Flair is a mess

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Flair was on a panel with Foley and JBL, hosted by Josh Mathews, and I really just don't like the man. He is still taking shots at Foley for his hardcore style, totally dismissive of it, and telling Foley that he "over-stayed his welcome". Whatever the hell that means, as Flair kept wrestling 15 years past HIS "welcome".

Then, after being a dick to Foley, he cries like a little girl when they start talking about his retirement match with Shawn Michaels. I understand being emotional after the match, and the immediate time frame after, but he was SOBBING while talking about how "beautiful" it was. 6 years later. He is always living in the past.

The man isn't stable and they should keep him off of television unless he is "in character".

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

"I don't care how many thumbtacks Mick Foley has fallen on, how many ladders he's fallen off of, how many continents he's supposedly bled on, he'll always be known as a glorified stuntman" - Ric Flair


That was what Flair wrote in his book. Is he wrong though? Thats all Mick Foley was... "a glorified stuntman". Foley didn't make a name for himself by having great wrestling matches, he made a name for himself by going through tables, getting thrown off of cages, etc

And about this 'panel', Flair has never liked Foley so he was just being real. Whats wrong with that?

 

[BigThunder]

The man isn't stable and they should keep him off of television unless he is "in character".

I don't think you need to ever worry about Ric being out of character. All indications are that his life would be much less messy if he could detach himself from the Nature Boy persona. But he's entertained me for over three decades, and I can forgive him a lot. I just wish he'd take better care of himself.

Wrestlers talking smack about each other seems to be par for the course. I don't really pay much attention to what Flair says about Mick, Bret says about HHH, etc. It's the ones who don't speak up that are the ones who get my attention.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

I don't really pay much attention to what Flair says about Mick, Bret says about HHH, etc. It's the ones who don't speak up that are the ones who get my attention.

But he was sitting right next to Foley. This wasn't a segment on RAW, or an excerpt from a book. It was a low-key roundtable thing that they did at the WM Axxess, aired on the Network. It wasn't the time and place to mock Foley's career, have some fucking respect. Foley took the high road like a professional. Then Flair cries about his OWN retirement 5 minutes later.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Is he wrong though? Thats all Mick Foley was "a glorified stuntman".

In as much as all professional wrestlers are glorified stuntmen, he's not wrong. Otherwise, yes, he is. As a man who had his prime in the attitude era, Foley's been in about as many bloodbaths as The Rock or Steve Austin or Triple H. Yeah, he's been in deathmatches in Japan and done a bunch of shit in ECW, but he has an undeserved reputation of being 'just' a hardcore guy at the big boy table. He's a product of his era. The reason Mick Foley is so well regarded isn't because of his famously massive pair of balls, but because he was able to take a lardy body, with not an athletic bone in it, and become an all-time great. Mick Foley is living proof that wrestling isn't about athleticism, it's about performance.

People look at Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn and think, oh, obviously, Benoit and Rey Mysterio and that are influences. And they are. But as big a debt is owed to the likes of Foley, who could draw empathy from an audience like no other. That's what makes those two, Bryan and Zayn, so special - not the fact that they do flips or crossfaces*. That man, Mick Foley, was an underdog. He never needed the cheap pop.

*Athleticism also isn't what makes Rey Mysterio special, but that's going off on a tangent.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

"I don't care how many thumbtacks Mick Foley has fallen on, how many ladders he's fallen off of, how many continents he's supposedly bled on, he'll always be known as a glorified stuntman" - Ric Flair


That was what Flair wrote in his book. Is he wrong though? Thats all Mick Foley was... "a glorified stuntman".

A stuntman couldn't be as good on the mic as Foley. When you call him a "glorified stuntman", you're ignoring the "entertainment" side.

His most entertaining work as Mankind in the late 90's came when he wasn't even wrestling.

 

[Uncle Sam]

You're also ignoring all the amazing wrestling.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

Wrestling Panel. Look whenever the wrestlers are on TV or in public working for the WWE.. they are working.

Ric Flair is still being Ric Flair. He's the nature boy, a catch as catch can or whatever JBL says type of Wrestler. Of course it's going to be his gimmick to hate on the hardcore style. And we all know gimmicks are an extension of a the personality, so it's all good for me.

 

[Uncle Sam]

In fact, I'm just now realising the hypocrisy of a man who's busted himself open by talking too intensely criticising hardcore wrestling.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Wrestling Panel. Look whenever the wrestlers are on TV or in public working for the WWE.. they are working.

Ric Flair is still being Ric Flair. He's the nature boy, a catch as catch can or whatever JBL says type of Wrestler. Of course it's going to be his gimmick to hate on the hardcore style. And we all know gimmicks are an extension of a the personality, so it's all good for me.

They were all speaking like normal human beings. JBL wasn't acting like he does on commentary, Foley wasn't giving the goofy thumbs up to the camera, and Flair didn't use one "Woooh". These were just ex-wrestlers talking. In an open venue at Axxess and airing on the Network. They weren't there to debate, it wasn't one of those "Roundtable" things they have. It was to talk about Wrestlemania legends and to promote WM30.

I don't expect anyone to go looking to find the replay of this on the Network, but if you watched it, you'd get what i'm saying.

 

[Shocky]

Minus Mick Foley making more stars than Flair, then Flair is totally right. It's a shame that Naitch is such a mark for his own name.

 

[Slash-LN]

I never liked the guy after meeting him at a signing. He was one of the least personable guys I've ever met. Kept his head down the whole time and just signed his name on the pictures and passed them to the security guy sitting next to him who then handed them to us.

Most of the wrestlers I've met have been pretty friendly.

As far as Foley goes. Yeah he was in death matches and stuff but he also made a name for himself by doing awesome promos and being an entertaining guy.

If all it took was some big spots to become as popular as he did then promotions like CZW would be ruling the wrestling world.

Foley has the it factor that makes people want to cheer for him.

There's really no reason for Flair to be a dick about stuff.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I watched the roundtable discussion on factions that featured Flair. Never again. He won't let anyone else speak and he buried Hall, Nash, Hogan, and Hart. He's out of his fucking mind.

 

[therockiswwf]

I wish they would let Piper and Flair babble on endlessly. That would be very entertaining.

 

[klunderbunker]

In as much as all professional wrestlers are glorified stuntmen, he's not wrong. Otherwise, yes, he is. As a man who had his prime in the attitude era, Foley's been in about as many bloodbaths as The Rock or Steve Austin or Triple H. Yeah, he's been in deathmatches in Japan and done a bunch of shit in ECW, but he has an undeserved reputation of being 'just' a hardcore guy at the big boy table. He's a product of his era. The reason Mick Foley is so well regarded isn't because of his famously massive pair of balls, but because he was able to take a lardy body, with not an athletic bone in it, and become an all-time great. Mick Foley is living proof that wrestling isn't about athleticism, it's about performance.

People look at Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn and think, oh, obviously, Benoit and Rey Mysterio and that are influences. And they are. But as big a debt is owed to the likes of Foley, who could draw empathy from an audience like no other. That's what makes those two, Bryan and Zayn, so special - not the fact that they do flips or crossfaces*. That man, Mick Foley, was an underdog. He never needed the cheap pop.

*Athleticism also isn't what makes Rey Mysterio special, but that's going off on a tangent.

I can't remember where I read it, but someone once said there are dozens if not hundreds of guys going through tables, burning themselves and wrestling in barbed wire and thumbtacks. There's one guy doing it and becoming WWF Champion and it's Mick Foley. It's about making people care and that's what Foley could do while going with the hardcore stuff.