"He took care of me" - WWE Hall of Famer praises Brock Lesnar in heartfelt comment

Ric Flair recently recalled wrestling Brock Lesnar back in 2002, and the WWE Hall of Famer spoke highly of the current WWE Champion.

Lesnar made his WWE debut in the spring of 2002, and The Next Big Thing quickly became the most popular star in the company and put down a long list of big names on the roster. Two decades later, Brock Lesnar is still going strong.

During the latest edition of Wooooo Nation UNCENSORED, Ric Flair opened up about wrestling Lesnar back in 2002, when the latter was a rookie. The living legend described how Lesnar "took care of him" when they faced off.

"He took care of me," said Flair. "He never hurt me, he never hurt me. I'll tell you that. When he latches on to you, you're not going anywhere. The first time I wrestled him was the night Steve Austin quit in Atlanta, and Vince said, 'You're not part of RAW," I said, "I thought I owned RAW," He said, '...You're wrestling Brock Lesnar [tonight]."

As Flair noted, WWE booked his bout with Lesnar on the night Steve Austin temporarily walked out of the company. Stone Cold was set to face, and lose to, Lesnar, but he didn't want to take the loss in a match that hadn't been built up properly. Lesnar proceeded to pin Flair and cement his status as The Next Big Thing.

Ric Flair and Brock Lesnar wrestled on three occasions

Lesnar was on a hot streak back in mid-2002, and he took down some of the most dominant stars in the company at the time. During the newcomer's rapid rise, Ric Flair lost to him three times.

In Lesnar's autobiography, "Death Clutch: My story of Determination, Domination and Survival", he wrote in detail about Ric Flair. He opened up about how he didn't want to see himself turn into Flair, who kept wrestling into his sixties.

Brock Lesnar is currently 44 years old, and he is arguably the biggest draw in wrestling today. Judging by the kind of money that Lesnar has made over the years, coupled with his lifestyle, it's safe to assume that he won't need to wrestle when he's 60.

Lesnar won the WWE Championship for the first time at SummerSlam 2002, just a few weeks after his win over Ric Flair. Lesnar won the title for the sixth time at WWE Day 1 last weekend. He will defend the gold against Bobby Lashley in a dream match at WWE Royal Rumble.