree that they can't separate it from reality anymore.
Hogan shops at Walmart in Tampa and hugs and takes pictures with his fans. Guy sings Karyoke in his Bar with his fans. You're Clueless how Hogan. Probably another EMASCULATED Low T LIBERAL SIMP
Guys like Ric Flair, The Rock and Hulk Hogan have a permanent sense of "Main Character syndrome". They will always seek out attention because they are insecure.
You don't actually know what that is, that describes someone who was, is and never will be the main character. Those guys really were.
Grew up seeing Stevie on TV in the 90s but never realised he is 53 years old... Looking well, Stevie!
Flair still thinks it is 1980 on some level. He doesn't get it. He just keeps digging the hole he is in. He is not equipped mentally to understand that the world has changed drastically. It isn't 1980.
too many bumps, too many years of being drunk every single night. Both of those wear down a mind. Plus age of course.
Even his profile pic is 1980s Ric Flair
The world was better in the 80s though, I was there too.
@@BigBadJerryRogers Yes it was. The 80's were a great time.
After Cena wins #17, Tony Khan will book Flair to win the AEW title TWICE.
never gonna happen
Y'all just say anything in these comment sections
Tony Khan wouldn't let Flair wrestle because he is on blood thinners. You are NOT a pro wrestling guy
@ 😎
@@kingkayfabe5358 😏
Flair and hogan are in the same basket. Come-a-running when there's a payday but all they bring is ego and controversy and a trail of destruction.
no one else notice that the big opening video of the first raw on netflix, hhh said something about going in to obscurity just as flair is getting a sweet chin music. hmmmm
I caught that as well!
Flair has no other identity. He has been the Nature Boy for so long that he can not be anything else. His entire self worth and being are wrapped up in it.
Ric tweeting at 3am…. Wonder what he was up to that night ☃️
Maybe he just had a little too much Real American Beer in him, brother.
41K is actually lower than the number I remember being reported that Cary paid him at the time, which was 50K. It's funny, because I was producing DVD trailers for ROH around this time and had to stop because they couldn't pay me anymore. I've always wondered if Ric Flair cost me that gig in some roundabout way.
The guy filed a lawsuit to get that money back, right? Why would he just count on Ric's "decency"?
He didn’t
Flair is trying to fill the void created by the passing of the Iron Sheik.
Flair probably got CTE when he was in the plane crash, he still lives in the 80s while nearing his 80s.
I was going to make this comment. The injuries from the plane crash were horrible. I know from personal experience that injuries heal but they stay around and can dig into you over time.
Plus flair flops, receiving piledrivers, chair shots….
The only impressive thing Flair has done in the last fifteen years is walking out on Kill Tony.
This is the best wrestling show on the Internet today. Great insight. Love you guys. Keep up the good work
I really like Stevie's take on social media.
I'm new to Stevie's podcasts, they are brilliant. Just catching up on the older ones 🎉
Whatever if Ric wouldn't have ruined the show. Conrad would have with all his FN advertising. He ruins his own shows with all the commercials.
Sweet, something to listen to on my way home from work tonight. Thanks Guys!
Jimmy V is Jim Valvano. He was the head coach of the NC State basketball team and led them in a Cinderella tournament run to the National Championship in 83. He's famous for that and his Espy speech while battling terminal cancer in 93. He passed about 2 months after the speech.
Stevie Richards saying he’s not on social media I’m 2025 is funny. He’s the only wrestler I ever tried to follow back in 2005 on MySpace and he denied my request 😂
No Top 8 for you!
Glad I stumbled upon this channel it’s very interesting to hear insight from guys like you and maven and I honestly agree about ric he just can’t seem to let it go and he seems to have just lost himself over time and it seems like it’s gotten worse with time
I NEVER thought I would live to see the day Flair & Hogan would be booed. Im 44 & both of them are almost hated today. My childhood is upside down.
Had they died 15 years ago they would be heroes. They lived long enough to become the villains. I will always love both of them. Having been a wrestler myself & having disabilities myself I know how hard it is. I drank for 10 years. Just because I couldn't sleep. I didn't wake up until 3pm today despite going to bed last night at 12. Why sleep 15 hours? I just cant get up!
This happens everyday. I wake up if I drink but I cant drink anymore. I have neurological issues. Im SURE Flair does too but he is lucky he survived so long. Different biology & DNA. Humans arent all the same. Where I broke at 30... Flair is breaking at 70. You kinda have to have gone through it to understand.
Newsflash: People who don't worship BS celebrities have known that these dudes were scumbags for at least 30 years. It's only now that the after decades of the childish behavior that people have stopped making excuses for them when they act like jagoffs
They been booed before
@@HippolitoJuancheese Thank you for saying this. 🙏
He's just old and doesn't like to be old. Let him talk as much as he wants, noone should just encourage him to do anything stupid.
The Stevie Richard’s Podcast is one of the best wrestling podcasts there is. Period.
Steve, this is a great show.
Yea, Arn Anderson got into an infamous scissor fight with Sid Vicious because Sid was badmouthing Ric Flair. Arn may have foolishly started the altercation, but in fairness, he got the worst of it. All because he was loyal and risked life and limb for his friend.
But it appears that they are no longer friends at this point, at least according to what I heard.
He'd be much more tollerable if he gave up the sauce.
He would probably die from withdrawals at this point.
