Ric Flair thought the kerfuffle of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was a work.
That’s the term in Flair’s world of pro wrestling, when the violence is scripted. Flair and his longtime friend Mike Tyson spoke to The Post to promote Tyson 2.0, the cannabis business they’re partnering in, and covered a wide range of other topics like his daughter Charlotte Flair’s success in WWE, Hulk Hogan’s proclamation that Flair was the greatest wrestler of all-time and the Oscars’ moment that will live in infamy.
“I didn’t think it was real,” Flair said of the Smith slap.
Tyson chimed in: “If Ric says it’s a fake, then it’s a fake.”
Flair explained his rationale.
“I can speak for myself, and I’m pretty sure I’m speaking for Mike: If I didn’t like a remark, for any reason whatsoever, that somebody said about my wife, I would be punching them — not slapping them,” Flair said.
Tyson concurred: “It would be more than one punch, too.”
“When you’re mad at someone, you don’t slap him, you punch him,” Flair reiterated.
Tyson, for his part, had some advice for Smith.
“I think Will needs to eat some of these Mike Bites and just chill out. It’s okay,” he said, speaking of the line of Tyson 2.0 edibles that are shaped like Evander Holyfield’s bitten ear.
From there, the conversation shifted to Flair’s daughter, Charlotte, who is the current WWE SmackDown women’s champion and wrestling against Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium on Saturday.
“I actually wasn’t real excited about her getting into the business,” Flair admits. “She was [already in the business], but she was basically inspired by her little brother, Reid, who passed away.”
Flair praised how WWE is promoting and empowering women’s wrestling.
“But now that she’s in it — and the company has prioritized women’s wrestling big time, and it’s not just glamor and glitter; it’s real and they’re working their asses off — my daughter possesses incredible athleticism, as do so many of the girls. I think it’s tremendous that they’re finally getting the respect they deserve, because it’s a very tough physical sport.”
Recently, Flair’s longtime rival Hulk Hogan named him as the greatest wrestler of all-time. The Post asked Flair to discuss the distinction between the two, plus other modern era legends.
“In notoriety, he was bigger,” Flair said. “As a wrestler, I think he acknowledges that I was better because I had to do things he didn’t have to do — like wrestle an hour every night against a different guy. Some were prepared, some weren’t.
“But as a celebrity status and ability and skill, I’d put Hulk, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels — I don’t say that they’re better than me, but I’m giving you a list of guys I really respect. And I respect Hogan. He was the face of this business for a long time. And then along came Stone Cold came along and broke all Hulk’s records, and then The Rock. Shawn Michaels was fantastic, too. It’s hard for me to put a ranking on it, but I’m honored to even be put in that conversation. My interviews — limousine riding, jet flying, Rolex wearing son of a gun — [were another big element of my work].”
