In a recent interview with esteemed wrestling journalist Bill Apter, Ricky Steamboat explained exactly why he backed out of wrestling Ric Flair in Ric Flair’s Last Match pay-per-view event in July.

Steamboat, who initially agreed to be involved, decided to pass once he discovered that Flai had a pacemaker.

Steamboat said,

“Conrad, who is the promoter, when we talked, I drove to Nashville and we had a sit-down and it was Conrad and his wife and then me and my wife Sandy. I was still training pretty good and feeling pretty good and so I said okay. We hadn’t signed or sealed the deal on the money part of it but what put the nail in the coffin is about a week after that I found out that Flair was wearing a pacemaker. All these years I never knew. I immediately just said, ‘you know, I don’t think I want to do this.’ I don’t want my legacy to be that I was in the ring if he happened to pass away or something went wrong. I’ve done some interviews after that when they found out that I said ‘no.’ [It’s] the first time I’m coming public with this. I didn’t want to throw Conrad or Flair under the bus.”

You can keep up with all your wrestling news right here on eWrestlingNews.com. Or, you can follow us over on our Twitter and Facebook pages.