The two sides had a falling out in 2021. That was when Dark Side of the Ring’s “Plane Ride From Hell” episode reminded folks that the wild tales of debauchery like the ones featuring Ric Flair from that flight often involved unwilling participants who could be scarred for life by something “the boys” considered a good laugh. As a result to the response from its fans, WWE distanced itself from Flair, including by taking him and his signature “WOO!” out of the standard television open.
But as it almost
always does, the backlash to Flair’s past misdeeds passed with apologies, explanations, and time. WWE got back into the Flair business for another documentary on his life and career, and even though Naitch has technically been with AEW the past few years, he and the company that’s twice put him in its Hall of Fame seemed to be on good terms.
Until today (April 7), when Ric learned he would no longer be a part of WWE’s merchandise deal with Roots of Fight, which is currently offering WWE-licensed clothing featuring Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, CM Punk, Randy Savage, Rey Mysterio, Andre the Giant, and Iron Sheik on its website. In his infamous Title Case style, Flair tweeted:
I Woke Up This Morning To Find Out That I’m No Longer Allowed To Be With @rootsoffight Per @WWE.
Let Me Think- I’m The Only Wrestler To Ever Be On 30 For 30 & Ranked In The Top 25 Of All Time, An Emmy Nominated Documentary-Courtesy Of The WWE, Which I Should Have Won But l Lost To A Team Not An Individual. 21 World Championships, But I Always Played By Your Rules And Kept It At 16. Paid Vince McMahon Back 800k When He Said He Would Forgive It. I Honored It.
Fortunately, I Still Make 1 Million Dollars From The GREAT Ryan Fiterman @FitermanSports. 500k From Ric Flair Drip. And Thank God For @TonyKhan. What More Of My Legacy Do You Want To Destroy WWE? You All Grew Up Loving Me And I Set The Bar. Now You Are Trying To Kill Me And Diminish My Legacy. Thank You, But It Ain’t Happening. Nice Try. LFG!
Once that picked up steam, the never-not-working Nature Boy lined up an interview with Yahoo Sports (possibly an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show?) for Monday:
Are you interested enough in Ric Flair’s latest dust-up with WWE to tune in for that?
