WWE Hall of Famer Kane has heaped praise on a handful of Attitude Era stars before declaring that he believes Ric Flair is the greatest wrestler of all time.
During the course of his Hall of Fame WWE career, Kane feuded with, Choke-slammed and Tombstoned his way through some of the biggest Superstars to ever compete in WWE.
Speaking during an appearance on The Doug Collins Podcast, Kane heaped praise on a couple of those Superstars, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. The Big Red Machine explained that while Austin’s career taking off as it did might have been something of a happy accident, he was the right person, at the right time to make his character work.
By contrast, he said it was always clear that The Rock would go on to big things.
“I was there when Austin took off. That was kind of an accident, I don’t think that anyone ever expected that he would achieve what he did. You look at Rock and you could tell early on that Vince thought that Dwayne had whatever it took to go all the way, right? When you think professional wrestler and you watch Steve, he’s an old-school professional wrestler, right?
“That’s not necessarily a recipe for success with the way that Vince was taking things. But Steve was able to take it and he was the right person at the right time and had the right character at the right time, and was able to tap into that, ‘everybody hates their boss and wants to give their boss a Stone Cold Stunner,’ and he did it.
“Of course, a lot of that is down to Vince too,” Kane stated. “He played the antagonist and did really well. But, nevertheless, that whole thing, I don’t think anybody would have ever predicted in 1996 or whatever that within a couple of years Stone Cold Steve Austin would be right where Hulk Hogan was, or is, as one of the true icons of the sport. We all knew that Dwayne was going to do tremendous things, just because he’s naturally talented and so gifted.”
Expanding further, the Mayor of Knox County said he believes that Ric Flair is the best to ever do it.
“I know Ric Flair. To me, Ric Flair is the greatest professional wrestler ever,” he proclaimed. “When I think of a professional wrestler, I think of Ric Flair. I know the guy, which is pretty awesome.”
During the same conversation, Kane also reserved special praise for Triple H, saying that he could take WWE to even greater heights in the future.
H/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.