Ric Flair (sigh)

[SirEdger]

8 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I never knew he was a non drinker, that does certainly explain a lot. 

Even then, being the only sober guy in the room gets old quickly so it is a testament to his patience. I know he had a falling out with Shawn for a while when he was really bad,  but even that seemed like it was more Hunter calling him out on being a mess and Shawn being resistant to getting help. 

Yeah, both of that was covered in Shawn Michaels' DVD released a couple of years ago. Triple H always was the designated driver after the shows when the Kliq went to parties. Triple H also mentioned a specific incident about Shawn (I believe it took place on the same night Vince announced he bought WCW) where Shawn had a huge meltdown in front of the whole locker room and they didn't speak for about a year, which coincided with when Shawn became a born-again Christian.

[sek69]

I seem to vaguely recall that the story was they brought Shawn in to do something, and he showed up completely trashed. He was sent home and that was then end of Shawn until he found Jesus. 

[SirEdger]

OK, that's possible, I might be mixing two things here but that's about the same timeframe.

[NintendoLogic]

Like I said in the Taker Mania thread, the original plan for WM17 was for Shawn to interfere on HHH's behalf and possibly cost Taker the match, but he showed up on the go-home Raw in no condition to perform. That's apparently what led to the falling out between the two. It's amazing how close we came to The Streak never becoming a thing.

[SirEdger]

Ah so, I was right in my timeline; the go-home RAW for Wrestlemania X-7 was the final night of WCW Nitro.

[Superstar Sleeze]

18 hours ago, C.S. said:

A sad interview about why Ric Flair is no longer close with Arn Anderson and other Horsemen. (Spoiler alert: They're assholes!)

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2021/02/exclusive-ric-flair-reveals-why-he-and-arn-anderson-are-no-longer-close/

Your spoiler alert is pretty misleading...I expected bitter Ric Flair bashing them all, but thats why I clicked because Ric for all his flaws is not the bitter type. He was sad and mournful. He commended them on their individual careers and recommended them to be HOF members on their own and commended Arn on a job well-done. I think Ric has a point to be upset when your "best friend" Arn Anderson does not even reach out in the 8 zillion ways you can reach out nowadays. Personally I am very forgiving, merciful person, I would eventually let it go, but I think Ric is justified in holding this against Arn as it is very bizarre. It is just one side of the story. Ric could have done something that really pissed off Arn and Arn felt the bridge is burned. However, this is the typical petty feud. This is pretty damn legit and pretty damn sad. Open & honest communication is so important and always a good lesson to take from stories like this. Hope for the best for Ric & Arn. 

 

EDIT: @C.S. sorry read your later post and it seems like you agree that Flair was not wrong to begrudge them. I will keep the above post just because it is my thoughts on the matter.

[PhilTLL]

15 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

no condition to perform.

This is an aside, but wrestling is still the only business I've ever seen that uses this particular euphemism. I wonder where it started. Meltzer?

[flyonthewall2983]

I think it's as simple as the two of them not having to work together anymore being enough of a reason that they aren't so tight nowadays. Spend enough time with a person, and it can go either way, but I think given the intensity of the workload they took on in the 80's, and all the problems they each dealt with in the 90's, would take a toll on any two friends even if they have each other's backs 100% of the time. The scissor fight came about because Sid was squawking about Flair being too old, and it just became another way in which Arn suffered for that friendship. But when the nature of the business changed, and they were getting too old to keep that up, they suddenly had new priorities and something like a divorce could unravel that bond you held for so many years. 

[Flyin' Brian]

19 hours ago, C.S. said:

Well, no, because they were both with WWE when Reid died. 

I meant more now, but yeah there’s no excuse for that. 

[SteveJRogers]

On 2/23/2021 at 5:50 PM, rovert said:

Arn's wife and Ric's wife were really close. When Ric and Beth divorced around 2006 after 23 years of marriage Arn was "forced" to take Beth's side. That and being friends with Ric has a wear-out factor.

I know around a year ago the question about where he and Flair stood today was brought up on Arn’s podcast.  

And Arn sidestepped the whole thing with a “different lives, different circles of friends” comment.  Of course Conrad didn’t follow up with any sort of “Can you say when the drifting apart started?” But, whatever.

