Ric Flair Blasts WWE For WrestleMania 39 Booking Decision
Ric Flair still isn’t happy about the match that WWE chose to main event WrestleMania 39 Saturday.
As the year 2023 comes to a close, two-time WWE Hall of Famer and recent AEW signee Ric Flair is voicing his frustrations with a booking move that took place back at April’s WrestleMania 39 event in Los Angeles.
At WrestleMania 39 Saturday, there were two matches in contention as the main event of that show. One of the matches involved Women’s Royal Rumble winner Rhea Ripley challenging Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. The other match, which did get the main event spot, was Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens challenging The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles.
Both matches were outstanding with Ripley beating Flair and Zayn/Owens beating The Usos to crown new champions in both matches. The Tag Team Title match was named WWE Match of the Year in some cases while many people believe the Ripley/Flair match was an all-time great women’s match as well.
In an interview with The Wrestling Classic, Ric Flair made it clear that he thought the match involving his daughter Charlotte Flair should have been in the main event of WrestleMania 39 Saturday.
“She and Rhea Ripley should’ve main evented last year because now that The Bloodline thing is done, I love Sami and Kevin, but what is Sami Zayn even doing right now? … Putting that tag match on [in the main event], really, really pissed me off.”
It should be pointed out that The Bloodline story is definitely not done and is still a major part of WWE programming, especially on Smackdown.
Ric Flair Explained Why He Signed With AEW
At the age of 74 years old, Ric Flair signed with All Elite Wrestling in a non-wrestling role. The wrestling legend appeared in a segment on the October 25th episode of Dynamite with Sting to make it clear that he would be part of Sting’s final run in the company that will lead into a match at Revolution in March 2024.
Recently, Flair explained why he signed with AEW.
“I like working, period. I’ve known Tony [Khan] for a long time. We’ve been great friends, and the opportunity just presented itself probably because of Sting. But I’ll be there, you know, a couple of years after Sting is gone, too, so I don’t know what it leads to. I’d like to manage my son-in-law [Andrade], and I want to be a heel again somewhere.”
Meanwhile, AEW’s Owner Tony Khan has made it clear that the company isn’t even paying Flair due to Ric’s energy drink deal.