Interview: Ric Flair on WWE Departure, AEW Signing Rumors, Issues with WWE Booking Mentality

A recent episode of the Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette podcast had Ric Flair as the guest. Some of the topics discussed included Flair’s reasons for leaving WWE, his thoughts on the rumors of him signing with AEW, and not understanding WWE’s booking mentality at times.

On the topic of his departure from WWE, Flair stated:

“What happened was is I had a bunch of pending opportunities. So, I had a bunch of things that I was doing currently at the time that I signed my contract, they allowed those. Wendy [Barlow] got to keep her shop. I mean these are big things. I mean they gave me — I got to keep Cameo. There were a couple of other things and then, you know, a couple deals kept coming along that I got to the point where I was asking them, I think I probably exhausted them, asking, not to grandfather them in but let me do ‘em and then of course the answer was, ‘You can do em maybe’ and I thought [about] what I was gonna say to you [Renee Paquette] today and how I could handle this. I just decided that I wanted to finally, which I did for three years, make a living not being under a wrestling payroll. That’s all it was. I’ve known Vince McMahon since 19 — first of all, I worked for his father in ‘76. I’ve known Vince since then, went to work [for] him, he saved me when I had a big to-go-around with WCW and a guy named Jim Herd, went up there in ‘91, stayed for a year-and-a-half. My first WrestleMania was Randy Savage, had the greatest run of my life. The worst mistake I’ve ever made was going back to WCW. There’s no animosity whatsoever. It was just business and I wanted to try something and they just had a different vision.”

On the topic of the rumors of him signing with AEW, Flair stated:

“I can also tell ya, people started rumors -I’m not going to get into it; no need for that – ‘Oh, he’s going to AEW. He and Tony Khan are friends.’ Yeah, we are friends. But I haven’t heard a word from Tony,” Flair said. “If he asks ya, tell him I’m around [he chuckles].”

Flair also stated that he will be in Chicago during this weekend’s AEW All Out 2021 event to see his son-in-law Andrade compete at the show. As a sidenote, this interview was recorded prior to AEW’s announcement that the scheduled PAC vs. Andrade match had been pulled from the event due to travel-related issues.

“I am going to see Andrade. When they hear the Née-Née, Deano [Jon Moxley] and The Nat, they are going to hook it up!”

On the topic of his thoughts on WWE’s booking of the SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair at last month’s SummerSlam 2021 event, Flair stated:

“I didn’t like it. Sometimes, I don’t understand what they do with anybody, Ashley included. I didn’t like it at all. I thought Bianca worked so hard. She’s really a nice person. I like her husband, they seem really close. There are a lot of things that make her unique. I was hoping that someday, I think Bianca and Charlotte could be huge one day. Obviously, the two best athletes in the women’s division. That’s a whole different way of telling a story and building up to the event. Plus, the fact that they can do some stuff that no one else can.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com, WrestlingInc.com, Fightful.com