By Glenn Schouw
Going toe-to-toe with Mike Tyson in his prime had only one outcome – destruction which ended the careers of his challengers.
The 57-year-old Tyson is at his prime again. This time in the cannabis (other names marijuana, dope, pot, weed and ganja) business. He clears close to $1 million (R19m) a month.
Prime in Iron Mike’s world equals unbeatable. This was clearly lost in the memory banks of 16-time WWE world champion Ric Flair.
The 74-year-old Flair, a partner in High Mike’s lucrative cannabis business, attempted to out-smoke Tyson recently.
Rumour has it, Flair and Tyson had the late Bob Marley playing in the background. Reggae superstar and Rastafarian Marley was an icon of the cannabis culture until dying of cancer.
No surprise the winner of the cannabis duel was Tyson, but it almost had deadly consequences for Flair, who is the father of 14-time WWE champion Charlotte.
The WWE legend, who launched his own marijuana range last year under the Tyson 2.0 cannabis brand, staggered with help to his bedroom in a comatose state and thought he was dying, the Grim Reaper about to tap him out.
While trying to lift shoulders from the bed, Flair was reminded of his feelings when he was in a medically induced coma for 30 days in 2017 due to kidney and heart issues.
In an interview, Flair recalled the drama which came close to Tyson putting out flyers for a new partner in his cannabis enterprise.
Flair admitted he was attempting to keep up with Tyson on a night in the Hamptons, and it meant he ended up going far beyond his usual tolerance.
“I just said: ‘I’m gonna smoke as much as you right now, brother.’”
On his thoughts while lying on his back on the bed: “I wasn’t aware of anything. I kept asking them to touch me, like you do when you think you’ve been hurt.
“People were squeezing my hand. I would be talking to them, and they wouldn’t talk back to me. I was on a delayed process.”
The so-called Nature Boy asked himself if he had died, and noted he had conscious thought, which separated the terrifying experience from his 2017 coma.
He added: “I said to myself: ‘Did I die? Have I just died? I feel like I did when I was in my coma, but I can think, and I don’t think I could think in my coma.’
“That’s the way I was talking to myself. All of a sudden, at three in the morning, I sat up in a blur and went: ‘I’m alive. I’m back.’
“I called someone on the phone: ‘Is this really you?’ That’s how screwed up I got.”
Flair returned to the ring for one last time last year after a 14-year absence. He teamed up with son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to defeat the team of Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
Flair retired at WrestleMania in 2008, with a loss to Shawn Michaels, aka HBK (Heartbreak Kid). In front of 75 000 fans, Flair gave an emotional performance named Match of the Year.
IOL Sport