Wrestling icon Ric Flair says he will “absolutely never” return to the WWE following his messy fallout from the iconic organisation.
Flair, a 16-time world champion, stunned WWE fans in August when he asked for a release from his contract.
The 72-year-old has since been making headlines on his new podcast – Ric Flair Wooooo Nation Uncensored Podcast – in which he claims he’s earning more than what he was when he first started out in the wrestling industry.
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“I made more money last week in the first week of our podcast than I made in my first year of wrestling in 1973, so I’ll be OK,” Flair said.
“The day that I asked for my release, nobody fired me, I asked for it. I signed a contract that paid me more money for three years than I was making there, so let’s just leave it at that.”
Speaking on his exit from the WWE, Flair suggested the organisation was trying to erase his rich legacy, and in doing so pointed the finger at WWE President Nick Khan for being the architect behind the move.
“Erasing my legacy – if you take me off the opening of the show and take the ‘WOO’ which I own, thank god because they’ll never get it back, and replace me with the Ultimate Warrior,” Flair said.
“(Ultimate Warrior) a guy that sued the company, held them up for money. I guess the next thing they’re going to do with me is make a DVD with so many people saying how bad I was like the Warrior then they brought him back and put him in the Hall of Fame. That ain’t going to work for me, one and done.
“Very openly, I text Vince, ‘no worries but you’re not going to bring me back.’ Not that they want me by any means, but I could never work for Nick Khan in my entire life.
“Vince McMahon, I could work for. But Nick Khan, who’s a guy that orchestrated taking me off the show, I’ve got my facts together, orchestrated taking the ‘WOO’ off.
“Never in a million years [working for Nick Khan]. Big difference between Tony Khan and Nick (Khan), Tony Khan respects me, he has, as has Vince. Nick Khan has not. I talk to Vince now, I’ve got no problems with Vince but he just knows that I won’t come back.”
While Flair has no grievances with icon WWE Vince McMahon, he said there’s no scenario that will see him return to the company.
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“Absolutely never,” Flair said. “I’m 72, I could be dead tomorrow.
“The last thing I want is for them to make a package on me, ever. I’ll leave all that to Tony Khan.”
Flair in 2017 was placed on life support and put in a medically-induced coma due to kidney failure and congestive heart failure, which occurred after he had surgery to remove an obstructive piece of his bowel.
The wrestling icon claimed that while on life support, the WWE asked him to sign off his “intellectual property to them”.
“When I saw that they took me off the opening and all that, I call that lack of respect,” he added.
“Some people said to me, ‘Ric how do you feel about that?’
“I said ‘well, after [WWE] asking me to sign my intellectual property to them while I was on life support, nothing that company does surprises me.”
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