Jimmy V was the BASKETBALL coach. Led North Carolina State to the national championship in 1983 as a 6 seed and they beat Phi Slamma Jamma (1 seed Houston) in the title game. He also gave one of the best speeches of all time imo before he passed. Rest easy, Jimmy.
Jimmy V was the NC State basketball coach not foot ball coach that passed away from cancer
Glad you brought up that episode of wwe legends James. I remember Taz and JR were part of that episode I believe. Ric scoffed at the thought of working for Walmart....Jr interjected and said "nothing wrong with working at Walmart." And Ric just rolled his eyes. He also said "who the hell is TNA." They would eventually sign his paycheck though. Phony as a Styrofoam sack of peanuts. Smh
Stevie, this is legitimately my favorite ex-wrestler podcast. I loved your RF Video shoot and I could listen to you talk about wrestling all day.
Flair needs to temper he’s Richard Fliehr first.
Also Conrad can deal with it and go do more subprime mortgage loans to desperate buyers.
*while eating
"... do more subprime mortgage loans to desperate buyers... while eating."
👍🏼😃👍🏼
@ I just assumed the eating, heavy breathing, and congestive heart failure were assumed.
Flair seems to be drunk all the time.
Shoutout to Maven 💯💯💯
Steven Richards you that dude
Lay off Ric, come on, it was the Egyptian..
Stevie, we are fans of yours. You better believe it brother! We love and respect you. Please believe in yourself! 😊😊😊🙏
Jimmy V was Jim Valvano, college BASKETBALL coach who passed away from cancer. He gave the famous "Never give up" speech at, I think, the ESPYs.
I'll never forget when Warrior said that Ric was embarrassing the business by wrestling in his 50s
Maybe this is off base. But as someone who has both previously & currently had to care for a much older relative who now is often difficult to deal with, I’ve also heard of many dealing with similar situations talk about this issue regularly. At some point during the late aging process, many of those folks (who are fortunate enough to live that long), just become different people, and often really different people. In some people, the changes are more superficial, are still able to be compartmentalized, & are thus easier to deal with. With some others, for whatever reason, the change is so drastic that they end up showing little resemblance to who they once were. But other times these changes wind up being being all of the bad characteristics they had during their younger years. But now it’s all them. All the time. I’m not aware of this being a form of Dementia, pre-Alzheimer’s or any other cognitive based medical disease or disorder… so whenever I see or hear about it, I’ve just chalked it up to the mind’s response to how exhausting the aging process is. And I don’t think any regular human can begin to imagine just how exhausted Ric’s brain must be at this point. While I’m not trying to make an excuse for him, I guess this could be seen as one. He’s an old alcoholic, & sex addict who is also still addicted to (& receiving) some sort of fame & the high that comes with it. The best thing anyone outside his family could do for Ric right now, is ignore him. Completely.
Weird how Hogan catches hell from today's weirdo fans nut flair gets a pass and is worse by a mile.
Stevie is so straight forward and comes off as legitimately decent him. Stevie and Al Snow seem like the two guys who came away from the business looking like good people.
How can someone not like Stevie? Dude is about the friendliest person I’ve ever seen do these things.
Maven seems like a nice guy also, but Stevie has a warmth about him that’s unmatched
I thought it is obvious and generally accepted as a fact that Ric is just cognitively gone for years now.
And honestly. It would be no surprise given his long career and dubious lifestyle choices he seemingly can't abandon
I remember the WWE round table when Ric talks so much trash about TNA wrestling. Then what does he do joins TNA.
Wrestlers always talk BS it seems. CM Punk talked trash about WWE in AEW then goes right back there after AEW fires him.
@@user-vg5mung5764hgftj Pretty much. McDonald's is awesome.
@@user-vg5mung5764hgftj Hell yeah!
He was referring to Jim Valvano , he was A college Basketball coach
*Jim Valvano* he was NC State Basketball coach in the 80’s. He had the famous “Don’t ever give up” speech.
I was watching a documentary on ric flair here awhile back. Might have been one of those dark side of wrestling or something along those lines. But whatever it was, it was an entire episode about him. After watching it and seeing how he reacted when they brought up his son who passed away, and then him talking about being an alcoholic and refusing to ever get help because he's happier when he drinks, I started realizing I think his issue is he's an alcoholic which impairs his judgement which leads to stuff like this, but he can't stop because he never really recovered from losing his son and he drinks to run from those feelings he has when he thinks about it, ultimately causing him to never get past it. It's quite sad, and even though it's not the best way to handle it, I can understand it. Losing a kid is hard. I know more than 1 person who I personally know who has lost a child and they were never the same again. Honestly makes me kinda feel a little bad for the guy. If I remember what show it was I'll add it to my comment. Anyone who watches it will see what I'm talking about I'm pretty sure...
Edit: so without rewatching it I'm not positive, but I think it was ric's "30 for 30" episode that made it pretty clear to me why he is the way he is
Rick Flair just a Hall of Fame jobber the last 25 years of his career.
Love this show. I also thought that Jimmy V thing might be a reference to the late Jim Valvano. Coached NC state basketball to a national title. His ESPY speech is something everyone should listen to at least once.
The Undertaker said it best about Ric Flair: he became the gimmick.
I guess everyone forgot people had to distance themselves from Flair after the “Plane ride from Hell” details surfaced on Dark side of the Ring.