After discontinuing his previous “Wooooo! Nation” series on Play.it earlier this year, Ric Flair will be getting back into the podcast game.
Flair terminated his contract with Play.it in order to go on the road with WWE, and has been on hiatus from podcasting since his WrestleMania Weekend special. Flair’s co-host Conrad Thompson tweeted on Monday night that he and Flair will be podcasting once again, but now under a different name and with a different company.
– John Cena, Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks, Sheamus and the Bella Twins will be appearing at this weekend’s ‘Wizard World Philadelphia’ convention. For more information, visit WizardWorld.com.
Rollins returns to the house show loop this weekend. Friday’s show from Odessa, Texas will see WWE World Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns defend against Rollins and AJ Styles in the triple-threat main event. On Saturday from Lubbock, Texas, the main event will be a Fatal Four Way featuring Reigns, Rollins, Styles and Sheamus. These will be Rollins’ first matches involving AJ Styles in a decade.
– Last week, WWE announced The Miz will star in the fifth installment of WWE Studios’ The Marine franchise. Marine 5 begins filming tomorrow in Vancouver, British Columbia, so it will be interesting to see if Miz drops the Intercontinental championship prior to working on the movie.
– Ric Flair is not currently backstage at the Resch Center, site of tonight’s RAW from Green Bay, WI, according to a report at PWInsider.com. Flair was written off television last week [in a “real bad” segment Steve Austin called “hard to watch.”]
As seen below, former ROH owner Cary Silkin says he’s going to confront Ric Flair at a 7/23 autograph signing and Q&A in Bethlehem, PA at the Sands Casino, to try and collect on the $41,000 Flair still owes. Flair is scheduled to appear with Ricky Steamboat that night.
Flair owed money to Silkin and ROH before the company was bought by Sinclair Broadcasting. Silkin sued Flair back in 2010 after he failed to meet contractual obligations for his ROH Ambassador role. The suit was dropped in 2011 when ROH was sold to Sinclair.
Ric Flair and Steamboat live 7/23 at Sands in Bethlehem I will be there to collect the 41k Flair owes me #wwe@RicFlairNatrBoy@ringofhonor
It sounds like we haven’t seen the last of The Nature Boy. According to a report on the premium section of PWInsider.com, Ric Flair is still signed to his WWE contract despite the on-air spit with WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte on RAW.
Regarding Flair’s status with the company, he reportedly is not in any kind of trouble or heat with WWE management despite online speculation. Flair’s departure from TV is said to be simply storyline driven. According to reports, we can expect to see the 16-time World Champion involved in Charlotte’s TV storyline going forward in some capacity.
On Monday’s RAW, Flair left the arena in tears on-screen after Charlotte turned on him and cut a promo about him not being there during her childhood.
Sports Illustrated ran a story this week about Ric Flair’s upcoming ESPN 30 For 30 special. The story confirmed that the documentary will air in the next 12 months, and revealed that it may air in the fall. The feature will be directed by Rory Karpf, who directed past 30 For 30 documentaries including I Hate Christian Laettner and The Book Of Manning.
Editing on the film has already begun, and it will run either 90 or 120 minutes long. There are reportedly still a few interviews left to film, and some archive footage they are still trying to secure. Legends interviewed for the film include The Undertaker, Sting, Shawn Michaels, Jim Ross, Arn Anderson, and Ricky Steamboat. Flair’s three living children and first wife were also interviewed.
Last November, Flair talked about the documentary on his podcast. “It has a little bit to do with my airplane crash, of course, and then coming back from that,” The Nature Boy said. “And then the titles and the championships and it touches a lot on my personal life, which has been up and down. Right now, it’s perfect, but I had a couple rough years there.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch was scheduled to be sentenced on DUI charges this Friday, but the hearing has been postponed until July 3rd in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Sunny has been in treatment for her problems since mid-March, which is the reason for this latest delay.
– Ric Flair was once again not in attendance for this past weekend’s WWE live events. Flair was at Detroit’s Motor City Comic Con for a Horsemen reunion.
– The big NXT Takeover announcement WWE has been teasing for Tuesday will air as live on Facebook at 11am EST.
– Below is the latest UpUpDownDown Guest Week video with Xavier Woods and Deji, the comedic gamer:
– Summer Rae posted the following this weekend, after helping her mom and sister feed families at UNC hospital in NC:
– Ric Flair is not working weekend WWE house shows for the second week in a row, following the late April airport incident in Boston. This weekend’s shows are in Flair’s home of North Carolina.
– The final rating for this week’s Smackdown was a 1.59, down from last week’s 1.65 rating. As we reported, the show averaged 2.262 million viewers – down from last week’s 2.346.
