Real life events and issues being recreated on wrestling television is nothing new, but WWE making fun of Ric Flair being arrested still ruffled more than a few feathers.
In November 2005 an arrest warrant was issued for Flair after it was alleged that he had grabbed another motorist by the throat and damaged their vehicle. The incident was later parodied on WWE television, most notably by Edge, who was shown driving on a highway before leaving his car in one of Flair’s robes and a wig and attacking someone in another car.
Ric Flair Breaks Down 2005 Arrest
Speaking on his To Be The Man podcast, Ric Flair recalled how the incident went down.
Well, I was coming back from England and I hadn’t drank all the way on the plane. It was Thanksgiving Eve. So Mark, Megan’s ex, picked me up. I was with Tiffany and we’re driving home. I hadn’t had a drink, so I was driving at warp speed. I slept all the way home. That’s the first time I slept in days.
This car was next to me and I tried to pass. I had just bought a brand new Cayenne, the turbo SUV, which was probably one of the hottest cars in the market then. I went to pass him. Finally, I went around him and he came up behind me and rolled down the window, gave me the finger, and started screaming at me. He takes a full beer can and throws it at the door of my new car. Boom. I mean, I just went into, you know, I just got off a plane. I’m not doing anything wrong, and I thought oh my God.
As it happens, and you’ve gone into Charlotte before, it goes from eight lanes, to six, to four, to two at the bottleneck as you start to go into the city. I never lost sight of the guy and Tiffany kept saying, ‘I know what you’re going to do.’ I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything.’ I just kept him in my rear view mirror, and when we got to two and we were jammed in traffic, I got out of the car and I walked over to him. He was two lanes over. He opened the door and he had a tire tool in his hands. I may have just pushed him or something.”
Flair then recalled WWE using the incident on television, something which didn’t go unnoticed by the D.A’s office.
About a week later, I got a call from the police department and they said, ‘Ric, we have a warrant for your arrest. Do you want to just come in and we can work this out and we’ll walk you through it?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ But it made major news across the country and Vince of course made that skit with Edge on TV which was hilarious. That really got over with the D.A. too by the way. ‘So you’re making fun of it.’ I said, ‘No sir. Not me. I have no control over creative at Stamford.’ It was probably [Bruce] Prichard.”
Ric Flair is currently preparing for the release of a new documentary looking back at his life and career titled “Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair.” The film is set to premiere on Peacock on December 26th.
H/t to WrestlingNewsCo