TNA star Ric Flair Ric a few radio appearances this week and as usual with the Nature Boy, there are some newsworthy items to report.
During an appearance on Mark Madden’s radio show on Tuesday, Flair said he wants a shot at Sting’s TNA World Heavyweight title some time this summer. This comes just days after reports that Hulk Hogan is training for an in-ring return and wants to challenge Sting at Bound For Glory later this fall.
Flair also appeared on radio station WFNZ’s afternoon show “The Drive” on Tuesday and discussed a number of wrestling-related topics , including his decision to attend Shawn Michaels WWE’s Hall of Fame induction in Atlanta last month. Flair said TNA had “no problem” appearing at WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony and he plans on attending next year’s ceremony in Miami.
Flair also spoke about his highly-publicized meltdown that took place during TNA’s European tour earlier this year. After widespread reports that Flair was left behind by TNA following a dispute over TNA being unwilling to advance Flair money. Here’s what Flair said about the situation:
“When you work for WWE, you are used to funds being available for you, if you think I am going to spend my own money, you are out of your mind. With Vince…like any other company that grows, you have growing pains, financial growing pains.”
“When you agree to go overseas, you assume you are going like any other company and very simply, I wasn’t informed differently. I said, ‘Hey I need some money while I’m here. I’m not blowing up my credit card. Just pay me what you owe me every night’ and they don’t do that. I wasn’t told in a very nice way so I stayed in the hotel for another day. I’m not knocking. I think TNA is great, just they have growing pains.”
— Seven-time NWA World Tag Team Champion Chris Harris returned to TNA Wrestling at last night’s live event in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Hardy introduced Harris as his surprise tag team partner prior to his match with Beer Money, Inc. It concluded with the former Braden Walker being pinned.
— Ric Flair’s reported shoulder and injury rotator cuff tear is at the top of the shoulder. The front and back are fine and he is able to lift light weights without much pain.
The wrestling legend wasn’t hurt following an unforgiving Lethal Lockdown Match last month at TNA Lockdown. Also note, he is putting surgery off because he doesn’t want to undergo six months of rehabilitation.
– This week’s episode of TNA iMPACT! featured 23 minutes and 29 seconds of in-ring action, down from 31 minutes and 43 seconds the week before.
– As we’ve reported in recent weeks, Ric Flair needs surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. Because the surgery would likely result in a 6-month recovery period, Flair has decided to hold off for now. (Source: Wrestling Observer)
– TNA has signed a new television distribution deal that will bring iMPACT! to Australia’s FUEL TV starting next month. The first episode is scheduled to air on Saturday June 11th at 8:30pm.
– Matches for tonight’s TNA iMPACT on Spike TV include:
Kurt Angle & Velvet Sky vs. Jeff Jarrett, Winter & Angelina Love.
AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. Brother Ray & Gunner
Mickie James vs. Miss Tessmacher
Sangrieto vs. Suicide
Rob Terry vs. Murphy
You can check out full spoiler results for tonight’s show by clicking here.
— It was reported earlier that Ric Flair underwent rotator cuff surgery on his shoulder last Thursday after being written off television at TNA Lockdown. Jim Ross clarified the WWE Hall of Famer’s health status by stating that he did not undergo surgery. JR tweeted over the weekend:
“While @ the gym yesterday got a text from ‘Naitch’ who was checking on my ‘wrestling’ status. BTW Ric has a horrid shoulder but no surgery.”
Taz, who stated on Thursday’s episode of TNA iMPACT! that Flair underwent surgery earlier that day, wrote on Twitter,
“For those whom have asked, Mike & I were either given BAD info on RF Shoulder issue or RF status changed from Tues (TV), to this weekend.”
— Mick Foley is scheduled to return to television imminently.
— TNA Knockout Tara has been announced for AdventureCon, Tennessee’s Largest Pop Culture Collectors Show. The annual event takes place June 10-12 at the Knoxville Expo Center in Knoxville.
— Sangriento, a masked wrestler hailing from Tijuana, Mexico, made his TNA Wrestling debut on this week’s episode of TNA Xplosion as he competed in a Three-Way Match against Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal. The masked luchador pinned Lethal after hitting the former X Division Champion with a springboard cutter.
Sangriento was brainstormed by Spike TV officials as they wanted TNA to introduce a character that would counteract Sin Cara of WWE. TNA considered various independent wrestlers for the role but decided on Amazing Red.
— Ric Flair underwent successful surgery yesterday to repair a torn rotator cuff. No word yet on how long he will be sidelined.
The WWE Hall of Famer suffered the injury in late January, during a match against Douglas Williams in Manchester, England. He delayed the surgery until his storyline was finalized at TNA Lockdown.
