Stone Cold Names His Favorite Wrestler of All-Time

Everyone has a favorite wrestler. Whether you've only seen a few matches or you're a lifelong fan, wrestling has a unique way of creating darlings. Even though 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin may be one of the most transcendental stars in WWE's history, he's still a fan at heart.

On a recent episode of his podcast, The Steve Austin Show, the Texas Rattlesnake revealed who his favorites wrestler of all-time is:

"I would say Ric Flair. Ric Flair is my favorite pro wrestler in the history of the business. I think he's the greatest world champion of all time, but I actually wrestled Ric Flair. Now, he wasn't at his prime and I wasn't at my best, so the program could have been outstanding had we focused on each other and run it in a long storyline, but I got a chance to wrestle Ric Flair, so I can't put him on the list, but he's probably the best that has ever done it."

Austin would toss in a few close runner-ups:

"And I've got to throw Steamboat in there because I had so many great matches with Steamboat. But just to get in there with a Steamboat or the likes of a Bret 'The Hitman' Hart one more time, that would be good. But, obviously, that will never happen. Those guys went down their way and I've gone down my road."

Stone Cold and Ric Flair go way back, however, as Austin mentioned they never had a seminal feud. The two shared time in WCW in the early 90's as well as a few pockets in WWE in the early 2000's. However, it never became a marquee feud for either man.

Flair is likely one of the most popular choices for fans and wrestlers "favorite." In a career that spanned nearly 40 years, Flair's historic run would touch several generations of fans.

The Nature Boy's current health issues have that same litany of fans on edge. A week ago, Flair was checked into an Atlanta hospital. The "routine" visit would drastically escalate into surgery. The details are still a little hazy but reports are confirmed that Flair experienced kidney failure. The 16-time champion is said to have come out of surgery OK, but remains on kidney dialysis. The current thought is that he may have to spend up to a month in the hospital.

For now, the Nature Boy is hanging in there. We shall keep you posted as we know more.