Professional wrestling legend and two times WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair who is the former 16 times World Champion as recognised by WWE recently claimed that if he was 35 right now, neither WWE or AEW could afford him. Flair is indeed one of the biggest legends of professional wrestling.
Ric Flair started his professional wrestling career back in 1972 and worked in different professional wrestling promotions. He spent most of his time in WCW which was famously known as Jim Crockett’s promotion back in those days. He spent a short amount of time in WWE from 1991 to 1993 and he won the WWE World Championship 2 times in this time period.
Ric Flair Says If He Was 35, WWE Or AEW Could Not Afford Him
After that he returned to WCW and once again he had been treated as one of the biggest stars of the promotion. He won the WCW world heavyweight championship for a total number of seven times. He was one of the biggest attractions of WCW during the famous Monday Night Wars era of the 90s.
In 2002 he went to WWE for the second time in his career after WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon. This time he was not treated as a main event start anymore as he was already 50+.
But his legendary status was maintained by WWE and he was of course one of the biggest attractions of the promotion as long as he was active. In 2008 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame individually, and in 2012 also as a member of the Four Horsemen. Recently, he wrestled the last match of his career.
Ric Flair who is the former 16 times World Champion as recognised by WWE recently spoke on the Two Man Power Trip where he claimed that if he was 35 right now, neither WWE or AEW could afford him. Flair is indeed one of the biggest legends of professional wrestling. He said;
“If I was 35 years old right now, they wouldn’t be able to afford me, and boy they need help with the ratings right now, both of them [laughs]. Those written interviews, you can tell a mile away whether the kids feel it or not, it’s a lot of pressure to read something that you don’t actually feel in your heart. That’s a big difference.
“If they are thinking about what they are handed to memorize, they put no emotion into it. That’s just talking generically. It doesn’t sell tickets. When The Rock comes back to wrestle Roman (Reigns), that will sell tickets. When Steve Austin came back, that sold tickets. It’s a different timeframe. The talent is great, make no mistake, there are some great wrestlers. (Randy) Orton, my daughter [Charlotte Flair], Sasha Banks, AJ Styles.
“There’s a list of a great top ten between the two companies, but the events sell themselves now, as much as the wrestlers do. I don’t think they turn them loose enough. They want to make sure they get the right advertisers, everyone has to be happy. It’s a whole different world. I still love it, I just feel that the guys who are really great like Randy and my daughter, they are held back because they only want people to go that far.
“They don’t want anybody to become The Rock, that’s going to walk off or become Steve, who can say, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ Back in the day with Hulk (Hogan), he’d say, ‘I don’t want to do it,’ he had that kind of power. I don’t know if that’s healthy, but Vince won’t let that happen again. He won’t let anyone get in a position where they can say, ‘Hey, see ya.’ I understand that, it’s business.”
Quotes via Fightful