Wrestling was simpler back in Ric Flair's day.
Speaking to Jim Ross on The Ross Report, Flair discussed the psychology of today's wrestling. The conversation started with Ross bringing up Flair tapping out to a double chicken wing during his two-out-of-three falls bout with Ricky Steamboat at Clash of the Champions VI with Flair noting that were just trying to think of something new. That led him into a mini-rant on today's style of move stealing and excessive kickouts.
"As much as I enjoy the guys now -- I'm taking a comment from Shawn (Michaels). We're sitting out there at the announce stand, the guys are working out in the ring. An agent walks over to Shawn and says, 'Umaga wants to use the superkick tonight....' Before the guy could finish the explanation, Shawn said, 'No.' I'll see Shawn and he'll say, even though he's working and training, 'This is not what I did for a living.'"
Flair continued by saying, "It's no lack of respect for what they're doing. I don't know if they were stricter back then or what the deal is about using each other's holds. I'd go, 'Pat (Patterson), you just can't take this damn finish 47 times.' I'm in LA and Eddie Guerrero has Kurt (Angle) in Kurt's ankle lock. And I go, 'What the hell?'"
Michaels currently works at the WWE Performance Center as a trainer and agent for NXT. Flair still makes rare appearances on WWE television alongside his daughter, current SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte.