Ric Flair Talks New WWE Contract, Friendship with AEW's Tony Khan

Hall of Famer Ric Flair recently re-signed with WWE, extending a relationship with the company that has existed for most of the past 20 years. Flair initially returned to WWE in 2001 after the closing of WCW and has spent the bulk of the years since with the company. He first worked for WWE (then WWF) from 1991 to 1993 but was mostly known as a NWA and WCW mainstay for the duration of his career. However, he's now worked for the WWE longer than any other one promotion during his nearly 50 years in and around the business.

In an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc., Flair talked about re-signing with WWE.

"I re-signed last week. I've never gone without getting paid and there's never been a doubt in my mind," Flair said. "You're the first person I've talked to about it except for family.

"I just think the coronavirus slowed down the actual, official signing. Everybody went to work on figuring out on their end what to do as it's a lot to deal with especially in wrestling as it's not a seasonal sport and is year-round. Just figuring your way around that has been an act of genius in itself."

Flair went on to discuss his relationship with AEW owner Tony Khan. He acknowledged having some conversations with Khan about his career and acknowledged that Khan told him he wouldn't even ask him to join AEW because he knew it wasn't realistic given Flair's loyalty to WWE.

"Well it's (his new WWE contract) not for life but I hope they keep renewing me [laughs]. You never know but I'm obviously not gonna go anywhere else if they didn't renew me," said Flair. "Tony [Khan] told me that he wouldn't even ask me to come to work there because he knows how tight I am with [WWE]. Our friendship is one thing but he respects my loyalty to the company.

"That's how much respect [Khan] has for me and my relationship with the company which speaks volumes to what kind of guy Tony is. The same would apply to my daughter and WWE."

Wrestling Inc. will release the rest of their conversation with Flair on Monday as part of their daily podcast.