Ric Flair Gone From WWE

rovert

From f4wonline:

Several independent promotes have been told today by representatives of Ric Flair that Flair has parted company with WWE and will be available for independent bookings. The public portrayal is that it was an amicable parting of the ways related to WWE not allowing Flair to take offers that he was wanting to accept.

Id regard this as the truth as Dave Meltzer is very close to Flair. Im equally surprised and unsurprised at this. WWE has botched their handling of Flair as a legend post Wrestlemania.

rovert

RIC FLAIR VS AJ STYLES BOOK IT!

Fozzy

I'm not surprised at all. Flair had been saying that he was happy with his ambassador role, but WWE were limiting his appearances and cancelling stuff that would have meant more to him than what they were letting him do. They also killed his aura by having him return to dial a number

I don't think that the job he was doing for WWE was that important. I might be wrong, but it didn't seem like he was doing anything big

rovert

Fozzy wrote: »

I'm not surprised at all. Flair had been saying that he was happy with his ambassador role, but WWE were limiting his appearances and cancelling stuff that would have meant more to him than what they were letting him do. They also killed his aura by having him return to dial a number

I don't think that the job he was doing for WWE was that important. I might be wrong, but it didn't seem like he was doing anything big

Flair will make an absolute killing in booking fees and autograph signings at least the first time round. The possibly of a shoot interview makes me giddy.

Fozzy

rovert wrote: »

Flair will make an absolute killing in booking fees and autograph signings at least the first time round. The possibly of a shoot interview makes me giddy.

He could do a full series

I wouldn't be surprised to see him back with WWE within a year or two though, in some capacity

rovert

Fozzy wrote: »

He could do a full series

I wouldn't be surprised to see him back with WWE within a year or two though, in some capacity

Yeah the HHH connection is too strong

The (early) primary reasoning is the WWE cancelling his appearence at the NWA fanfest/Hall of Fame.

john concannon

It is a good thng he's gone.I would definetley buy a shoot if he did one.

Podge2k7

john concannon wrote: »

It is a good thng he's gone.I would definetley buy a shoot if he did one.

Same Here!!

Mr.Nice Guy

Shame there's been a conflict but you'd expect to see him down the line.

Maybe AWR can book him now. :pac:

rovert

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Shame there's been a conflict but you'd expect to see him down the line.

Maybe AWR can book him now. :pac:

If I was the AWR promoter Id so do that if only so I could ring up Bret and tell I cancelled him for Flair. :pac:

rovert

Seems like am massive gamble by Flair leaving pretty much a job for life.

flahavaj

Maybe ROH can book him now to do that appearance with Kobashi they had planned earlier in the year.

Minto

WWE.com wrote:

WWE and Hall of Famer Ric Flair have mutually agreed to contractually part ways. After an extraordinary career Ric has chosen to pursue opportunities outside of WWE.

I was really expecting the old 'wish them well in their future endeavours' line, but at least WWE showed the class not to.

rovert

flahavaj wrote: »

Maybe ROH can book him now to do that appearance with Kobashi they had planned earlier in the year.

Fingers crossed :pac:

shinzon

ric flairs statement on his wwe departure

Following his departure from the company earlier today, Ric Flair released the following statement:

"WWE and I parted on the best of terms. This gives me the chance to pursue new opportunities...corporate speaking engagements, product sponsorships, autograph shows for my loyal fans (who made me what I am today) and film and television roles. My agent and I are very excited about what the future holds!"

On www.rajah.com theres his agents address for booking Ric for appearences, if the AWR rep is reading



Shin

Machismo Fan

Sting vs Ric Flair- Bound For Glory 08:D. One can only dream.:(

Minto

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Sting vs Ric Flair- Bound For Glory 08:D. One can only dream.:(

If Flair wrestles again I'm going to lose all respect for him! I have all the respect in the world for him, but if he wrestles again he'll be spitting in the face of all his fans!

