After five decades in the wrestling industry, Ric Flair has seen it all. The good, bad, indifferent, as well as the downright offensive.
The late 1990s were known as a time where both WCW and the WWF were pushing the boundaries of what was possible on wrestling television. Sometimes this led to incredible matches, on other occasions it resulted in segments that are still lamented to this day. One such creation is the character of Oklahoma in WCW, which existed purely to make fun of legendary announcer Jim Ross.
The character played by Ed Ferrara, writing partner of Vince Russo, mocked Ross mercilessly, even making fun of his Bell’s Palsy. The rib began when Russo and Ferrara were in the WWF and the latter did his impersonation for then-Chairman Vince McMahon.
Ric Flair Says ‘Oklahoma’ Character Was “Unforgivable”
Speaking on a recent episode of his podcast, To Be The Man, Flair named the character as the worst thing that he has ever seen in wrestling.
“This is a very serious statement. When Russo and what’s his buddy’s name [Ed Ferrara] When they mocked up Jim Ross, and made fun of the Bell’s Palsy, I thought it was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in wrestling in my life. Forget anything I ever went through personally, it was the worst thing and it’s unforgivable. Unforgivable to make fun of someone’s situation like that, which was you know, I can only imagine what it did to Jim’s mind.”
Incredibly, Flair’s comments came in the midst of an expletive-laden rant levelled at the AEW announcer. The Nature Boy attacked Ross for comments he made during the Dark Side of the Ring episode examining the ‘Plane Ride From Hell.’
Flair said that Ross lost any credibility he had with him over the comments, making a series of incredible claims about the WWE Hall of Famer in the process.
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