— Today is WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair’s birthday. He turns 60 years old. “Does that mean I’m going to grow up anytime soon?” Flair asked a columnist at the Charlotte Observer. “I feel like I’m 25. That’s the problem.”
“I don’t feel any different,” Flair added. “Sixty doesn’t bother me. Fifty didn’t bother me. Forty did because somebody told me I’d have to stop wrestling.”
To read an article on Flair turning 60, and see a photo of him holding his birthday cake, click here.
— Former WCW wrestler Van Hammer is coming out of retirement for a match against Champ Champagne at Maryland Championship Wrestling’s “Xtreme Measures” show on April 11, reports Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun. After Champagne won his match at Saturday’s show, he cut a promo on the former WCW wrestler, who was in attendance. Champagne said Hammer was washed up and compared him to Mickey Rourke’s character in The Wrestler. Hammer entered the ring, but Champagne fled before a fight could break out.
TNA personality “Dr. Stevie” Richards was also at the show as he took part in a tag team match. Richards had missed his scheduled appearance at Maryland Championship Wrestling’s December show due to suffering a collapsed lung.
— NYTimes.com has a lengthy article on WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana. While The Wrestler paints an extremely grim picture of aging professional wrestlers, not every ring veteran shares that experience. Santana is the antithesis of Rourke’s character, Randy “The Ram” Robinson, having spent his money wisely, steered clear of drugs and alcohol and staying true to his wife of 27 years. {The Ram vs. Tito Santana}
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