"He told his fans basically to kiss his a**" - WWE legend destroys Ric Flair amidst heated real-life feud (Exclusive)
Ric Flair will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, but he might also be amongst the most controversial ever. The Nature Boy seems to have some real-life beef with Dutch Mantell, fka Zeb Colter, and the former manager opened up about Flair's recent comments on the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk.
In case you haven't caught up with the story already, Dutch Mantell shared his honest criticism of Ric Flair's "Last Match" on his podcast, and the 16-time world champion clearly didn't react positively on Twitter.
Ric Flair previously even had a bluntly dismissive message for all his critics; in general, he has been on the offensive whenever his final in-ring outing gets talked about in a bad light.
Dutch Mantell said that while he respected Ric Flair's achievements in the business, he felt that the WWE Hall of Famer was downright disrespecting the fans who made him a big deal.
Mantell spoke at length about his issues with Flair, as you can view below:
"Somehow, he went off on me today for basically telling the truth. I told the truth about him, and he got mad. And he was talking about, and this is what pissed me off, well, it didn't really p*ss me off. I respect Ric Flair, one of the greatest champions we've ever had. And I've had a couple of matches with him, not that many, but he went off on fans, and he released his payoff for the last match he had. He said it was $300,000, which to me seems excessive, but I don't know what kind of deal he had, so I can't say that's wrong. But he told his fans basically to kiss his a**, and to me, that was disrespectful to the fans he has had for years and years and years." [0:55 - 1:50]
Dutch noted that while Flair was an exceptional wrestler, he would be nothing without the fans. Mantell stood by his statement about Ric Flair's recent bout being one of the worst ever matches he'd ever seen.
The veteran even admitted that he feared Ric Flair was about to die during the grueling contest and briefly spoke about Flair's unhealthy pre-match routine:
"I thought he was going to die. I've had people on my timeline who said, 'Is he dying? Is he okay?' Because, by his own admission, he went into the ring drinking. He had taken some medication; he had been up for, I don't know, an ungodly amount of hours." [1:51 - 2:30]
"The match was laid out to really expose every weakness Ric Flair had" - Dutch Mantell
Ric Flair revealed on his podcast that he made over $300,000 for his retirement match in July of last year. https://t.co/SL2rmbXbzl
The 73-year-old didn't mince his words while slamming Ric Flair for not being physically ready to step back into the squared circle. Moreover, Dutch Mantell believed the tag team match failed to protect The Nature Boy as the former WWE Champion's apparent weaknesses were all there to be seen under the bright spotlight.
Considering Flair's medical history, Dutch Mantell said his former colleague needed to be grateful instead of going off on his supporters in the wrestling community.
Mantell added:
"And he goes in the ring, plus the match was laid out to really expose every weakness Ric Flair had. And he did. He looked like he was in bad shape. And when they pulled him out, he looked like, 'Hell; he is about to be put in a gurney and taken out.' He has already had a heart attack. When he had that heart attack, people all over the world sent him prayers and well wishes; they wanted him to get better. But here, he comes out and tells everybody to kiss his butt. That, to me, was very, very disrespectful." [2:30 - 3:10]
Do you agree with Dutch Mantell's opinion on Flair's 'Last Match'? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you use any of the above quotes, please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the YouTube video.