A Car Shield commercial featuring Ric Flair has been “paused” following allegations that emerged during an episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
On the episode analysing the ‘Plane Ride from Hell’ an air stewardess seemingly alleged that she was sexually harassed by Ric Flair.
The ‘Plane Ride from Hell’ took place following the UK exclusive pay-per-view Insurrextion in May 2002. During a now infamous flight, several performers were involved in incidents that would result in fines, lawsuits and, in the cases of Scott Hall and Curt Hennig, releases from the company.
As reported by PWInsider, a spokesperson for Intermedia, the advertising agency which handles Car Shield’s commercials, said that the ad campaign has been paused.
“We take these matters very seriously. As of right now, we are pausing the campaign and we will do our due diligence.”
Following the airing of the episode it has also been reported that Tommy Dreamer has been indefinitely suspended by IMPACT Wrestling as a result of comments he made about the incident on the show.
Meanwhile, former WWE Superstar Maria Kanellis has called for change in WWE following the documentary.
Writing on Twitter, Kanellis initially hit out at what she saw as the culture within WWE during that period. In a follow up Tweet, Kanellis said that “playing dumb kept her safe,” adding that “we were all afraid in WWE.”
It was all for power and for us to be submissive. Playing dumb kept me safe back then but now I fight against all that nonsense. We were all afraid in WWE. I refuse to be afraid anymore. https://t.co/9kqBSXgpHr
— MariaKanellisBennett (@MariaLKanellis) September 17, 2021
In a later post, Kanellis said that the talent were her “favourite part” of her last run with the company, before explaining that “the office needs to change.”