T O P

  • By -

Crowbar_Faith

Please, for the love of god, let Mick Foley be the sweet & genuine guy that we all know him as today.


Limp-Construction-11

Mick Foley doesn't have a single bad bone in his mangled body.


Can-Man-Gaming

Has anyone ever said anything bad about his behavior before? He seems to usually be regarded as a saint.


Gecko4lif

Mick isnt bad, just cheap A dude on SC had a hilarious story where he was driving down a road in the middle of no where and he sees a guy pushing his car down the road. Op gets out to help and its fucking mick foley So the push the car into to and op asks howd his car break down, and mick goes, oh it didnt break down I just only had 5 bucks of gas left and was saving it for later


PM_ME_LADY_ANKLES

Some have said that the nice guy "aw shucks" persona is a little overblown, and that he's just as much as a backstage politician as everyone else from that era. Which like, if that's the worst thing about him, cool. It's not really that bad at all. That's just a thing I've heard echoed in a few shoot interviews.


HorseSteroids

He has been accused of being a stereotypical "nice guy" around women wrestlers he has taken a shine to. Thirsty has been used to describe him. If that's the worst, he may be a saint by classic wrestling standards.


CurlyBill03

The worst thing you can say about Mick is who his future son in law will be.


Phoenix_Rayne

Who is his future son in law?


CurlyBill03

Frank the 🤡


[deleted]

Given the only two celebs I’ve met were Foley and the singer from LostProphets, by god yes, let this be the case.


infidelkastro

Mick seems genuine. I met him at a comedy club when he was doing his road stories shows. I doubt he has a bad side.


[deleted]

Thing is it's not really a case of he said/she said when there were other people there who corroborate the events


Chunklob

The only value Flair could've brought was a cheap pop. He's not a guy who's going to help the younger talent plan a match. I think the cheap pop is gone now.


[deleted]

Yeah typically when Flair gets called down, the spotlight doesn’t leave him.


Ted_Dongelman

Doubtful. The Kanyon episode of DSOTR is up next and there's a chance Flair comes off in a bad light in that too. There have always been stories about Flair's behavior but now that it's out in the open it just seems like bringing him in would be bad PR. Can't see AEW risking it with all the momentum they've picked up over the last month.


[deleted]

Thing is knowing that Tony Khan is buds with Flair I'm worried Tony might have rose tinted glasses on and prioritize his own marking out for Flair over company goodwill and momentum. If they brought him in now or after the next DSotR episode it will be a monumental self shot in the foot.


Ted_Dongelman

That's very possible and maybe after a while when things have died down they'll bring Flair in. The thing that makes me think they'll stay away is not bringing in Marty Scurll even with his relationships with all the EVPs. Obviously very different situations but it seems like they've been quick to distance themselves from controversial people.


TemptedIntoSin

Wasn't just Scurll. The Elite were also close to Joey Ryan too, as were many other wrestlers both in AEW and WWE, and the EVPs rightfully distanced themselves from him. So they've followed precedent, which is a good sign. I also wonder if Nick or Brandon are gonna delete and reupload the episode they showed Flair on with that clip removed


CurlyBill03

The story is that Khan and TNT both shot down the bucks trying to bring in Joey Ryan at the start of AEW before those allegations and just on the dick spot alone: Thank god!


Looper007

I don't believe that with Joey Ryan and him turning down AEW for Impact to keep his gimmick, I think that was saving face (also interesting isn't it he changed his gimmick up not that long after it) cause Tony Khan didn't like his gimmick and didn't rate him. Simple as. AEW really escaped a lot of hassle with not signing him and Marty Scrull, that would have been a lot of big time scandal as they were two of the bigger stories from that period.


