Ric Flair opened up to WrestlingInc regarding his health scare last year and how it has changed him. Below are his comments.

Has it Been Hard Giving Up Alcohol?:

“You know, not at all. I only had to go through that one time. I had the doctor tell me when I got out that it wouldn’t work. I’m not the smartest guy in the world but if they’re blaming that on alcohol then I don’t need to have alcohol again. He told me I can drink now at weddings or something like champagne or a beer or something because my bloodwork and everything is back up like nothing ever happened, but I’m not gonna push that. It’s not because I think if I have one I’ll have two, I don’t need it. I went through whatever I went through which I guess was from the DDTs or they call them the DT’s. People thought that I lost my mind.”

On His Recovery:

“They did twenty-one brain scans on me because it wasn’t working,” Flair said. “Finally the guy said, ‘he’s a little strange when he’s normal’ — ya think? The second operation, it took eight days to kick in. I almost gave up because it’s not 100% chance that it’s gonna work and it’s a high-risk operation for infection and stuff like that and then they have to go back and open you up again and re-attach so. The doctor kept coming in and hurting my stomach — pushing on me to see if I was sore — but the eighth day it started to work. I knock on wood every day and say my prayers and you know the difference now is I’ve been raised to say my prayers my whole life. The problem is I would say them and ask for forgiveness and pretty much turn around and do it again the same day. Does that make sense? Yeah it’s a strange thought process but it’s not that I had no conscience, I lived like as I wanted to do, there was no responsibility.”

On Being Part of Rap Culture:

“I did talk to Snoop Dogg on Saturday,” Flair revealed. “I love those guys, the rap music, I feel like I’m part of the culture. I was with a bunch of the guys at the soccer match, Waka Flaka, and Ludacris, and Big Mike and Lil Wayne was there. You know it was like we’re all brothers, and of course, Offset, he’s like my son. I got so close to him and Cardi B, she’s a fabulous person… you know they’ve got some stuff going on right now but they’ll work it out.”

On His Hopes For The Future:

“I mean, I love what the 80’s did for my career — my resurgence — thank you to the [WWE] Network and thank you to YouTube and all that, but you know there’s gotta to be a time when you draw the line. I’m not talking about the positive aspect of it, I’m talking about the negative, you know what I mean? Because half the stories and the things you hear, you know they’re not accurate, they’re embellished. I mean everybody in the world, and I’m sure you’ve heard this, has a Ric Flair story. Well, not everybody in the world can have one. I got more cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts than anybody alive and I’m an only child.”