Ric Flair On His Famous Promo At Carlito: It Stemmed From Vince McMahon ‘Chewing My Ass Up’

On a February 2007 episode of WWE Raw, Ric Flair laid into Carlito for leaving the arena early and being lazy.

The fiery rant against Carlito not only served as a warning to some in the locker room, but it helped Flair regain his confidence that he said had been lacking.

Speaking to Alex McCarthy and Sean O’Brien of talkSPORT, Flair discussed how he was able to bring the passion out for that particular promo.

“What happened was, I just got my ass chewed up by Vince McMahon, literally ten minutes before that. Vince chewed my ass out and told me I needed to lead by example, not worry about what I was doing, that if he was worried he would take care of me. But he had just worn my ass out. I walked back to the locker room and Bruce Prichard was there and he said, ‘We need you to do this promo’. I said, ‘No problem!’ That’s the truth, there was no script. And I gave him everything Vince gave me and more! He didn’t say anything! He wouldn’t say anything to me, his Dad and I are best friends,” exclaimed Flair.

Speaking on his self-confidence issues, which helped fuel the promo, Flair said, “I wasn’t even ready. They kept putting me in these situations. It wasn’t to rib me, but he wouldn’t settle for me being any less than I could be. If it was a no pressure situation, I had no problem, but if it was a main event – I put so much pressure on myself that the self-confidence issues rolled in. You listen to me speak and you think, ‘How could that be possible for Ric Flair?’ Well, it was hard for me. When it was over it was so rewarding, I’d say thank you to everybody, then I’d walk away and think why can’t I just be me. I just couldn’t make the mental wheels turn as fast as my body. I had so many issues with self-confidence back then, I could give you 100 examples. Once you lose it, especially when you’re getting older, it’s so hard to bring it back.”

The promo kicked off a rivalry that led to the two men teaming with Flair serving as a mentor for Carlito, before Carlito turned on him.

Flair and Carlito will be together again on the WWE Raw: Legends Night as Flair is set to host alongside Hulk Hogan while Carlito is one of the advertised legends.