Not even in MY sick, twisted, tangled and demented mind, did I ever think that I would ever be having a wrestling match with Ric Flair. Even as an in-ring character in WCW in early 2000, the thought never resonated through my mind. I wasn’t a wrestler, and I knew that. I DIDN’T WANT TO BE A WRESTLER, and I knew that too, but once the angle between David Flair and his father Ric started to pick up some steam—there I was standing right in the middle of this explosive family feud.
As getting in the ring with Flair became more, and more a possibility, all I kept thinking about was that NO MATTER WHAT—I didn’t want to make Flair look bad. I didn’t care about ratings, I didn’t care about my health, all I cared about was the Nature Boy and his reputation as one of the greatest of all-time in the business. With that, I had to get myself prepared as much as possible. The first thing I did was meet Ric down at the Power Plant where the steel cage was put up, and we went through the entire match step-by-step. What stands out the most was that Ric really only wanted to go over it one time—that’s it. There was no second or third walk through—just one. Understanding that, I tried to give Ric the best impression that “I got it”, when in actuality I didn’t “get it” because I was scared !@#$%!
People can remember whatever they want to remember—but, I can recall that there was an impressive turn out that night in the Phillips Arena in Atlanta. People came out because they simply wanted to see “Natch” kick this New Yawkers backside. I’ve got to be honest here—I was SO NERVOUS, that I WASN’T NERVOUS . . . if you can understand that. I was way beyond the butterflies because again, all I cared about was one thing—not making Ric look bad.
Ring the bell let’s go.
It literally had to be minutes in when Rich gave me a very basic Russian Leg Sweep, and my head bounced off the mat with full force because in my incompetence as a wrestler . . . I simply forgot to tuck my chin. As I got up off the mat, I could tell something was “off” there was an immediate light-headedness, just not having all my faculties. From there—Ric carried, and I just followed his lead. I remember feeling somewhat out of it, and thinking, “How the hell am I ever going to be able to climb to the top of that cage?” But somehow, I did, again my adrenaline was pumping off the rush of “not wanting to make Ric look bad”. From there, we did our business high atop the cage, if I would have actually realized for one second what I was doing—I would have either puked myself, or shat my sweat pants. But I got through it.
