Ric Flair Makes AEW Return For Steve “Mongo” McMichael Tribute

Ric Flair made a special AEW appearance.

On the May 17 edition of Collision, Ric Flair returned to AEW television for the first time since making a cameo during Sting’s final match at Revolution 2024.

On the show, Flair joined Tony Schiavone, Dean Malenko, and Misty McMichael to pay tribute to Misty’s late husband, Steve “Mongo” Michael. Schiavone, Flair, and Malenko worked with McMichael regularly in WCW.

The WCW and NFL legend sadly passed away on April 23 after a lengthy battle with ALS. “Mongo” won Super Bowl XX with the Chicago Bears before finding success with WCW in the 1990s.

Thankfully, the tribute to McMichael had been and gone by the time AEW Collision unexpectedly went off the air 30 minutes early, thanks to technical difficulties. The TNT feed cut off early on both the West and East coasts, and fans watching on Max were met with a message reading “This event has ended.”

In a twist that caused plenty of laughs on social media, Black Adam, featuring none other than The Final Boss, The Rock, was broadcast instead.

The episode, which was taped on May 14 following Dynamite, ended before Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara vs. Action Andretti & Lio Rush, and Wheeler Yuta vs. Powerhouse Hobbs were broadcast.

Ric Flair Still Under AEW Contract

The appearance comes after Ric Flair revealed that he’s still under contract with AEW, even if Tony Khan didn’t want to use him. The Nature Boy claimed he’s been absent from television because he wanted to blade during Sting’s final match, despite being on blood thinners.

Flair said he was stopped from “getting colour” by Khan, who said he didn’t want him doing anything more than what had been agreed.

Speaking elsewhere, Flair said he was prevented from appearing at WrestleMania 41 because of his AEW deal.