Skip to main content
Inside The Ropes
  • News

    WWE News

    AEW logo for their Dynamite TV show

    AEW News

    Japan News

    Wrestling News

  • Features
    John Cena and Becky Lynch

    5 WWE Legends Who Almost Got Fired

    Scott Steiner and his 'pet' tiger

    10 Iconic Pro Wrestling “Super Pets”

    Triple H entrance

    5 Changes We Want To See Triple H Make To WWE

    Bray and the fiend

    5 Dramatic Gimmick Changes

  • Interviews
    20 Questions Killer Kelly

    20 Questions With Killer Kelly

    Rick Boogs

    Interview With Rick Boogs

    JONAH

    Interview With JONAH

    Rosemary Interview

    Interview With Rosemary

  • Podcasts
    What’s Going Down #86 – Omega & Punk Returns, Dexter Lumis & More

    Listen
    Wrestling Roast #72 – CM Punk Is Back!

    Listen
    Wrestling Roast #71 – Where Is MJF?

    Listen
    Power Slam Podcast #251 – Post SummerSlam RAW, Pat McAfee & More

    Listen
  • Quizzes
    Play Word Rumble

    Play Word Rumble

    WWE logo

    Can You Name Every WWE Pay-per-view?

    WWE Survivor Series sole survivors quiz

    Can You Name All The WWE Survivor Series Sole Survivors?

    WWE Smackdown logo

    Can You Name Every Wrestler That Competed On The First SmackDown?

  • Live Tours
  • Shop
    Magazine
    Clothing
    Accessories
    Collectibles
  • Trending
  • Follow us:
    • Facebook Facebook
    • Twitter Twitter
    • Instagram Instagram
  • Watch us:
    • YouTube YouTube
    • Twitch Twitch
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
  • Play Word Rumble
WWE News

Ric Flair Discusses Why He Left WWE In 1993

By Lyle Kilbane. Published 26th May 2021.
Ric Flair

Ric Flair has opened up about why he left WWE in 1993 to return to World Championship Wrestling and the lukewarm reception he received from WCW management.

Flair was a mainstay of the NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions throughout the 1980s. The Nature Boy headlined shows across the US and was a multiple-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion. However, by the time 1991 came around Flair was in well-documented conflict with WCW boss Jim Herd and he left for pastures new in the World Wrestling Federation.

Debuting as ‘The Real World Champion’ and parading the ‘big gold belt’ on WWF television Flair found a match made in heaven in manager Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan.

Speaking on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Flair recounted going and said he doesn’t know if he’d have been asked to rejoin the company in 2001 if it wasn’t for his brief spell with them in the early nineties.

Flair explained:

“Once I got [to WWE], I was fine, I just had to get away from that. I had a bunch of friends there, I had another year and a half, greatest time of my life, and the worst mistake I ever made [was leaving]. If they hadn’t asked me back in 2001, I don’t even know if I’d been on this show today. They brought me back and [Triple H] would take nothing less, ‘You’re the only one who doesn’t know who you are Ric.’ When you’ve lost it [in your head], it is really hard to get it back. You can only be broken so many times.”

Ric Flair then explained why he left the WWF after only a year and a half. In that space of time Flair had managed to win the WWF Championship twice and won what is widely considered the greatest Royal Rumble match of all time in 1992.

However, Flair explained he was a victim of the move to a new generation:

“Vince [McMahon] said to me ‘We’re going to go younger,’ and he said ‘if you want to go back, they’ve been calling me every day so I’m sure they’ve been calling you, go in and go’. I went back, between the time I left there and got there, management had changed and Ole Anderson was now in charge, he looked at me and said ‘You just got beat last night on T.V. in a loser leaves town match with Curt Hennig, what good are you to me?’”

“I thought to myself, I’ve been with WWE? WrestleMania? Royal Rumble? This place is in shambles. I looked at him and said I can compete every Monday night and be a bigger star than anybody you got right now. All I did was work hard and a thousand guys that could say ‘Thank you Ric for making me who I am.’ That was my job and I didn’t look at it as a job.”

Related

Bully Ray Says Former NXT Stars Need To Improve

Despite his uncertainty at being back in WCW in 1993, Flair stayed with the company until its eventual demise in March 2001. On the last episode of WCW Monday Nitro Flair tangled one more time with his legendary rival, Sting.

Ric Flair has also recently about his latest role in WWE where he was aligned with Lacey Evans who was in a rivalry with Flair’s daughter, Charlotte.

Credit: Ariel Helwani MMA Show

h/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

  • Facebook
    Share
  • Twitter
    Tweet
  • WhatsApp
    Send
  • Share

Popular Stories

  1. Every WWE / NXT Release – August 18, 2022
  2. CM Punk Has “Verbally Expressed” Displeasure With AEW & Adam Page
  3. CM Punk’s Shots At Adam Page On Dynamite Due To Real Life Heat
  4. The Gunn Club Is No More, Billy Gunn Reunites With Former Partners
  5. Adam Page – “I Don’t Take Advice”
  6. Eric Bischoff Talked Former WWE Star Out Of Posing For Playboy
  7. How Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns Reacted To Injuring The Rock
  8. SmackDown Star Teases Return Of Beloved Former Entrance Under Triple H
  9. Multiple NXT UK Stars Released
  10. Shawn Michaels Becomes New WWE Vice President of Talent Development Creative
Inside The Ropes
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
  • Write For Us
  • Facebook Facebook
  • Twitter Twitter
  • Instagram Instagram
  • YouTube YouTube
  • Twitch Twitch
© 2022 ITR Digital Media Limited. Read about our privacy policy.