Paul Heyman and Ric Flair have known each other for decades — and for a while, they wanted to kill each other. Speaking on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Heyman recalled trying to lure Flair into a real fight back in WCW, hoping the Nature Boy would swing first.
“Ric Flair is an interesting subject with me,” Heyman said. “The main event of the first thing I ever promoted was, when I was 19 years old, Wrestle Party ’85 at Studio 54, and the main attraction was Ric Flair. I’ll always be appreciative of that. At the same time, when he took over the creative end of WCW, we were not on the same page, and he did not like me.”
(Credits: Fightful)
Paul Heyman Wanted Ric Flair to Swing So He Could Sue
Heyman admitted he deliberately provoked Flair. “I tried to lure him into fighting me. Everything I could to get him to swing and he didn’t take the bait. I wanted him to swing. Because how can an executive at Turner punch somebody in the face and get away with it? Number one, would have made it an easy lawsuit. Number two, he’d have to be fired alongside with me.”
Asked by Bensinger if they “kind of wanted to kill each other,” Heyman simply answered: “yes.” The feud got Heyman fired from WCW before he was brought back in May 1990.
How One Drinking Night Fixed the Heyman-Flair Relationship
When Heyman returned, Flair welcomed him back in front of the locker room — then invited him for drinks. “I’m not a drinker at all, and Ric Flair can drink,” Heyman said. “Ric Flair can outdrink a platoon of Marines.” He spent the next day drinking pickle juice and salted popcorn to recover.
But the night worked. “He said, ‘All right. Kid’s not as bad as I thought he was.’ From then on, we worked together fine.”
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Source: Fightful — read the full story there.
