Ric Flair Says Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin and The Undertaker Are the Three Biggest Stars of All Time

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair is regarded by many fans as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. But when it comes to who were the biggest stars in the history of the business, Flair doesn't put himself in the top three.

The 16-time former world champion appeared on Busted Open Radio this week and at one point listed out the three men he believes were wrestling's biggest stars — "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker.

"If the guys aren't careful, [the women] are gonna end up main eventing WrestleMania again," Flair said. "Cause Stone Cold aint wrestling. Steve, in my estimation, will always be the biggest star in the history of the business. The three biggest being Hulk [Hogan], Steve, and Undertaker. They're three names that have drawn huge amounts of money. When you send Steve out there, just like they did at Raw Reunion, what are you gonna do? He's unbelievable. To think that his career ended 10 years too early. I saw more Steve Austin shirts in the audience than I saw the rest of the crew. He's too much."

Both Austin and Undertaker appeared on WWE television this week, with "The Texas Rattlesnake" going so far as to hit AJ Styles with a Stunner twice on Monday Night Raw.

Flair recently made headlines when he attempted to file a trademark on "The Man," believing that he has a right to Becky Lynch's current nickname because of his "To be The Man, you've to to beat The Man."

"When I first saw this go down in August of 2018, I thought, 'cool, The Man. My gimmick vs. my daughter, Charlotte,'" Flair said. "That's the day it started, right after SummerSlam. I thought 'Cool.' I said, 'I'm going to make some money, it's my trademark, they have it.' I've been saying it since 1981," Flair said.

"I have no beef with Becky," he continued. "But here's the deal, when I almost died two years ago, one person, one person stayed by me the whole time. 31 days in the ICU, 12 days while I was dying on a respirator. And I'm going to take care of her and her family and my family that has taken care of me. No matter what. I don't care what the WWE thinks of me personally, I know they love me, but obviously they've lost respect for me. Even if I won, Becky can have it all day long. I'm glad, but I want the company to pay me for it, because I'm going to take care of my family. I am going to be The Man. And if I don't get it, you know what my tombstone will say? 'He died trying to be The Man."

Lynch gave an official comment on the trademark issue in a recent interview with ESPN.

"All I can say about Ric is, I like Ric. He's been a good friend to me over the years," Lynch said. "We'll see what happens with that."

H/T Fightful for transcription