Fozzy

I'm sure that he at least has a no-wrestle clause for the duration of what his WWE contract was. There's probably a no-compete clause as well that would prevent him from going to TNA anytime soon

Shaneomac

Think its something like 90 day clause he cant work for another company like TNA. In fairness he would have still wrestled the odd match for WWE like Foley, Lawler etc and theres nothing really insulting to Flair fans in it. Could see him managing Robert Roode and the like. Could be great in TNA not really for ratings but for developing talent. He will be back on WWE television again at some stage though rest assured.

rovert

Shaneomac wrote: »

Think its something like 90 day clause he cant work for another company like TNA.

Yeah right

Machismo Fan

Shaneomac wrote: »

Could see him managing Robert Roode and the like.

Robert Roode doesn't need a manager, he can talk quite well for himself.

ShawnRaven

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Sting vs Ric Flair- Bound For Glory 08:D. One can only dream.:(

Please no. As much of a dream match as that sounds after time, the match they had on the last Nitro was no great shakes. Even Flair himself said that there was nothing good about that last Nitro, other than the fact that WCW closed.

VR!

ShawnRaven

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Robert Roode doesn't need a manager, he can talk quite well for himself.

Agreed! Roode is one of the better talkers in TNA, he doesn't need Flair!
Turn Fat Joe heel and give him Flair as a manager, Joe's promos are a cure for insomnia.

VR!

Bubs101

validreasoning! wrote: »

Agreed! Roode is one of the better talkers in TNA, he doesn't need Flair!
Turn Fat Joe heel and give him Flair as a manager, Joe's promos are a cure for insomnia.

VR!

Talk about ridiculously harsh. Did you forget the one he cut at Victroy Road/ the PPV where Hall no showed, it was fantastic. Other than that I'd agree with you, his general standard is poor but that was a great promo and he deserves credit for it

rovert

No one in TNA has any decent material to work with beyond just YELLING and SHOUTING for no real reason.

gimmick

flahavaj wrote: »

Maybe ROH can book him now to do that appearance with Kobashi they had planned earlier in the year.

What was that? Never read anything about it?

I would like to see him to an ROH appearance, not in a wrestling capacity though. Having said that, it would probably be cringeful as the ROH fans try to make these things out to mean more to them than anyone else.

rovert

gimmick wrote: »

What was that? Never read anything about it?

I would like to see him to an ROH appearance, not in a wrestling capacity though. Having said that, it would probably be cringeful as the ROH fans try to make these things out to mean more to them than anyone else.

Flair and Kobashi were going to SHAKE HANDS at the Hammerstein Ballroom. That was it.

ShawnRaven

Bubs101 wrote: »

Talk about ridiculously harsh. Did you forget the one he cut at Victroy Road/ the PPV where Hall no showed, it was fantastic. Other than that I'd agree with you, his general standard is poor but that was a great promo and he deserves credit for it

Indeed, but one promo every five years does not make a career or a Superstar.
So in short, no, i don't think it was harsh, i think it proved my point.

VR!

Fozzy

Joe's ROH promos were always better than his TNA promos. He's one of the few people who I can make a clear distinction with the quality of their work in two different companies

rovert

Fozzy wrote: »

Joe's ROH promos were always better than his TNA promos. He's one of the few people who I can make a clear distinction with the quality of their work in two different companies

I agree

See post #25

flahavaj

Fozzy wrote: »

Joe's ROH promos were always better than his TNA promos. He's one of the few people who I can make a clear distinction with the quality of their work in two different companies

Even in ROH his psomos weren't exactly awe inspiring though. He always sounded to me like a used car salesman reading lines from behind the camera. I fact that calm low toned menacing style he was trying for just made him sound like a bit of a tool to be honest and thats coming from guy whos been a fan of Joe since 2002. He's mediocre on the mic at best.

Fozzy

flahavaj wrote: »

Even in ROH his psomos weren't exactly awe inspiring though. He always sounded to me like a used car salesman reading lines from behind the camera. I fact that calm low toned menacing style he was trying for just made him sound like a bit of a tool to be honest and thats coming from guy whos been a fan of Joe since 2002. He's mediocre on the mic at best.