– Rob Schamberger’s latest Canvas 2 Canvas piece features Hawk and Animal:
WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte and her father Ric Flair were Michael Cole’s guests for this week’s WWE.com interview. Some highlights:
– Charlotte says a lot has changed since she last sat down with Michael Cole. She’s the new WWE Women’s Champion and now she’s got her ‘coach’ with her. Ric says being with his daughter is the most outstanding accomplishment of his entire career
– Charlotte downplayed her loss to Paige on RAW, saying it doesn’t count because she was distracted. Cole was quick to point out that Charlotte lost when Ric Flair was not in her corner, which will be the case at Extreme Rules. She acted as if she didn’t understand his line of questioning.
The Flairs end up walking out of the interview when Cole asks if Charlotte can beat Natalya at WWE Extreme Rules without Flair at ringside. Flair admitted that “nothing is guaranteed” when it comes to a win.
During a recent interview with MLive.com, Ric Flair spoke about his current role in WWE and how long he expects to be in his daughter Charlotte’s corner. “I have no idea how long this will last. Charlotte is flying high right now. I don’t think she needs me, but it’s a good storyline for TV. She doesn’t need me to be successful. ”
Charlotte has evolved into a reviled heel character, quite an accomplishment in today’s WWE environment. “She has people booing her, which is hard to do,” Flair explained. “Next to Stephanie McMahon, she’s probably the hottest bad girl in the company. She’s got heat and it’s made the whole division better. It makes it more fun for the audience and the wrestlers competing in the matches. That’s what we had for years with the Horsemen. Fans hated The Four Horsemen.”
Flair added that he’d love to work with WWE Champion Roman Reigns and named Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Dolph Ziggler as some of his other favorite Superstars.
Head over to MLive.com to check out the full interview.
– Brute Strength Training posted this brief clip of Seth Rollins training for his WWE return from earlier today. Brute Strength is based out of Baton Rouge, LA and offers, “customized programming from elite coaches to reinvent the way your body moves, feels, and looks.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFHbDarRp6h/
– 2 Cold Scorpio calls Ric Flair a “punk bitch” and blames him for his WCW departure in this video:
– Prior to facing Natalya tonight at WWE Payback, WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte threw out the first pitch at today’s Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves game at Wrigley Field (with Ric Flair by her side).
– In this video, WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan talks about “Macho Man” Randy Savage and how his wife was close with Miss Elizabeth since they traveled together. Duggan also says he enjoyed working with Savage in WWE since he could brawl and fly.
Speaking of Miss Elizabeth, today marks the 13th anniversary of her passing. On May 1, 2003, in Marietta, Georgia, live-in boyfriend Lex Luger called 9-1-1 to report that Elizabeth was not breathing. She did not respond to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and paramedics rushed her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A medical examiner listed her cause of death as “acute toxicity”, brought on by a mix of painkillers and vodka. She was 42-years-old.
Shortly after Ric Flair was treated for a cut on his head at Logan Airport, his Woo! Nation podcast co-host revealed that the podcast is on hiatus because Flair “terminated the contract.” His co-host, Conrad Thompson, said the airport incident had nothing to do with the podcast going on hiatus.
Thompson wrote that Flair is doing “fine,” and the issues with the podcast are over money and not his health. Thompson says he does think the podcast will be back, but doesn’t know when.
Flair’s podcast started back in May of 2015 when he interviewed Kurt Angle. The podcast has been inactive since WrestleMania weekend when the 46th installment was recorded in Dallas.
@KEVINHOLSOMBACK Ric terminated the contract. That's all I will say
— Conrad the Mortgage Guy (@HeyHeyItsConrad) April 28, 2016
As reported on Wednesday, Ric Flair was involved in some sort of incident at Logan airport in Boston. Airport police say they don’t think Flair was drunk, and he was treated for a cut on his hand. The Massachusetts State police are saying Flair hit his head and was treated for a minor head injury. A witness told TMZ, “[Blood] was dripping down from his head to his neck. A significant amount of blood.”
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that there are other witnesses saying there was a shouting incident involving Flair when someone was rude to him and then asked him for a selfie. The Observer reports that WWE officials are currently looking into this situation and investigating what really happened.
Ric Flair had a rough morning at Boston’s Logan Airport, but he was eventually allowed to board his flight. Witnesses say Flair was at a bar called Lucky’s Lounge and seemed to be ‘banged up.’ According to TMZ.com, airport officials received a call about a man with a cut on his hand. Police and medical personnel responded, tended to the WWE Hall of Famer and it was determined that he was NOT intoxicated.
