Ric Flair thinks social media has completely changed what it takes to make money in professional wrestling, and he’s not exactly impressed with all of the results. Flair says there are wrestlers making millions today because of their online presence who, in his opinion, wouldn’t have been able to last 30 minutes in the ring with him or Booker T.
While speaking on the Hall of Fame podcast, Flair was discussing how much the wrestling business has changed during his more than 50 years in it. Marketing was the first thing that came to mind, which eventually led Booker to point out that Flair had figured out how to market himself long before wrestlers had social media doing some of that work for them.
For Flair, the Nature Boy wasn’t something he switched on when the cameras started rolling. The clothes, cars, women and ridiculous lifestyle he constantly bragged about were, according to him, pretty close to how he was actually living.
“Much to my dismay, not now because I look at it, but basically everything I said I was doing. Actually, 99% of what I said I was doing. So, it wasn’t hard. I was really having fun. And once I got on a roll, I mean, obviously, and this is not an embellishment because Book has known me forever, I spent more money on clothes than I made. Thank God for credit cards.”
Flair took looking like a star seriously too. He compared himself to Stephen A. Smith, who seemingly has something different waiting in the closet every time he goes on television.
“I mean, I really tried to wear, you know, like I’m a big fan of First Take. So I like Stephen A., right? And we’re good friends. But what he spends on clothes a year reminds me about me. I mean, I just tried to have a different suit every week for TV. He has something different on every damn day. I mean, but it stands out.”
There was a reason Flair leaned so heavily into all of that. He freely admits he wasn’t built like some physical specimen, so he figured out what he did have and squeezed everything possible out of it.
“I mean, it just does. I mean, when Book walks in all tricked out, man, and Book is one of these guys with that great physique, he doesn’t have to do that. But when you got to… I mean, as far as me being, I was physically gifted in terms of being healthy, but I was no Adonis by any means, right? So I just played off the strengths of what I knew I was good at.”
The bragging became part of the package. Fans didn’t want to hear about Flair’s suits, cars or women, which naturally meant he kept telling them about all three.
“People didn’t like me bragging about my clothes. They didn’t like me bragging about my cars. And most of all, they didn’t like me bragging about my women. And that ain’t work.”
That’s when Flair turned the conversation toward wrestlers today, and he didn’t dance around what he thinks has changed. In his eyes, some wrestlers are now getting paid because they know how to build themselves online rather than because they’re especially talented at wrestling.
“But to follow what Book said, there are more kids right now making money because of their social media than their talent. It’s absolute insanity. I mean, social media can make or break anybody.”
Flair went even harder from there. He claimed some of those wrestlers are making millions despite not being capable of keeping up with what he and Booker were expected to do inside the ring.
“They got kids now making millions of dollars that couldn’t even walk in the goddamn ring with me and Book. I swear to God, they couldn’t wrestle 30 minutes if they had to, much less, you know, every day.”
Flair isn’t pretending social media is going anywhere, and wrestlers making money from it is obviously part of the business now. He just doesn’t think a big following should be confused with being able to wrestle, especially when he believes some of today’s highest earners wouldn’t have lasted very long under the demands of his era.
Do you think Ric Flair has a point about social media becoming more valuable than wrestling ability, or is building an audience simply part of being a wrestler today? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