Ah, I liked them! He wasn't the top promo guy on their roster but I thought that his promos suited him

flahavaj

Fozzy wrote: »

Ah, I liked them! He wasn't the top promo guy on their roster but I thought that his promos suited him

They certainly were nowhere near a Homicide (Samoan Joe!) or Jay Lethal (Tonight!Is the night...) in ROh level of ****tiness anyway.

In fact 95% of ROH promos are pretty cat, with the current exceptions of Sweeney, Nigel and Jacobs.

rovert

flahavaj wrote: »

They certainly were nowhere near a Homicide (Samoan Joe!) or Jay Lethal (Tonight!Is the night...) in ROh level of ****tiness anyway.

In fact 95% of ROH promos are pretty cat, with the current exceptions of Sweeney, Nigel and Jacobs.

In fairness it is an Indy and they dont have a McMahon or Heyman to produce them either.

Vince135792003

In the Observer Newsletter this week, it reports that Ric Flairs wife (I think his third) filed for divorce recently.

rovert

Pretty grim cover story, the thing about the Observer is that there is often a lot between the lines to read into. Crypo-Dave

shinzon

pwinsider

According to Mike Johnson, there is a lot of demand for Ric Flair's services. Flair's handlers are charging around $15,000 for live appearances and upto $50,000 for Flair's first shoot interview. It should be noted that contrary to other reports out there, Flair is strongly leaning away from getting back in the ring and does not want to tarnish the memorable retirement angle WWE did with him earlier this year.

shin

rovert

shinzon wrote: »

pwinsider

According to Mike Johnson, there is a lot of demand for Ric Flair's services. Flair's handlers are charging around $15,000 for live appearances and upto $50,000 for Flair's first shoot interview. It should be noted that contrary to other reports out there, Flair is strongly leaning away from getting back in the ring and does not want to tarnish the memorable retirement angle WWE did with him earlier this year.

shin

This is only the tip of the Iceberg.

flahavaj

rovert wrote: »

This is only the tip of the Iceberg.

Rovert, do you think he'll do an ROH appearance? They were after all cutting back on a few costs earlier in the year, so could they honestly justify the outlay for ehat would amount to no more than an autograph signing or at best a few chops to Larry Sweeney? Would an appearance help add to their gate at the Hammerstein and push it over the 2000 mark?

rovert

flahavaj wrote: »

Rovert, do you think he'll do an ROH appearance? They were after all cutting back on a few costs earlier in the year, so could they honestly justify the outlay for ehat would amount to no more than an autograph signing or at best a few chops to Larry Sweeney? Would an appearance help add to their gate at the Hammerstein and push it over the 2000 mark?

Yes, Gabe said as much on an interview yesterday without confirming or denying. He kept quite basicially, it is up to Cary Slkin (the money man) also they are running the Hammerstein next around Christmas time so dont expect an announcement soon. The plan for all Flair autograph signings according to the Observer is that they will be to limited number of people (100-200) at a higher price ($100) so people can spend sometime with him and get all the stuff signed if they want.

Id prefer anything with Sweeney a billion times more than the handshake idea.

Fozzy

flahavaj wrote: »

Rovert, do you think he'll do an ROH appearance? They were after all cutting back on a few costs earlier in the year, so could they honestly justify the outlay for ehat would amount to no more than an autograph signing or at best a few chops to Larry Sweeney? Would an appearance help add to their gate at the Hammerstein and push it over the 2000 mark?