— Jeff Jarrett will be a special guest for the Nashville Sounds baseball game at their opener in Nashville, Tennessee tomorrow night at Greer Stadium. He will be in attendance as a guest speaker to promote the importance of reading before the game as well as signing autographs for fans with Sounds Mascot Ozzie.
Sunny’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame has been nixed from tonight’s broadcast on the USA Network in favor of Drew Carey’s since a promotional deal is in place to push his new series on GSN. The comedian’s acceptance speech was significantly edited and all boos directed at him were edited out.
A highlight reel showcasing Sunny, Abdullah the Butcher and Bob Armstrong will air.
The special will open up with Dusty Rhodes inducting The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The broadcast will close with the Hall of Fame induction of Shawn Michaels. His speech was heavily edited as it lasts approximately four minutes. Triple H’s crack on Michaels “refusing to join the Hulk Hogan hair club,” however, remains intact.
TNA Wrestling talent Ric Flair, who attended the event, is not shown during the broadcast.
— TNA Wrestling Superstar Ric Flair is staying at WWE’s hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. It is said that he will be attending tonight’s WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, to witness Shawn Michaels’ enshrinement.
— Jim Ross told fans at Friday’s WrestleMania Axxess event that he would be calling some matches at WrestleMania XXVII.
— Former ECW talent The Sandman, Tod Gordon and Gary Wolfe (a/k/a Pitbull #1) are hosting a WrestleMania party at The Penthouse Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday.
— WWE Hall of Famer Wendi Richter made a surprise appearance at Friday’s WrestleMania Axxess event.
Earlier this week, we posted a cartoon that WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart drew of “roid king” Hulk Hogan.
Now, Bret is selling that cartoon – along with another one he drew of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair – with 100% of the proceeds going to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.
Say what you want about the ongoing trading of insults between Hart, Hogan and Flair, but at least Bret is turning the negativity into something positive ..
— Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors personality Reby Sky (real name Rebecca Reyes), a former Playboy model, revealed on her Formspring account that she and Matt Hardy are engaged to be married. A wedding is set for June 17. The two have been dating since January.
— Rob Van Dam stated the following today on Twitter regarding Drew Carey’s pending induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“DREW CAREY GETS INDUCTED INTO THE WWE HALL OF FAME. MAN, I’M GLAD I’M NOT A WWE WRESTLER.”
— Ric Flair’s scheduled speaking engagement tonight at Pantages Playhouse Theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba has been cancelled. Refunds will be issued beginning March 30.
— Ric Flair was unable to make a scheduled appearance for WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race’s World League Wrestling promotion yesterday because his morning flight to Missouri was canceled and he failed to board a later one. World Wrestling Entertainment sent Raw Superstar Ted DiBiase on short notice to replace Flair at Race’s event.
— SoCal Val interviews Sarita and Rosita backstage before tonight’s TNA Victory Road pay-per-view event. The duo will challenge Angelina Love and Winter for the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship. (Video link)
— The TNA Genesis DVD is on sale this Tuesday at major retailers and ShopTNA.com.
— Generation Me member Max celebrates his 26th birthday today.
— Ric Flair resurfaced last week on iMPACT!, his first TNA appearance since the organization’s tour overseas. A source said that backstage, Flair acted as if nothing occurred overseas.
— The debut of TNA iMPACT! on Challenge TV in the U.K. on February 8 drew 134,000 viewers. It is the most watched episode of iMPACT! in the country. By comparison, the final airing of iMPACT! on Bravo drew 37,000 viewers (airing Christmas Day).
— TNA Wrestling has posted a video of Karen Jarrett (now nicknamed “The Princess”) indicating that she needs help coordinating her wedding.
– Hulk Hogan has been back in the gym training and is getting ready to return to TNA television. Hogan will be at this week’s iMPACT! tapings and wrote on Twitter that he’s “Getting ready to go to Orlando.”
– Another legend set to return to TNA at tonight’s iMPACT! tapings is Ric Flair. The “Nature Boy,” who has been out of action since the blow up he had while on the recent European tour, is currently dealing with a shoulder injury.
Flair reportedly suffered a torn his rotator cuff in a match with Doug Williams. Sources had expected Ric Flair to undergo surgery, meaning he would have been out for around 4 months, but he has decided to skip it for now and return back to work.
– While Kurt Angle teased retirement after losing to Jeff Jarrett at last night’s Against All Odds pay-per-view, he is confirmed for the Victory Road pay-per-view on March 13th. Per the stipulations last night, Angle now must walk Karen Jarrett down the aisle on the March 3rd iMPACT when she and Jeff renew their vows. Angle taking his boots off and leaving them in the ring at the PPV was a symbolic guesture that is done when amateur wrestlers are ending their careers.
– Max and Jeremy Buck posted messages on their Twitter accounts last night apologizing for not being able to make the Against All Odds pay-per-view.
— TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter did not attend last week’s iMPACT! tapings. She’s usually on hand for the entire first day of tapings and at least a portion of the second day. It’s not considered an issue as she had just returned from the company’s tour overseas.
Ric Flair also missed last week’s tapings, due to an injury he suffered to his rotator cuff while working a match against Douglas Williams in London, England. Rewrites were made as the WWE Hall of Famer was scheduled to appear at the tapings. His absence was not attributed to an altercation the previous week in Europe that resulted in him missing an event in Germany. It is said that Flair and management have made peace.
— Knockouts action is featured on this week’s episode of TNA Xplosion as Sarita squares off against Winter. The match can be accessed here.
— TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter wrote a message on Twitter thanking fans for the ‘great rating’ TNA’s return to U.K. airwaves garnered Tuesday night: “Thanks to our UK fans for the great rating for Tuesday’s TNA return to UK TV on Challenge! TNA is back full force, and so are our UK viewers.”
— Ric Flair is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn rotator cuff that he suffered during a recent match in Manchester, England. The WWE Hall of Famer is expected to continue his managerial role before returning to the squared circle.
— Paul Bearer attended Saturday’s TNA Wrestling live event in Pensacola, Florida to visit with friends. Regarding the experience, he wrote on Twitter: “Great seeing so many old friends at TNA in Pensacola tonight. Goodnight all.”
— TNA Wrestling has released new “Bloodline” T-shirts for Matt and Jeff Hardy.
Wrestling journalist Mike Mooneyham, a longtime friend of Nature Boy Ric Flair, is reporting that Flair is owed a “considerable amount” of backpay by TNA Wrestling. TNA owing Flair money is said to be the reason for Flair’s dispute with company officials on the recent European tour.
According to Mooneyham, Flair felt disrespected by TNA on the tour and asked them for advance pay based on them owing him money for future dates on the tour and money unrelated to the tour.
After Flair was denied the money, he was told the reason management would not advance any pay to talent is because former TNA star Dustin “Goldust” Runnels took advantage of TNA by getting money advanced and they no longer do this. Flair was offended and asked, “Am I Dustin Rhodes? Is that my spot in the company?”
It’s been reported that Flair has been asking co-workers to borrow money at bars, which Mooneyham says is untrue.
— TNA Wrestling has posted a video of Karen Jarrett offering fans a tour of the Jarrett estate in Nashville, Tennessee.
— A woman in Winnsboro, South Carolina won $100,000 off a Ric Flair scratch-off ticket, reports www.wltx.com. The winner’s husband, a longtime fan of Flair, told lottery officials that he was walking around their house chanting “Woooo!” afterwards.
“Now, I have a new reason to scream ‘Woooo!’ he said. “She’s started saying it.”
— Sarita is working this week’s TNA Wrestling live event tour across the southern United States, her first since June. She generally doesn’t work house shows due to her obligations with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico and reportedly due to expenses because she is amongst the highest paid female performers in the company.
— Ric Flair learned Monday that he suffered a torn rotator cuff during his match Saturday with Douglas Williams in Manchester, England. It is the same injury that has sidelined WWE stars The Undertaker and Evan Bourne in recent months.
Barring a last minute change, the WWE Hall of Famer is scheduled to appear at tomorrow night’s iMPACT! taping in Orlando, Florida.
— New York based independent women’s wrestler Rayna Von Tash is scheduled for a tryout match with TNA Wrestling within the next few weeks.
— Robbie E, accompanied by Cookie, beat Josh Daniels (his longtime rival on the independent wrestling circuit) in a dark match prior to Monday’s iMPACT! taping in Orlando, Florida.
– TNA will tape this Thursday’s iMPACT tonight from Orlando. It’s newsworthy that Ric Flair is not in Orlando today and is not scheduled for any episodes that are being taped this week. Some in the company are wondering if Flair will be back at all after what happened on the European tour.
– Tonight’s iMPACT! tapings are important as important storylines are planned and Spike TV has requested them to be loaded for sweeps. Set for tonight is Hulk Hogan’s return to feud with Dixie Carter, Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson for the World Title and the arrival of “they”, expected to be the return of The Main Event Mafia.
– As we reported over the weekend, the January 27 episode of TNA iMPACT! scored a 1.28 cable rating, the program’s highest mark since October 14. iMPACT! averaged 1.93 million viewers over the course of two hours, which is the third largest average audience in the program’s history
TNA star Matt Hardy wrote the following on Twitter about last week’s show doing a strong rating:
“I awesome appreciate the TNA Impact viewers for tunin in & makin last night’s Impact the 3rd most watched in TNA history. Hardys=Ratings”
— In an apparent first, TNA Wrestling officials recently punished two wrestlers for testing positive for a substance banned on the organization’s drug testing policy. Though TNA did not acknowledge the situation publicly, the guilty wrestlers were pulled from some house shows as punishment. Both wrestlers have since returned to action and remain on the active roster.