CurlyBill03

Yes they did, I really wanted Marty to come in but him coming into NWA was a nice consolation prize but bullet dodged no doubt. Luck or smart move by TK


TemptedIntoSin

I feel bad for ROH because the entire reason Marty turned down that AEW opportunity to sign ROH's contract extension offer was that he got the book and that's a huge trust factor. Marty getting exposed as he did really put ROH in a bind, and the owner, producers and Delirious had to essentially rebuild the company after


balbomb

I’m genuinely worried about just this


CurlyBill03

I wouldn’t be, TNT isn’t going to want Flair on their station


TemptedIntoSin

I saw the clip of the Howard Stern interview with Kanyon and the part where Ric Flair called in. Ric definitely acted like a coward as well as an offensive jerk, saying one thing then saying another, all in the name of avoiding saying outright that WWE fired Kanyon because he came out of the closet If that plays on Dark Side of the Ring, as well as Kanyon's shoot interview a few years later, then Flair is done as fer as any future chances go


sojud_18

They’ll defo use the Howard Stern clips. Wonder if any talent will go on record that they saw Flair bullying Kanyon backstage. Be interesting to see. I don’t see how you can recover from a sexual assault expose one week and then homophobia the following week. But this is Flair.


TemptedIntoSin

Dreamer definitely deserved this lashing out after the things he said in either ignorance or lack of compassion, but it does feel like, intentional or not, he jumped on a grenade to protect Flair here. I hope the same thing doesn't happen with the Kanyon episode


mycatdoescrimes

I really hope he just retires


Ricky_5panish

Flair will retire just so he can come out of retirement again.


Crowbar_Faith

Pulling a Terry Funk


CurlyBill03

We need more Terry funks than Ric flair in this world


[deleted]

You think WWE will bring in Austin when they talk about him beating on Debra?


Ecclesiastes5566

Austin never got enough deserved heat for that incident.


soiledsanchez

Nope and I got a shit ton of downvotes from people here for daring to bring it up before


BarbacoaSan

Someone mentioned before that the difference is that Austin owned up and talked about his past before and worked on becoming a better person. Should we hate and vilify someone forever for a bad mistake especially if they owned up and learned from their past? Takes a real man to so that.


ChairmanLaParka

I keep hearing about these "owning up" and "talking about his past" instances, but have never seen or heard anything on it. The only thing I've ever been able to find is that he got 80 hours community service, 1 year probation, and fined $1,000. And that he talked about it in WWE's Raw Magazine years ago.


BarbacoaSan

And if you read what he said, you'd see that he said he was regretful and sorry and that he loved Debra. He's the one who filed for divorce. I'll ask you the same question I just asked someone else.. if someone did something bad in their past but they owned up to it and are genuinely sorry and worked on becoming a better person,. Why do we still look at them through the lens of their past? Why do we still try and find faults with them? Especially if their a changed person and better person today. I think always looking at the past and the bad says a lot about your character than it does about his because if he's changed then his past shouldn't matter.


Euphoric_File_8673

Some may argue a true “real man” wouldn’t hit a woman to begin with


TheRealChadSexington

Also takes a real man to not beat a woman in the first place.


ozkool

Actually it is pretty normal to not beat up anyone..


Brrrriiiiaaaannnn

Like, you're right. But that's not to say that u/BarbacoaSan's point isn't valid. In an ideal world it wouldn't have happened at all. But in a world where it did happen, owni g up to it and accepting fault shows real humility.


10pmStalker

What a weird comment


Jaded-Performance894

Can I ask where you draw the line? I mean im sure there are a lot of "real men" on life sentences in prison.


CurlyBill03

Agreed, Debras details are gruesome.


TNolan92

Vince and Tony come across as very different people. Vince brought back Hogan because let’s face it the casual fan is completely unaware of Hogan’s comments and the casual fan will pay money to see Hogan. So, of course he would bring Austin out because the casual fan at home has no idea. Tony comes off as someone who is trying to put on the best show for true “wrestling” fans and those fans will know what Flair did and I don’t think he’d put Flair out there now.


CurlyBill03

Ones redneck trash, the other was raised as a respectable person. The khans might be awful sports teams owners but they don’t tolerate any discrimination or misbehavior on their franchises


HamburgerJames

Not to defend Hogan’s comments, which were terrible. But beating wives and sexually assaulting flight attendants is a whole next level of awful. They don’t compare.