Flair’s agent, Melinda Morris Zanoni, issued a statement to TMZ.com noting that the incident maybe have been due to exhaustion – but booze was not to blame:
“Ric has been working every day around the clock, including internationally, for a month straight and has injuries on his hand that were being looked into this morning.
“While it is true Ric Flair and his buddies have been keeping airport bars in business since the 70s that was not the case at all in Boston. I just hung up with Ric, he is already on the flight and all is good.”
There are multiple reports coming out of Boston’s Logan Airport that WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair was acting erratic and was not allowed to board his flight.
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair told Natalya, “Kill yourself” during a heated promo at Tuesday night’s WWE SmackDown tapings. The incident took place when Dean Ambrose hosted Natalya, Charlotte and Flair on his Ambrose Asylum talk show segment to hype Sunday’s Women’s Championship match at Payback.
At one point, Natalya was talking about her uncle Bret being in her corner and told Flair that her uncle Bret will have no problem ‘handling’ him. Flair fired back with the “kill yourself” remark. Don’t be surprised if this edited off television when the show airs tomorrow night on USA.
– Titus O’Neil is officially back to work after serving a suspension for grabbing Vince McMahon’s arm in an unscripted moment on RAW two months ago. He defeated Tyler Breeze in a dark match before the SmackDown TV taping on Tuesday night in Manchester, NH at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
– A remark Ric Flair made at the SmackDown taping on Tuesday night is already getting criticism from fans on Twitter. During an in-ring segment with Dean Ambrose, Natalya, Charlotte and Flair, The Nature Boy told Natalya to kill herself after she said that Bret Hart could beat him up. It’s unknown whether this will make it to TV or not on Thursday. Here’s how it went down according to someone in attendance at the Verizon Wireless Arena:
– If you’ve paying close attention to your TV, you may have noticed a fresh cut on Ric Flair’s forehead recently. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Flair demonstrated the process of “blading” for his upcoming ESPN 30 For 30 documentary on his life and career. There’s no word yet on when the special will air.
– The Wrestling Observer Newsletter also reports that Germany is a strong new market for the WWE Network. The Network launched in Germany this past January and is considered a success in the region. WWE is working on German commentary for all their pay-per-views on the WWE Network this year.
– Vince McMahon recently Tweeted about WrestleMania 32’s ticket sales at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. WrestleMania 32 takes place this Sunday, April 3rd, and we’ll have live coverage right here on SEScoops.com.
Charlotte and Ric Flair were interviewed by Peter Rosenberg and Ebro for Hot 97 on Friday to promote last night’s live event from Madison Square Garden and Wrestlemania 32. Here are some highlights:
– They spoke about what it’s like to be on the road together and working as one of the top acts in WWE. Ric said it’s phenomenal and a dream come true.
– Charlotte was asked if she feels pressure to live up to Ric’s legacy. Charlotte said she loves it, she wanted to be paired up with her father because it drives her to be better.
– Charlotte talked about being able to “turn off” her public persona when she leaves the arena, while Ric is the Nature Boy 24/7.
– Rosenberg said it’s amazing that Charlotte is getting strong heel heat while paired up with her father, who is beloved. Ric says he wishes WWE would let him cut loose a little more, but he’s just happy to be working with his daughter. Charlotte said it was difficult being introduced as a babyface when her character talks about being genetically superior.
Overall, a great interview. Follow @RosenbergRadio and check out the Cheap Heat Podcast if you haven’t already – hands down one of the best wrestling podcasts out there.
At a couple different points tonight, the official WWE Games Twitter account tweeted these animated GIFs to hype Tuesday’s release of the Hall of Fame downloadable content pack for WWE 2K16, which is out this Tuesday:
It was already known that 1991 versions of Ric Flair and Tatsumi Fujinami plus a relevant match replay mode were in the Hall of Fame pack, but they had two matches that year. It seemed like it made more sense for 2K to base it off their match from Superbrawl in St. Petersburg, Florida, but from the above footage, it looks like they didn’t. Instead, 2K picked the OTHER Flair-Fujinami match, from the NJPW Tokyo Dome show that year, which is known as both WCW Japan Supershow and NJPW Starrcade ’91 In The Tokyo Dome. So that means that the arena that comes in the pack is an ersatz Tokyo Dome, faithfully recreated by 2K Sports. They can’t call it that (and I don’t believe WWE games ever name real venues), but 2K does a great job with the presentation of the arenas and this should be no exception.
