We know The Nature Boy was released earlier this week, but get a look at the details on Ric Flair’s sweet WWE deal. Plus, this fan behavior is now banned at SmackDown.
Ric Flair’s Sweet WWE Deal
We all know that The Naure Boy asked for his release this week and got it…but check out the details on Ric Flair’s sweet WWE deal.
This man walked away from a truly incredible agreement. Maybe it’s just me, but that tells me something…
source: custom, Sean Ross Sapp twitter screenshot no
According to the Wrestling Observer, Flair was under an “ambassador agreement” with the company. This sweet WWE deal was reportedly paying him substantially more than Ric Flair earned during his WWE Champion days.
On one hand, that isn’t necessarily shocking. Looking at professional wrestling then versus now…there seems to be more money involved, between advertising and television deals.
Plus, with the WWE deal signed in 2020, Ric Flair had some leverage. Or, at least, somewhere else to go that Vince McMahon likely paid dearly to prevent.
Considering over the past few years WWE had been giving some crazy deals out to keep talent away from AEW, it’s possible Flair’s deal was richer in part to keep him away from Tony Khan’s efforts.
Regardless, Flair asked for his release, and earlier this week was granted it.
Thus far, there are no reports of what (if anything) Flair has plans for next.
It is entirely possible Ric Flair actually wants to just slow down and be retired. Hard to believe, given his history…but you never know.
The Observer did continue that there is no expectation for Flair to come out and trash WWE. Indications are that there remains a positive relationship between the Hall of Famer and the company.
Flair may also wish to stay quiet, rather than put his daughter’s career with the company in any sort of peril.
Fan Behavior Banned At SmackDown
At live shows, WWE generally announces it does not permit certain behaviors, but it seems on fan behavior was especially banned, at least at SmackDown last night.
In new move by WWE, the arena in Tampa for this past Friday’s SmackDown posted a message on Twitter.
source: custom,WWE twitter screenshot
The post has since come down, but the RingsideNews post still has it.
The general idea was that photography and video recording at last night’s show would be strictly banned. Punishment for an infraction could include ejection from the arena.
Taking photos and videos is generally not permitted at shows, but we all know that those can be loosely enforced at best.
In the age of social media and camera phones, it’s quite common to see fans taking selfies or posting videos, like of dark matches.
Now, for a taped show, like over the holidays when WWE might tape back to back shows to get a Friday off, the ban would make sense-but be very hard to enforce.
Spoilers happen, quite often.
However, in the case of this week’s SmackDown, it was live on FOX. The reason for the message and planned enforcement is a bit curious.
It will be interesting to see if such enforcement becomes a bigger deal moving forward at future shows. Unless, of course, WWE moves back to ThunderDome, as is feared.
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