Ric Flair has not wrestled a match since September 2011, but “The Nature Boy” proved he’s still got it on Monday by uploading a video of himself and AEW’s Jay Lethal wrestling in a ring. The 73-year-old took a number of bumps in the 79-second clip, including a body slam and a shoulder tackle from Lethal. He also nailed Lethal with his signature chop in the corner before the pair ended by nailing Flair’s trademark strut.
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Flair requested his WWE release last Summer and has since openly criticized the company over allegedly “erasing his legacy.” The 16-time world champion was removed from WWE’s opening signature after accusations of sexual assault emerged on an episode of Dark Side of the Ring which covered the infamous “Plane Ride From Hell.”
“Well, by erasing my legacy, if you take me off the opening of the show and take the Woo, which I own, thank God, because they will never get it back, and replace me with The Ultimate Warrior, a guy that sued the company, held them up for money, I guess the next thing they’re going to do with me is make a DVD having so many people say how bad I was like The Warrior, then they brought him back and put him in The Hall of Fame,” Flair said last November. “That isn’t going to work for me. One and done. No worries, but you’re not going to bring me back, not that they want me by any means, but I couldn’t ever work for Nick Khan in my entire life. Vince McMahon, I can work for, but Nick Khan, who is a guy who orchestrated taking me off the show. I’ve got my facts together. He orchestrated taking my Woo off. Never in a million years. The big difference is Tony Khan respects me. He has as did Vince. NIck Khan has not. I talk to Vince now. I have no problem with Vince. He just knows I won’t come back.”
“There were no discussions at all (of joining AEW),” he later added. “I told Vince McMahon that my word is pretty much my bond unless they did something really stupid to me, then I would never go to work for the competition. Now they’ve done some really stupid stuff, so that door is open, but I have not talked to Tony (Khan). I have not heard a word from him. I watch all the shows. I appreciate the athletes and the people that are involved in it, but I’m not actively in discussion with anybody. Yes, I would go to work for Tony Khan. I will never go back to WWE.”
