Ric Flair is the most famous heel in professional wrestling history, but he’s currently out of a job. TNA Wrestling recently parted ways with him.
At 63, his professional wrestling options are limited. WWE and TNA find themselves in the middle of a legal battle and WWE is currently staying away from “The Nature Boy” until that calms down.
In major need of a paycheck, Flair has agreed to appear at the Insane Clown Posse’s yearly “Gathering of the Juggalos” from August 8th – 12th in Cave-in-Rock, Illinois.
Flair is an example of a professional wrestler falling from grace. What happened to the WWE Hall of Famer? I’ll explain what has happened to Flair over the last decade and why he needs to find a new profession.
Before I go deep into the Flair’s fall from grace, I need to give props to Shane Ryan at Grantland.com. I haven’t been the biggest fan of the site, but his August 2011 piece on Ric Flair is the site’s greatest work.
Ryan explains Flair’s current financial woes, his failed marriages, and his erratic behavior that could be explained by multiple brain injuries. He is a mess, but he has to keep wrestling in order to pay multiple alimony payments and cover failed real estate deals.
An appearance at the “Gathering of the Juggalos” is a smart move for Flair. A large portion of ICP’s fanbase are wrestling fans. The rap duo started Juggalo Championship Wrestling in 1999 and the promotion is still in business. They even had a short runs in ECW, WCW, and WWF at the peak of ICP’s popularity.
Flair’s current unemployment may only be short-term since WWE plans to launch the WWE Network at the end of the year. It is no secret that Triple H, Vince McMahon’s son-in-law, is Flair’s close friend. He would be the perfect host for the network’s programming, since they will be featuring a lot of classic wrestling matches.WWE will not hire Flair until TNA’s lawsuit is settled.
TNA Wrestling is claiming that a former WWE writer they hired leaked information that Flair would soon be released to his former employer. TNA even filed a restraining order against WWE when the rumored ‘mole’ was made public.
Flair’s story is a cautionary tale of the life of an entertainer. Professional wrestling has many of these tales, but now with the big money that professional athletes are receiving, the stories of bankrupt players are becoming more and more common. You can only cash in on your past performance for so long. He is too old to perform in the ring and TNA realized that by letting him go. It was even rumored that Spike TV, the channel that broadcast’s TNA programming, banned Flair from making himself bleed and made him wear a shirt while wrestling.
A lot of people will be attending ICP’s festival and it isn’t as embarrassing as wrestling in a high school gym for $50. I hope he gets an endorsement deal with Faygo out of this appearance.
For those who are not aware of Insane Clown Posse’s music, here are the music videos for their songs “Miracles” and “Another Love Song”.
