Ric Flair's former opponent apologizes to the WWE legend 21 years after their match
Ric Flair competed in more than 4,000 matches during an in-ring career spanning five decades. In a recent YouTube video, Stevie Richards took responsibility for any issues that arose during his one and only bout with The Nature Boy.
On July 8, 2002, Flair defeated Richards in three minutes and 43 seconds on RAW. The 16-time world champion secured the win after making his opponent tap out to the Figure Four Leg Lock.
Richards talked viewers through the match on the latest episode of his Stevie Richards Wrestling Analysis YouTube channel. As the bad guy that day, the 52-year-old admitted he should have done more to make fans invested in the bout:
"So, Ric, thank you so much, and also I apologize that I didn't hold up my end of the match," Richards said. "I didn't do my part to create heat. Maybe the people would have cheered even more at the end, maybe it just wouldn't have made a difference, but I'm sorry I froze up. I'm really sorry that I was starstruck, let's face it. We don't like to admit it, even as veterans, that we can get starstruck when we are in the ring with our childhood heroes." [12:52 – 13:19]
The match took place following a backstage disagreement between the two earlier in the show. The heated conversation ended with Richards knocking Flair to the ground after claiming the two-time WWE Hall of Famer was past his best.
Stevie Richards assesses Ric Flair's wrestling ability
Many fans and wrestlers regard Ric Flair as one of the greatest in-ring competitors and entertainers in the history of the business.
From an in-ring perspective, Stevie Richards views Flair and Bret Hart as the top two wrestlers of all time:
"If I could share the ring every single night with a limited amount of people, Bret Hart is on that list, but Ric Flair. I think Bret and Ric [are] right up there, top 1a and 1b. You can interchange them. I would still have been wrestling today, 30, 35 years into it, if I got to share the ring each and every night with people like Ric Flair and Bret Hart, who's right in that category." [13:42 – 14:05]
In a separate video, Richards gave his honest thoughts on an injury Jon Moxley recently suffered in AEW. The company blocked the video on YouTube, prompting Richards to respond on social media.
What are your thoughts on Ric Flair as an in-ring performer? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Stevie Richards Wrestling Analysis and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.