— Ric Flair returned to TNA Wrestling’s European tour Friday in Manchester, England, accompanying Beer Money, Inc. for their match against Douglas Williams and Magnus. Flair wrestled Williams himself the following night in London, beating the Englishman via submission. Flair bled heavily during the match, so much so that the ring mat was mopped afterwards.
— Jeff Hardy is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Power Slam, which covers his ongoing drug trial and recent matches.
– When WWE legend Shawn Michaels is inducted into the Hall of Fame during WrestleMania weekend, he reportedly wants longtime friend Ric Flair to be at the ceremony. While there’s no word yet on whether Flair will appear, feeling is that WWE would have no problem with Flair attending, but they likely would not show him on camera. It remains to be seen whether TNA would have a problem with Flair attending a WWE event.
– Michelle McCool was back on the road for WWE live events this past weekend, indicating that The Undertaker is doing well recovering from surgery.
As noted earlier this week, it’s now expected that he will work WrestleMania 27 this year. McCool had been given time off from live events to stay at home and tend to her husband, The Deadman.
As previously reported, Ric Flair had a major falling out with TNA management while on tour with the company overseas. While in Dublin, Ireland, Flair reportedly demanded a money advance from a company official. When his request wasn’t granted, Flair allegedly tried to play hardball, refusing to get on a bus that was taking personnel to the airport for their flight. A decision was made to leave Flair behind.
It’s worth noting that there was no official decision to send him home, but the company chose to move on as scheduled and could not hold up the entire roster due to Flair’s tantrum.
To update this situation, it’s said that the tension between Ric Flair and TNA had been building up for weeks, although nobody could point to the exact reasons why.
TNA and Flair have apparently worked things out as he is expected to be at TNA’s live event in Scotland tomorrow.
Flair is one of the top attractions of the tour, which has been dubbed the “Maximum Wooo!” Tour.
Ric Flair has pulled out of the remaining dates of TNA Wrestling’s ongoing European tour.
While in Dublin, Ireland, Flair reportedly demanded money “in advance” from a company official. When his request wasn’t granted, Flair allegedly tried to play hardball, refusing to get on a bus that was taking personnel to the airport for their flight. A decision was made to leave Flair behind due to this.
“He threw a fit,” said a company source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity. “He was playing ‘Nature Boy’ on the tour and got pissed off and threw a tantrum. As far as we all know, he’s in Dublin still. He said he wasn’t coming and he wasn’t in Berlin.”
There were members of the TNA roster in favor of leaving Flair behind due to his outburst. Some even mocked him, using his “signature promo lines” after he was left behind.
There was much discussion on whether Flair’s “partying” on the road during the tour factored into his refusal to board the bus.
To clarify, Flair was not sent home from the tour by management. It’s been indicated that Flair is still in Europe and could reach the troupe in Scotland, if he chooses.
There was no official decision to send him home, just to leave him behind as opposed to holding up an entire talent roster waiting to travel internationally.
Flair was one of the top attractions of the tour, which was named the “Maximum Wooo!” Tour. He accompanied Beer Money, Inc. for TNA Tag Team Championship Matches at prior events in France and Ireland.
— WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin congratulated Shawn Michaels on Twitter for his upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame. Austin, who defeated Michaels to win his first WWE championship in the main event of WrestleMania 14, wrote on @SteveAustinBSR:
“Congrats to Shawn Michaels going into HOF. He is the greatest in ring performer I have ever seen.”
— Ric Flair will be returning to the ring once again later this month during TNA’s UK tour. Flair will wrestle Douglas Williams at the Wembley Arena in London on 1/29.
— It’s also worth noting that Jeff Hardy is being advertised for TNA’s UK tour, which begins on 1/21, the day after he is scheduled to plead guilty to at least one of the drug charges pending against him.
— According to sources within TNA Wrestling, Taylor Wilde is through with the company. However, officials are open to bringing her back in the future.
— Ric Flair didn’t appear at Sunday’s Final Resolution pay-per-view because TNA Wrestling were already over his allotted dates for the year and didn’t feel it was necessary that he work the event.
— Mick Foley appears on Last Call with Carson Daly this Friday night on NBC. The show airs at 1:35 a.m.
— Tara, who tore a ligament in her elbow during a Steel Cage Match against Mickie James at Monday’s iMPACT! taping, noted last night on Twitter that no surgery will be required.
— Ric Flair will be on hand for tomorrow’s Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colt game at LP Field in Nashville as an Honorary 12th Titan. Before the game airs on television, “The Nature Boy” will get nearly 70,000 fans amped by raising a #12 Titans flag to salute those attending the game.
— Numerous Jersey All Pro Wrestling officials are on hand for this week’s iMPACT! tapings in Orlando. TNA Wrestling coordinates live events with JAPW officials when they hold shows in New Jersey.