Ric Flair claims WWE Hall of Famer was better than Shawn Michaels and himself put together
Ric Flair believes wrestling legend Ray Stevens had more in-ring ability than himself and Shawn Michaels combined.
Stevens wrestled between 1950 and 1992 before passing away at the age of 60 in 1996. Widely regarded as one of the greatest heels of all time, The Blond Bomber was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020.
Flair and Michaels are considered by many to be two of wrestling’s best in-ring performers. However, speaking on his Wooooo Nation Uncensored podcast, The Nature Boy claimed that both he and Michaels were nowhere close to Stevens’ level:
“He’s the greatest worker I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t even begin to explain… bumps, energy. He was an average talker but in-ring skill Shawn Michaels and me together were not Ray Stevens. The stuff he did looked real, and he was such an average interview but in the ring he was a timebomb,” said Flair. [50:53-51:33]
Stevens worked in several promotions throughout his 42-year career, including the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He also competed in over 100 matches for WWE, formerly known as WWF and WWWF.
Ric Flair explains why Ray Stevens was so good
The WWE Hall of Fame welcomes Baron Michele Leone, Brickhouse Brown, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Gary Hart and Ray Stevens as Legacy inductees in the Class of 2020.
#WWEHOF https://t.co/g9G5cayzw2
According to Cagematch.net, Ray Stevens and Ric Flair competed in five singles matches against each other between 1979 and 1981. At the time, Stevens was reaching the end of his full-time career while Flair had already established himself as one of wrestling’s biggest stars.
Flair added that Stevens was “magic” in the ring and made his performances look easier than most wrestlers:
“I was so thrilled. He was just magic – you didn’t even know he was there. You couldn’t feel a thing but, man, it looked so damn good. You didn’t know what to do because it looked like he killed you but he never touched you.” [52:00-52:20]
Flair also spoke on this week’s podcast about which superstars could eventually break his record of 16 world championship wins. Although joint-record holder John Cena is the closest to 17 reigns, the 73-year-old hopes Charlotte Flair or Randy Orton surpasses his tally of victories.
Please credit Wooooo Nation Uncensored and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.