Ric Flair is widely regarded as one of the best pro wrestlers to ever be in the business. As well as his prowess in the ring, Flair is legendary for the passion and charisma he brought to his promos.
When he returned to WWE in November 2001 after an eight-year absence, it was his speaking skills that were in demand as he took on the role of the onscreen Co-Owner of the company having bought Shane and Stephanie McMahon’s stock.
This led to frequent verbal run-ins with Vince McMahon. As it turns out, McMahon wasn’t a big fan of the promos Ric Flair produced during this time.
Vince McMahon wasn’t a fan of Ric Flair’s promos
Speaking on his ‘Something to Wrestle’ podcast, Bruce Prichard – who was a powerful figure in the creative side of WWE at the time – explained that McMahon was a fan of Ric Flair, but at the time they were trying to do something different with him.
“I think he [Vince McMahon] wasn’t a big fan of Ric’s promos by any stretch of the imagination. I think that he was a fan of Ric Flair, the person, especially at the time, and he was a fan of the work. He was a fan of Ric’s if that makes any sense. But I think when you especially in 2002, we’re talking ten years later, in 2002, he wasn’t a fan of that.”
“In this era of Ric being the owner and the general manager, whatever the hell it was, it was trying to present Ric in a different way, a different side of him and a business side of him, and not be that character that he had been for all those years as a performer. We were looking for a different side of him to have him grow.”
H/T to eWrestlingNews.com for the above transcription.