[Loss]

On 2/24/2021 at 9:31 AM, PhilTLL said:

This is an aside, but wrestling is still the only business I've ever seen that uses this particular euphemism. I wonder where it started. Meltzer?

Yes, I think it's a legal term he started using in the WON so he wouldn't be sued for saying someone showed up drunk or high.

[Loss]

It sounds like Flair and Arn would rather not talk about the specifics of their drifting apart publicly, and I won't hold that against them. They are entitled to that type of privacy if they want it.

[Matt D]

The only uncomfortable bits of that to me is that Ric did just raise certain elements very publicly and that Arn, for as much as I like the guy as a personality, is sort of cashing in, to a degree, on telling Flair stories. In general, I agree with you though.

[SteveJRogers]

8 hours ago, Loss said:

It sounds like Flair and Arn would rather not talk about the specifics of their drifting apart publicly, and I won't hold that against them. They are entitled to that type of privacy if they want it.

I agree, but it’s one of the more annoying aspects of the show.  Lack of a follow up question after Arn drops bomb shells.  Certainly there are ways to answer a “when did it really start” question without going into the actual specifics.”

[C.S.]

Well, keep in mind, Conrad is Flair's son-in-law, so that's another reason (and the most obvious reason) for him not to press the issue. Let's not pretend he's an unbiased journalist or even a journalist at all - he's just a super-successful super-fan, and I think even he'd tell you that (although part of that is clearly calculated "aw shucks" shtick instead of strictly reality). 

[SteveJRogers]

I wonder how much Ric being all buddy-buddy with Triple H helped cause the rift.

Arn strikes me as one that generally keeps relations with his bosses strictly professional acquaintances, and Paul Leveque’s rise up the corporate ladder was well under way when Marty Lunde was first brought in as a road agent role.  

So, IDK, maybe Ric hanging in that social circle was a thing that started to rub Arn the wrong way, and it snowballed from there with Reid’s death, and the divorce from Beth, etc.

[SteveJRogers]

3 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Well, keep in mind, Conrad is Flair's son-in-law, so that's another reason (and the most obvious reason) for him not to press the issue. Let's not pretend he's an unbiased journalist or even a journalist at all - he's just a super-successful super-fan, and I think even he'd tell you that (although part of that is clearly calculated "aw shucks" shtick instead of strictly reality). 

That’s fair...ummm, well, to Flair

But it’s something done consistently on that show, at least as of a year ago when I stopped listening!

I.e. (before he debuted in AEW) a fan question: If asked, would you still participate in WWE Network produced docs, etc?

Arn: Not interested.

No followup on Conrad’s part, making Arn look like a badly hurt asshole.  

To be fair he probably is both when it comes to how things ended there and he is justified in refusing to work with anything affiliated with them, at least for a lot longer than it was to that point last year, but a followup could have hinted at what would be to come.  

Like “Well, you’ll find out soon” or “I can’t discuss it now obviously!” 

[rovert]

One of the most uncomfortable TV moments in or outside of Pro Wrestling I've ever witnessed is Ric Flair's WWE Hall of Fame speech when Ric mentions Arn and the camera lingers on a very uncomfortable Arn for FOREVER. 

[NintendoLogic]

Birds of a feather...

[sek69]

Right wing grift might be his best career opportunity at this point. At least he won't lose those gigs over sexual harassment charges. 

[flyonthewall2983]

 

[Dav'oh]

Meltzer says the rumoured Flair match (he's been training and bumping with Jay Lethal) is FTR/Flair vs RnRs/TBA.

“I don’t know more details. He [Flair] told me it was a secret” said Dave "The Vault" Meltzer. 

[sek69]

The worst thing is you know the match is probably going to be "not as bad as you would think" since it's a 6 man and the RnRs are somehow still decent in 2022, and it's gonna make Ric want to do a comeback. 

[El-P]

If he enters, give a few stiff chops and let FTR do all the work and take all the bumps, he'll be fine. But of course he won't do just that, now, will he ? Bad idea. 

[sek69]

Not to mention any promoter who books a 73 year old with his medical history to wrestle should be banned from ever promoting wrestling again.