Ric Flair on why he left WWE, his conversation with Vince McMahon, how Charlotte reacted

Ric Flair was on Renee Paquette’s “Oral Sessions” podcast today to talk about his exit from WWE, the viral photo that he says was not him, his health issues, the upcoming “Dark Side of the Ring” episode on the Plane Ride from Hell, and a lot more.

Here are some highlights:

Ric Flair talking about why he left WWE:

“What happened was I had a bunch of pending opportunities. I had a bunch of things that I was doing currently at the time that I signed my contract.  They allowed those. These are big things. I got to keep Cameo. A couple deals kept coming along, and I got to the point that I was probably exhausting them asking to let me do them. Of course, the answer was, ‘You can do them, maybe.’ I decided that I wanted to finally, which I did for 3 years, make a living not being on a wrestling payroll. That’s all it was. I’ve known Vince McMahon well, first I worked for his father in 1976. I’ve known Vince since then. I went to work for him. He saved me when I had a big go around with WCW with Jim Herd.

I went up there in ‘91. I stayed for a year and a half. My first WrestleMania was with Randy Savage and I had the greatest run of my life. The worst decision I ever made in my life was going back to WCW. There’s no animosity whatsoever. It was just business. I wanted to try something and they had a different vision. They wanted me to get paid a lot of money. There’s nothing wrong with that. This weekend I’m doing the 73rd Anniversary of the NWA which is a huge deal. As the last traveling world champion, 365, twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday, I did that for 5 years. Not a lot of people can say that. I probably wouldn’t have been able to do that, not because Vince would have said no. It would never have gotten to him.”

“How was your conversation with Vince when you asked for the release?”

“I talked to Vince. After it was over, I just said, ‘Whatever path our lives take, we’re always going to be brothers.’ He said, ‘You’re damn right.’

“How did that conversation with Ashley go with her knowing that this was going to be big headlines?”

“That’s why I’m glad we’re doing this, and doing it with somebody that actually understands wrestling because you’ve been there. Our business is totally unique to itself from any other business. Social media beyond belief wise, everybody wants to start some sh*t. Ashley would never leave there. She’s the happiest she’s ever been. Obviously, they’re not mad at me. She won it (RAW Women’s Championship at SummerSlam).”

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit “Oral Sessions with Renée Paquette “ with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.

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