by James Caldwell, Assistant editor

Around this time last year, Ric Flair was in the middle of a retirement angle in WWE that would eventually lead to his epic match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24.

Now, Flair is self-promoting his own brand away from the WWE spotlight and making autograph appearances for various independent promotions and non-wrestling organizations.

Flair's next stop is Saturday night in Elizabeth, N.J. for the IWC promotion. Flair will be will be doing an autograph session and photo-op prior to the show for VIP ticketholders. Flair says he wouldn't do this show unless the promoters were legit and the venue was up to standard for him to appear at.

"There's only a few promoters I'll work for," Flair told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "The quality of the show -- these are top-notch guys (the IWC). There's sometimes a downside to those kinds of venues, because they don't always take care of the wrestlers. I only work for people who are consistent in the way they treat their wrestlers -- and consistent in the way they pay me."

Asked whether he misses being on the road in WWE, Flair says he won't deny how he really feels.

"I miss it - I'm not going to lie," Flair said. "Yeah, I get to talk to the guys, I watch the show, so I keep on top of it."

Flair says he knew it was time to retire, though, because he began losing confidence in his abilities. If he didn't pull off something correctly in the ring, he decided to stop trying, instead of trying again like in his younger days.

"There was nothing I couldn't do physically," Flair said. "What affected me was self-confidence issues. If I did something that was difficult and missed it, I didn't want to try it again. Whereas, when I was younger, I'd just keep going at it."

Link: Ric Flair interview in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWNLIVE NEWS: NXT star Sami Zayn announced for EVOLVE Tour

NEWS: Daughter of Bill DeMott dies in weekend car crash

HAAS NEWS: Charlie Haas getting back in the ring - big reunion match at OVW, headliner for CWE year-end tour