It's no secret Jim Herd clashed Ric Flair during Herd's time as the Executive Vice President of WCW.
Herd famously wanted Flair to cut his hair and become a Roman gladiator named Spartacus, believing WCW needed to create new stars. Obviously, this didn't go over well with Flair and didn't end up happening.
Sitting down with Conrad Thompson on AdFreeShows, Herd was asked about Ricky Steamboat beating Flair in February 1989 and whether the company had become too reliant on Flair after Flair supposedly tested negatively with fans
"There was a lot of controversy with Ric, he.....I just saw Ric a month ago on some show, what's the guy's name, the bald headed guy [Steve Austin] who has a show on now, he interviewed Ric. I looked at Ric's forehead and I said, 'They must've taken part of his ass and put it on his forehead because all those cuts are gone,' which is great. Ric was a guy that you couldn't control out in public and he did a lot of different things that we didn't agree with, Turner didn't agree with. Believe me, during all this time, if you didn't get a pass from Turner, you got no pass at all because he controlled everything through me. I took the lumps when they came and as long as I maintained his dynamic, which was making it rain dollars, he didn't interfere," said Herd.
Flair would regain the NWA World Heavyweight Title in May 1989 and hold it until July 1990, when he lost the belt to Sting. The feud between Herd and Flair peaked when Flair was fired amid contract negotiations with Herd, allowing him to jump to the WWF and take the WCW World Title with him.
If you use any of the quotes above, please give a h/t to AdFreeShows with a link back to Fightful for the transcription.
