Ric Flair has revealed that he recently met with Vince McMahon after WWE put him back in their opening TV package.
Back in September 2021, Dark Side of the Ring aired a documentary looking back at the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” in May 2002.
The plane journey was immediately etched into wrestling infamy as the behaviour on board quickly got out of hand, resulting in a series of fines, while Scott Hall and Mr Perfect were released from the company altogether.
In the documentary an air stewardess who worked on the flight alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by Ric Flair. In the wake of these allegations, the Nature Boy’s merchandise was pulled from WWEShop.com, and his famous “Woooo” was removed from the WWE signature open that plays before the company’s programming. A CarShield ad campaign featuring the WWE Hall of Famer was also paused.
However, on July 4th, Flair was reinstated into the opening package. He described being removed as “the most hurtful moment of his entire career.”
During a recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, Flair revealed that he personally met Vince McMahon to thank him for the gesture.
“I went and saw Vince yesterday [Monday] to personally thank him because they were in Tampa. It made me feel like my world had changed again. It made me feel a lot better than when they took me off. Everything Vince McMahon has ever said to me has come true and he said, ‘I promise you I’ll put you back on it,’ and he did. I went over there and thanked him,”
It was reported that the decision to reinstate Flair into the clip was taken as the “heat” from Dark Side of the Ring has now dissipated.
Flair is currently preparing to step into the ring one last time on July 30th as part of Starrcast. At the event, the Nature Boy will team with his son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to take on Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.