Hulk Hogan to referee Reid Flair's Highspots-promoted debut match. At a high school gym.

[Bix]

http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/7554/

 

Huge main event for December 6th Highspots show in Charlotte

Reid & David Flair, managed by Ric, versus Nasty Boys, managed by Jimmy Hart, with Hulk Hogan as special referee.

Midnight Express vs. Rock & Roll Express is also taking place on the show.

Ticket info at 704.364.7818.

Official page: http://www.highspots.com/ricflair/flair_charlotte.asp

 

How the hell did this happen? Hogan's appearance fee is something like $35,000, isn't it? How much more would it cost to get him to referee a match?

[Ditch]

You forget the reality show money.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

Maybe Highspots is going to do a Hogan shoot. That would be one for the ages.

[Tim Evans]

That divorce isn't kind to Hogan's wallet. Probably doing it for a favor to Flair.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

If he's doing a favor, it's more likely to Knobs and Hart.

[Loss]

Is there any way they can possibly put enough people in the gym to get their money back? I see it drawing really well considering the small space, but a show like this could stand to be run in a slightly bigger place if they're really wanting to profit. If the local promotion is good, this main event should draw.

[WrestlingPower]

I agree they really should have booked a bigger venue. But since Hogan is a late addition, it's probably too late for that.

 

My guess is either the Hogan wrestling show or the VH-1 show (if it still exists) are filming OR he really needs the money OR he is doing it as a favor/package deal w/ Hart & Knobs to promote his TV shows. I also wonder if that's the school Reid went to. This could shape up to be a money losing proposition to rival Tony Hunter's shows.

[Bix]

More from Meltzer:

 

Reid Fliehr suffered a gum infection and at one point surgery was considered, which is why he ended up missing what was scheduled as his debut match on 11/22 in Chicago, although more because the time off meant they felt he wasn’t ready to debut, as he was already back in training by this past week. He’s been sent to Eldon, MO, to train under Harley Race. His debut will be on 12/6 in Charlotte where he teams with brother David against the Nasty Boys, with Ric in one corner and Jimmy Hart in the other corner, with Hulk Hogan as referee. There must be something going on because the idea of Hogan working an indie show, even as ref, is something he had always told people he’d never do because he didn’t want to weaken the brand name. I know that Hogan wants Flair to work on shows he and Eric Bischoff would be putting together as a Hogan farewell tour, but can’t see Flair wrestling again in North America. Flair told the Charleston Post-Courier that he handpicked The Nasty Boys as opponents. Stan Lane is also coming out of retirement on the show teaming with Bobby Eaton against Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson. No Jim Cornette. It’s the first time this version of the Midnight Express has wrestled the Rock & Roll Express since around 1990.

[Bob Morris]

It's possible Flair agreed to make appearances in some capacity for the Hogan tour, even if he isn't going to work matches, and Hogan agreed to do the indy show in return.

 

Or it's possible David and Reid are scheduled to be opponents of Hogan, although I couldn't imagine why. Who knows what goes on in the worlds of Hogan and Ric these days.

[Loss]

It's really hard to overstate how damaged Ric Flair was when he entered WWE, and how he pretty much owes this hugely successful year he has had financially to WWE rebuilding his image and pouring so much effort into securing his legacy. They deserve a world of credit for it. Remember, in just 2002, Flair's options were severely limited, and he came in as someone who had fanfare, but that the company couldn't even see getting in the ring. Hogan came in that year and headlined Wrestlemania opposite Rock. They were in two very different places.

 

A few years later, after a lot of Flair rehabbing, while Hogan is still the bigger star in the modern environment, there isn't nearly as much distance between them in terms of future non-wrestling prospects as there was in 2001. Had Flair called it quits when WCW folded, he would not be making nearly as much money as he is now not wrestling at all, and the chance for six-figure shoot interviews, public appearances, and speaking engagements just wouldn't be there.

 

Just the fact that Hogan would like to have Flair part of his future wrestling-related business ventures shows how much Flair's market value has gone up in the past few years.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

I think you're kind of exaggerating in portraying Flair as someone Hogan wouldn't even touch if he didn't have seven years of WWE exposure. But he owes a lot to the fact that WWE worked so hard to educate their fanbase, many of whom wouldn't have known who he was or might have known the name but wouldn't have cared about what he did, that he was the greatest ever. A lot's been said about how un-WWE-like it was to promote someone who spent most of his career elsewhere as the greatest ever, but the truth is that any of the other options that they would portray as the best ever are either dead (Andre) or constantly on the outs with Vince (Hogan). The fact that they could have the "greatest wrestler of all time" as a regular member of their roster had to quite appealing to the marketing-conscious Vince, especially when the guy you're giving that role to is willing to kiss your ass full-time and your favorite wrestlers (HHH, Shawn) love him.

[Cox]

It's really hard to overstate how damaged Ric Flair was when he entered WWE, and how he pretty much owes this hugely successful year he has had financially to WWE rebuilding his image and pouring so much effort into securing his legacy. They deserve a world of credit for it. Remember, in just 2002, Flair's options were severely limited, and he came in as someone who had fanfare, but that the company couldn't even see getting in the ring. Hogan came in that year and headlined Wrestlemania opposite Rock. They were in two very different places.

 

A few years later, after a lot of Flair rehabbing, while Hogan is still the bigger star in the modern environment, there isn't nearly as much distance between them in terms of future non-wrestling prospects as there was in 2001. Had Flair called it quits when WCW folded, he would not be making nearly as much money as he is now not wrestling at all, and the chance for six-figure shoot interviews, public appearances, and speaking engagements just wouldn't be there.

 

Just the fact that Hogan would like to have Flair part of his future wrestling-related business ventures shows how much Flair's market value has gone up in the past few years.

It's weird, because even as far back as a year and a half ago, Flair was the biggest jobber on Raw. I mean, he was teaming with Carlito going nowhere, and then the god awful feud with Carlito that just seemed to bury Flair further. I mean, it's arguable that for a few months, Ric Flair was the lowest guy on the Raw totem pole, and it wasn't even like they were building him for the retirement angle because this was before Austin had pitched it. The rehab for Flair was really a time period of about six months, from when they started the "Once you lose, you're fired!" storyline until Mania. Just goes to show what a good six month period can do for a guy.

[Bix]

 

[Bob Morris]

In the words of The Rock, as said to the likes of Big Show and Kurt Angle...

 

"SOMEBODY GOT A HAIRCUT!"