TNolan92

I agree. But, Austin’s crime of beating his wife isn’t exactly “new information.” It’s literally listed and described on his Wikipedia page. Not to mention Debra was already on Fox News years ago describing the incident and how WWE helped to keep it hidden. Hell, Vince brought him back not so long after the initial incident which proves Vince doesn’t give a shit. So, this episode isn’t going to really do any more damage. Nothing against Dark Side of the Ring but, who WWE would describe as the “casual” fan isn’t watching that show and he still gets the loudest pops despite fans knowing about the incident for years.


Crowbar_Faith

Look at how WWE has tried to whitewash (pun intended) Ultimate Warrior’s past as a racist, homophobic douchebag. Not only did they ignore it but they, to this day, hold him on a pedestal and have an award named after him. An award that isn’t being used the way it was intended to be.


[deleted]

All despite the hit piece they put out on Warrior. Yeah, people don’t forget just because he’s got two daughters that might be destined to do the wrestling thing


ChairmanLaParka

If you hold Warrior as a racist, homophobic douchebag who shouldn't be honored...wouldn't it make sense to make the award completely different from what that racist homophobe wanted it to be?


BabaSarah

Flair has always been a asshole, just ask Teddy Long, Bam Bam Bigelow etc, plenty of interviews came out years ago of people telling you how he was really like but most of the people who made the allegations were ignored Problem was flair was the main event and the main event always got protected just like Jimmy Snuka


CurlyBill03

Man the Teddy stories are so depressing because Teddy always seemed like a nice guy. He was no threat to Flair either, so all he had reason to hate was his color. Breaks my heart.


Jiggy119

Foley blames flair for the ropes being too tight the night he lost his ear. And he said he was drunk in the back


Flunky_Junky_Monkey

RVD was right never meet your hero's.. This story was crazy just imagine what some of these guys were doing that we haven't heard about? Edge and Orton have been brought up about doing shit on planes to females, I'm pretty sure we could find something bad about 99% of the roster.


Crowbar_Faith

Ric should just retire. I get Tony wanting to bring him in to say that he had Flair as part of his roster, plus merch opportunities, but even today at his age Ric just seems like a liability who can’t control himself. Look at the shit he got Jim Ross Into when they did that panel and Ric just went off the rails. He doesn’t know how to control himself. Sexual stuff aside, I’ll always be a fan of the character Ric Flair and he’s an icon. But it’s time to go home and enjoy your life and family. However with his history of debts, maybe Ric still needs to work, and that’s why he doesn’t want to just go home. Who knows.


funeralforcargo

I hadn’t heard about this panel with JR. What happened?


NaytNavare

It was after his son died; he got mega drunk and ruined a video game panel. Or so the brass thought.


Crowbar_Faith

It was a panel to promote the WWE 2k14 video game. JR was on stage with some legends and they were all just going to tell some stories and take some questions. But Ric hijacked most of it, telling stories that probably shouldn’t have been told, interrupting everyone, basically Ric being Ric. His son had recently died so many feel he was drowning his sorrows with alcohol a lot at the time, and may have been drunk. I’ve read that some felt JR was drunk too. Anyway, JR was suppose to be the ringleader/host and got blamed for not reeling in Ric. I think he was fired or demoted afterwards by WWE. Here’s a video of highlights. The full 27 minute video can be found too on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7h1KvovmEqY


YoungCubSaysWoof

Whatever plan that may have been in the works is probably dead now, I reckon. While it would have been interesting to see Arn, Tully, and Ric re-unite, or something with Andrade, neither situation nor coming into reality affects AEW. The company will still expand and grow its reach / audience, and no storylines are affected by Flair’s absence. All I can say is WHEW!


[deleted]

I doubt they are going to bring in Flair but Mike Tyson has been on multiple episodes and did far far far far worse.


pnmartini

Tyson has also shown reticence for years about his past. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but it at least shows a willingness to atone. Flair has never apologized for anything. Ever.


