wrestling / News

Ric Flair On Losing His Self Confidence, Jim Herd Wanting Him To Change Name to Spartacus in WCW, Xanax Use

April 25, 2023 | Posted by Ashish
Ric Flair Image Credit: WWE

In an interview with Joe Rogen, Ric Flair discussed losing his self confidence, which led to him using Xanax. Flair specifically cited Jim Herd wanting him to cut his hair and change his name to Spartacus in WCW as one of the incidents that impacted his confidence. Highlights of his comments are below.

On starting to use Xanax in 1989 due to feeling self confidence and anxiety issues: “Since ’89. I had a real self confidence issue. Huge. Just different promoters having different feelings on my position with the company and life. I fell apart.”

On how Jim Herd wanting him to change his name to Spartacus contributed to his anxiety: “Once I got to WWE, I quit taking it, but that time I had with WCW, this guy wanted me to cut my hair, call myself Spartacus. Jim Herd.”

On cutting his hair: “I did cut my hair, that’s the haircut I had in North Korea, I fell for it, but I was cracked by then. I went from being the World Champion to… [dealing with] this guy who ran Pizza Huts in St. Louis. Ted [Turner] just hired his friends to run the wrestling, and his friends just hired people. Until they hired Bobby Cox, the Braves never won, he had his next door neighbor the Braves. Then all of a sudden the Braves became good with Bobby Cox as the manager. He just let his friends run a lot of his businesses.”

On what Jim Herd told him: “He says I want to cut your hair, call you Spartacus, put an earring in your ear. I was in shock. I went home and had an anxiety attack.”

On how he got introduced to Xanax: “Believe it or not, my wife gave it to me. And over the years, I’ve thought about, what the hell was she taking Xanax for. She said in a staircase in a big house we had, I was just lost, and she goes what are you doing, and I said I’m feeling anxious, if that’s even a word, if that’s the word for it, and she said, take this. I took it, felt normal.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit The Joe Rogen Experience with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.

article topics :

Ric Flair, Ashish