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Bob Cook did not want to work with wrestling legend Ric Flair when the idea was first presented to him in WCW.
Cook spent several years in the NWA and WCW before joining WWE in 1995. He lost his one and only match against Flair during the November 15, 1993 taping of WCW Worldwide.
Speaking on the Insiders Edge podcast, Cook said WCW agent Dave Penzer informed him that booker Jody Hamilton wanted the match to take place. He eventually agreed to participate despite having concerns that he could hurt his opponent:
“I said, ‘What?! I don’t wanna work with Flair.’ He said, ‘What do you mean? Jody’s trying to find out who wants to work with Flair. I said you’d love to.’ I said, ‘I don’t wanna work with Flair! He’s Ric Flair. What if I hurt him? What if something happens? I’ll be the most hated guy in the business.’” [25:15-25:30]
At the time, Flair was involved in a WCW World Heavyweight Championship storyline with Big Van Vader. Cook thought his career might have been over if he did anything to jeopardize The Nature Boy’s main-event spot in WCW.
Ric Flair gave Bob Cook instructions during their match
As the more experienced wrestler, Ric Flair instructed Bob Cook on what they should do to keep fans hooked throughout the match.
On reflection, Cook had no issues with Flair’s approach and enjoyed working with the 16-time World Champion:
“All we talked about was just before we went through the curtain, I just mentioned, ‘What are we gonna do, Ric?’ He goes, ‘Don’t worry about it, Bob, just remember the Figure Four and listen to me,’ and that was it. We went in the ring and everything you see that we did, he told me to do.” [25:43-26:00]
Cook also said in the interview that Shawn Michaels was “cool as heck” when they hung out together in WWE. By contrast, he found Bret Hart to be “miserable” and thought he had an ego.
Please credit the Insiders Edge Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
