Ric Flair says he apologized to Becky Lynch.
Flair and Lynch have feuded in recent years over "The Man". Lynch started using the moniker during her rise to the top of WWE, whereas Flair had been calling himself "The Man" for decades. Flair previously sold his trademark on "The Man" to WWE. Flair and Lynch have traded verbal barbs in the past; "The Nature Boy" previously said he will always be "The Man".
Speaking on his To Be The Man podcast, Flair discussed his experience when he went to the January 23 taping of WWE Raw, which was the 30th anniversary special. He described how he caught up with old friends and other legends. He then stated that he apologized to Lynch and expressed his regret that their conflict reached the point that it did. Flair noted that their dispute over "The Man" trademark was decided by other people, and when he saw Lynch with her child, he realized that the feud wasn't worth it.
"I apologized to Becky Lynch. I walked up to her and said, ‘May I speak with you for a minute?’ I just said I’m sorry this ever got to where it is’ I went over and shook Seth Rollins’ hands and I said, ‘I’m gonna apologize to your wife.’ I’ve just decided that, it all came with the documentary. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in things that you just forget and you get so wrapped up in things that you just forget, and you say it so many times for so many years. But ‘The Man’ trademark, the whole thing was decided by someone besides she and I. It’s not that as much as the money that was involved in it, which the company reaps the better part of it anyway. Then I saw her with her child, and I thought, ‘God, this will be Ashley someday, and Megan now with Morgan.’ It’s not worth it," Flair said.
Flair continued by stating that he is not "The Man" anymore, and now it's up to everyone else to decide. He noted that people might disagree about who "The Man" is, as some people will always call him that. The WWE Hall of Famer then described how he felt lucky that he was able to celebrate with other legends.
"I am not ‘The Man’ anymore. ‘The Man’ is whoever the people think is. Basically, we’ve turned it over to social media to decide who ‘The Man’ is. Does that make sense? It could be Tom Brady, who’s still playing. It could be Aaron Rodgers in football. It could be LeBron, who I still think is the man in basketball. I will be in some people’s mind ‘The Man’ forever, but you gotta remember, I’m sitting there with ‘Taker and Shawn, and I’m 20 years older than those guys. I’m there on Raw, lucky enough to celebrate that moment and that time with these guys that grew up on me. Then I introduced my daughter and called her what she is, the greatest women’s champion in the history of WWE, and in my estimation, the best worker in the company. But that’s just how I feel personally," Flair said.
The legend then emphasized that he feels like he can walk around more freely now, as he doesn't feel uncomfortable when he walks by Lynch. He stated that he feels better about himself now, as it's a better world for him to be in. He made it clear that he wanted the situation to be as close to perfect as possible because Charlotte works there.
“I can walk around and not walk by Becky and feel uncomfortable and I can shake Seth Rollins’ hand, and it makes it a better world for me to be in. I feel better about myself. Becky was very receptive and said nice words to me, and so did Seth. My daughter works there, I want it to be perfect. Nothing’s perfect, but you want it to be as best as can be. How many people get to introduce their daughter? That, you’re not gonna see for a long time, something like that. So I feel thankful that I had that opportunity," he said.
Later in the show, Flair emphasized that he realized he's not "The Man" anymore. He stated that he had been saying it for so long that he got stuck on it. But the legend made it clear that he realized those days are behind him, and he had simply believed his own hype for a while.
"I’m not 'The Man' anymore. I don’t know who 'The Man' is, but people decide that, and that’s in every sport, in every field, and every phase of life. But I’m realizing, during the body of the show, I’m realizing, I really got stuck on that because I said it for so many years. There was a time, in the 80s, I was the guy. I got no problem saying that at all. Maybe even the early 90s. But it’s like believing your own hype after a while because you just say it so long," Flair said.
On a recent episode of his podcast, Ric Flair stated that he doesn't want to wrestle again, but he wishes he could redo his last match. Click here to see what he had to say.
Charlotte recently looked back on Ric Flair's Last Match. Check out her comments here.
Early access to this podcast was granted through a subscription to AdFreeShows. Subscribe at this link for access to early podcast releases from names like Eric Bischoff and Kurt Angle.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
