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What does Ric Flair bring to AEW?
Well, for one, he certainly brings the promotion extra publicity, even if it isn't always for the right reasons. He also brings the promotion additional revenue as part of his Woooo! Energy drink, a deal Eric Bischoff has suggested could pay part of, if not all of the “Nature Boy's” contract a la his own WCW deal with the “Macho Man” Randy Savage. While Booker T doesn't think Flair will provide much in the way of production value behind the scenes, as he likely won't be critiquing matches between his segments, his on-screen efforts should make up for that in spades, as he could legitimately add intrigue to Sting's final storyline if utilized correctly.
And yet, in the opinion of Jim Cornette, Flair may not exclusively bring positivity to the screen in AEW, as the do-it-all manager/podcaster believes he could ultimately overshadow the other performers he shares the ring with.
“Well, and here’s the thing is that, again, we’re in a situation where the most well-known biggest stars, biggest celebrities, and mainstream names in the wrestling industry that work for AEW have always continued to be behind the scenes or backstage or in a non-wrestling role,” Jim Cornette said via EWrestling News. “And I mean, you know it’s hard for the young guys to get over when everybody sees these older guys as the big stars. And especially when the guys are too old to be able to work with these young guys and put them over. So then you start creating the dissension in the locker room where the young guys are going, ‘Oh, geez, these guys, all they got to do is show up and plug their energy drink or do commentary or don’t even show have to show up, they all get paid. And, you know, we actually got to take bumps and get hurt.'”
Whoa, crazy, right? Well, you don't know the half of it, as Cornette was just getting started in his rant.
Jim Cornette doesn't understand signing Ric Flair to a long-term deal.
Turning his attention from the resentment some performers may feel towards performers like Ric Flair who don't have to take bumps to earn massive checks due to the actual logistics of his new contract, Jim Cornette confessed that he truly doesn't understand why Tony Khan would sign the “Nature Boy” to a long-term contract if he's only supposed to work a program with Sting until early next year.
“But you know that again, I’m not knocking Ric, I’m glad he’s got his deal because I can’t imagine why Tony gave it a long-term deal just to get Ric to make appearances for Sting’s retirement,” Cornette asked. “What is he going to do afterwards? They don’t listen to any legends that have any opinions anyway, and I don’t honestly know that Ric has been paying enough attention in the wrestling business over the past few years to have a goddamn opinion or gives a s**t. I know that he was the only one when he was the booker in '89 and early '90 in WCW that got the ratings back up and got the pay-per-views back up, and got the quality of the show back up. But that’s when he was in the middle of it. And he, as we mentioned, he was the big picture guy that put things together, and then me and Kevin [Sullivan] do the details, the paperwork. I don’t think in 35 years, he suddenly decided I want to do all this s**t by myself. I’ll take over the book, Tony. So he can’t and shouldn’t wrestle. He overshadows anybody he manages or appears with unless it’s like Sting where they got the history.”
Are there a few performers in AEW who could get themselves over while working alongside a personality as massive as Flair? Sure, with absolutely no inside information whatsoever, it's not hard to see a performer like Hook or Orange Cassidy, who intentionally do not talk very much as part of their gimmicks, linking up with Flair to take their acts into the mainstream stratosphere. Still, those performers are few and far between, and if Flair were to link up with a more traditional babyface or heel who can talk on their own, it's not hard to imagine that wrestler getting buried both on screen and online for their allegiance with Flair, leading to a situation much like when Steve Austin was managed by Ted DiBiase, or when Charlotte Flair had her father in her corner with regularity.
