Speaking to Bill Apter on the WrestleBinge YouTube channel Ricky Steamboat has disclosed why he eventually passed on Ric Flair’s ‘final match’.
Steamboat said that he sat down with promoter Conrad Thompson in Nashville and he agreed to the match until he was made aware of one fact.
“We hadn’t signed or sealed the deal on the money part of it but what put the nail in the coffin is about a week after that I found out that Flair was wearing a pacemaker,” said Steamboat.
That revelation was enough for Steamboat to pull out.
“I immediately just said: You know, I don’t think I want to do this. I don’t want my legacy to be that I was in the ring if he happened to pass away or something went wrong,” Steamboat clarified.
At the time, instead throwing Flair or Thompson under the bus, Steamboat took the blame for the dream match not happening.
“It is like one of those old time boxers. They can get in the ring and after about the third round when his legs are gone everyone is sitting there saying: He should have stayed retired. That is what I did. I used me as the reason,” he said.
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