"You can be good but you will never be great" - Ric Flair highlights major issue in wrestling today
Ric Flair believes some modern-day wrestlers are not talented enough to perform basic in-ring moves.
The 73-year-old is viewed by many as one of the greatest performers of all time. Although he is not currently signed to a wrestling promotion, the 16-time world champion frequently watches AEW and WWE’s weekly shows.
On the latest episode of his To Be The Man podcast, Flair raised concerns about wrestlers who struggle to punch and kick correctly.
“Punching… kicking… I mean, there are so many guys working right now that have no fundamentals,” Flair said. “It’s absurd. [If] you can’t punch and kick, you can be good but you will never be great. Never.” [30:14-30:32]
On a positive note, The Nature Boy also said that Randy Orton and his daughter Charlotte Flair are “the best in the business” right now.
Ric Flair often sees the same mistake from wrestlers
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Veterans of the industry often bemoan the lack of psychology in modern-day wrestling. Ric Flair, for example, has noticed that wrestlers sometimes return to their feet immediately after being knocked down to the ring canvas.
The two-time WWE Hall of Famer thinks young wrestlers cannot learn everything they need to know simply from training around their coaches.
“Nowadays, a heel will take a great bump and boom, but he’ll be standing up before the babyface gets up,” Flair said. “No clue, no psychology, because you can’t learn that in a gym practising with 70 guys on the floor watching you. The law just needs to be laid down by the crowd, not by some instructor.” [29:08-29:32]
Flair added that the WWE Performance Center has some great instructors, including Norman Smiley and Terry Taylor. However, he believes wrestlers need to gain experience in front of fans to improve their in-ring work.
Please credit To Be The Man and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.