Here’s the full lineup for the DLC pack, which, if this is any indication, should also include at least two more WCW arenas and some early ’90s WWF arenas along with period appropriate versions of the wrestlers:
“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Rikishi vs. The Rock
Alundra Blayze vs. Paige
Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ric Flair
The Bushwhackers (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) vs. The Natural Disasters (Typhoon and Earthquake)
The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) vs. Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray)
WWE has edited the Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte match from the 2016 Royal Rumble. Several readers have noted that on the WWE Network, the spot where Ric Flair plants a kiss on Becky Lynch at ringside towards the end of the match has been removed.
This seems to be a reaction to online backlash about the segment, which saw Ric Flair force a kiss on Becky. WWE removed the video from their YouTube channel as well, after they were criticized by vocative.com for having a “looming sexism problem.”
As David reported on Friday, WWE has also gotten some heat online for The Rock’s interaction with Lana on RAW.
A topic that’s gotten some attention this past week on wrestling websites and social media has been the continuing discussion of WWE’s treatment of women both behind the scenes and in terms of their storytelling. While this has been brewing for a while because of the whole NXT Women’s Division vs. WWE Divas’ Division dynamic, it came to a head this past week because of two moments on WWE programming:
Ric Flair forcibly kissing Becky Lynch as a distraction spot and the announcers laughing it off as a comedy spot.
The Rock’s entire interaction with Lana, who was returning to TV after a noticeable absence, being about the idea that she cheated on Rusev with him when he last appeared on Monday Night Raw.
Today, the topic was explored in an article at Vocative by Alex Groot titled “WWE’s Looming Sexism Problem.” When asked for comment on the piece, WWE issued the following statement:
WWE programming, which features fictional characters that cover a range of personalities similar to movies and television shows, tells stories of good versus evil. In addition, as our on-going storylines develop, we will continue to position women as both strong competitors and compelling individuals.
Of course, as mentioned by Groot, even if you can argue that at least Flair was an evil villain doing evil things, The Rock was the babyface and Lana was the heel.
Ric Flair says that while he acknowledges his WWE employment discourages him from seriously criticizing them on his podcast, he doesn’t have much bad to say about them anyway. In an interview with The Miami Herald, The Nature Boy says the “mortifying” list of injured wrestlers is reason for critics to cut WWE some slack.
“[Podcasts] can be very lucrative,” Flair said. “I’m heading down to do one right now with Chris Jericho. It’s fun, and you learn form them. My problem is I can’t critique the [WWE] show, because my daughter’s on the show, and I’m still actively working for the company. The other guys who do podcasts can critique the show, but I wouldn’t be caught dead doing that.
“Actually, I don’t have anything negative to say about it anyway,” Flair continued, “but if there was something I thought, I couldn’t possibly say it, because I would basically be cracking on the hand that feeds me. I don’t feel like there’s anything negative on the show anyways… If anyone really took a look at the injuries on our roster right now, it’s mortifying. Seth Rollins, John Cena, Randy Orton, Cesaro, [Daniel Bryan, Tyson Kidd]. A lot of guys to lose. Rusev is hurt right now, but I don’t know to what extent. Sasha’s hurt. Paige has got a concussion. It’s a lot going on.”
With so many pro wrestlers suffering some serious injuries, Flair is asked about his daughter’s career as a wrestler in WWE. Here’s what the 16-time champ had to say:
“Believe it or not guys, it’s not because of me,” Flair noted. “She’s a better athlete than I ever was all day long. She’s done a fabulous job. Her work ethic is second to none. She works out everyday. She’d rather be dead than miss a workout. She’s on tour in India right now for the week. I’m not sure what the training facilities are like there, but I guarantee you, if there’s a gym in New Delhi, she will find it.
“She had a lot of choices,” he said. “She picked volleyball, but she could have done any Division I sport. Track & field, too.”
NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor will be joining WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair at the January 25th RAW in Miami, FL. In an interview with The Miami Herald, Flair revealed he will be appearing on RAW the night after the Royal Rumble, and that Taylor, a WrestleMania 11 headliner, would be rolling with him:
“I will be in Miami. It’s always huge. I love Miami. I love being there, and I’m bringing [NFL Hall of Famer] Lawrence Taylor with me. So you tell me how much fun that will be. LT and the Natch, the combination to beat.”
Flair also talked about what made soon-to-be Hall of Famer Sting a fan favorite, and claims he hadn’t been asked yet by WWE to induct him:
“Charisma, a phenomenal look, a great physique, the spiked blonde hair, an incredible work ethic,” Flair said. “So the look, the body, the charisma. He had a lot of ability as well. So it’s pretty hard to deny [Sting] anything. I would love to be that person [to induct him],” Flair said. “I haven’t been asked, but I would love to.”
The Nature Boy will be appearing at the Magic City Comic Con on Jan. 16-17 at the Miami Airport Convention Center.