The NWA were prepared to offer Flair almost a quarter of a million earlier this year. Their plan was to hold 30 autograph signings before NWA shows across the US and limit them all to 200 people who would pay $100 each. Usually things like that never work out but I remember thinking that this could work at the time that I read it. Maybe it was just because of the amount of goodwill for Flair at the time

If ROH were to bring Flair in, they could do something kind of similar. Do a double shot weekend with Flair appearing on the second night. Book a big venue for the second night. Bump up ticket prices. Hold autograph and Q&A sessions with Flair before both shows for $100 a fan (ROH fans will pay this). Print out a t-shirt commemorating the occasion. They could get $50,000 if done right, that would probably be enough to pay Flair. If there was something going on that Flair would like to be involved in (like the Kobashi handshake) then maybe he'd do it cheaper

So I wouldn't say that there's no chance of Flair making a ROH appearance. I'm not sure that it would be high on his list of priorities just yet though

rovert

Fozzy wrote: »

The NWA were prepared to offer Flair almost a quarter of a million earlier this year. Their plan was to hold 30 autograph signings before NWA shows across the US and limit them all to 200 people who would pay $100 each. Usually things like that never work out but I remember thinking that this could work at the time that I read it. Maybe it was just because of the amount of goodwill for Flair at the time

All that needs to happen on the Indys is the first show of the thirty not draw and the house of cards would collapse. "We cant pay you, Ric"

Fozzy

rovert wrote: »

All that needs to happen on the Indys is the first show of the thirty not draw and the house of cards would collapse. "We cant pay you, Ric"

I read in the Observer this week that they were going to pay him half of it up front. That could have ended in disaster. Like I said, at the time it sounded like a good idea to me because nearly every wrestling fan seemed to be caught up in how great Flair was. But I think that's already worn off for most people. I do think it could work for ROH, but obviously not for thirty shows

rovert

Fozzy wrote: »

I read in the Observer this week that they were going to pay him half of it up front. That could have ended in disaster. Like I said, at the time it sounded like a good idea to me because nearly every wrestling fan seemed to be caught up in how great Flair was. But I think that's already worn off for most people. I do think it could work for ROH, but obviously not for thirty shows

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

That cover story is so depressing. Not only his company went bust, he'll have spend more money on an another divorce while supporting a rudderless Reid.

As WWE moves to market even more to younger kids the quicker Ric will be forgotten mainstream wise.

Fozzy

I meant to ask about Reid. Has he quit wrestling? There was a line in the Observer that said something like "if Reid would have made it as a wrestler then Ric would have ended up teaming with him for a match". Sounded like he's not in it anymore

rovert

Fozzy wrote: »

I meant to ask about Reid. Has he quit wrestling? There was a line in the Observer that said something like "if Reid would have made it as a wrestler then Ric would have ended up teaming with him for a match". Sounded like he's not in it anymore

Nope he got dropped from FCW because Florida is a party town, he was compared to Randy Orton at his worst in terms of his temperament and he was trying to live up to his dad’s reputation for parting while being egging on by everyone. I heard little if any about his aptitude for Wrestling during his actual Wrestling training only stuff about his behaviour which was that of a spoiled brat basically.

rovert

Another thing about this whole situation you got to know Bret Hart would have KILLED to have Ric Flair's former role in WWE as goodwill ambassador.

EdK

Hehe Bret Hard sounds like some dodgy pornstar *giggle*

rovert

EdK wrote: »

Hehe Bret Hard sounds like some dodgy pornstar *giggle*

:eek:

From WO/F4W

Regarding the lead story in next week's issue, a correction is that Ric Flair's wife Tiffany has not officially filed the divorce papers at this time. Flair is getting a ridiculous amount of big money offers for appearances.

Whoops

I guess she too is waiting on want bookings Fliar gets before cashing in.

rovert

flahavaj wrote: »

Rovert, do you think he'll do an ROH appearance? They were after all cutting back on a few costs earlier in the year, so could they honestly justify the outlay for ehat would amount to no more than an autograph signing or at best a few chops to Larry Sweeney? Would an appearance help add to their gate at the Hammerstein and push it over the 2000 mark?

Looks this wont be happening at all. Flair has an itemised list of things of what he will do on a show and for what ROH would want him to do it would be far too expensive.

CMpunked

rovert wrote: »

Looks this wont be happening at all. Flair has an itemised list of things of what he will do on a show and for what ROH would want him to do it would be far too expensive.

Whats he looking for out of intrest?

I've got my little brothers birthday coming up!