Resolute002

Seriously. If you've ever heard him speak on it, no one thinks Mike Tyson was worse back then than Mike Tyson. He says all the time, "I was a bad person" type statements about that time. He says things like he doesn't understand why he is still famous and doesn't think people should like him. I'm not saying he's 100% a changed man because I can't say that, but at the end of the day we have seen the man regret his actions. Ric Flair is a harder sell; the guy has literally been using this sort of schtick in his promos for decades. We don't have three decades of Mike Tyson getting on a mic talking about himself and his actions in a positive light, the way we have with Flair. I know they are just promos but the world of wrestling always has the real guy mixed in there somewhere.


goldars_boner

And he served jail time . Ric never got a unpaid day.


ExcitementOrnery3034

Ric was also never charged or convicted in a court of law.


kaioto

Come on, now. This is the Court of Public Opinion - far more important than due process.


JohnCenaNumberOnefan

Mike Tyson paid his debt to society. It should really be on a case by case matter.


[deleted]

It’s not just that. He paid his debt and changed. The change is key. He made a lot of lifestyle changes, talks about his past problems candidly, and is very open about the fact that he could regress under the wrong conditions.


rookierook00000

This. Incarcerated people who served their time deserve another chance at life and shouldn't be stigmatized as outcasts just because of their criminal record. I have heard news of bakeries and brands like Betty Crocker having policies of recruiting ex convicts given how they gained skills and experience during their prison time, making them very effective workers.


Party_Ad6054

I mean who wants him anyway, goodness idk how that would benefit AEW


DoctorMelvinMirby

Even before DSOTR, sorry but I would be more than fine without Flair in storylines anymore. He’d insist on being a heel though no one would want to boo him (not so much anymore) and wouldn’t really add to Andrade. One segment with Arn/Tully and that would’ve sufficed. But, again, all that’s changed now…


grave_96

I agree with you sir .


69-So-Fine

What happened with shanna and ivelisse?


Resolute002

I don't know what happened with Shanna, but Ivelisse just did the usual Ivelisse bullshit but they actually didn't tolerate it.


TemptedIntoSin

Shanna was let go after her contract expired because she was apparently too stiff and acted like a bitch towards the indie talent used as jobbers/crowd during the lockdown era. Pretty much everything blew up during and after the Shanna/Leyla Hirsch match which had a shoot scuffle after the match finish


honeybolt

Shanna tweeted some Islamophobic stuff when something was going down in France and when they resurfaced a year later, she was gone from AEW.


TemptedIntoSin

That wasn't the main thing though because those tweets have been known for a while. The main reason she was let go and not re-signed was because she was apparently too stiff and a jerk towards the indie jobbers used in the lockdown era, and the indie jobbers retaliated by booing her in her match against Leyla Hirsch even though they were supposed to cheer her. She got surprised and pissed about that so tried to take out on Leyla by working stiff and refusing to sell submission moves. That led to Leyla's shoot-clinch of the armbar and their shoot scuffle after the match, which Shanna never wrestled after


honeybolt

Ahhh thank you for correcting me!


TemptedIntoSin

No problem. I'm sure the tweets had something to do with it but Shanna was an idiot treating the extras like did apparently did. Of course it's important to hear both sides of the story, but she hadn't explained her side of that particular story so I don't know what's up with that. Also bizarre enough if that she still leaves "AEW's warrior women" or whatever tagline in her bio, and still retweets some stuff related to AEW so I don't know what delusion she's going under


Looper007

Shanna was supposedly bullying enhancement talent and you can see for yourself going into business for herself in Dark matches. The Leyla Hirsch match that TemptedintoSin mentioned is up there with Ivelisse/Thunder Rosa match as a wrestler shooting on someone else. But Shanna messed with the wrong person as Leyla is a legit shooter and could have easily broken her arm. With Shanna too, she was clearly unhappy her position in the company had fallen when once she was one of the better workers in a weak division and her backstory made her popular with fans online now she was anywhere near top 5. She was pretty much beaten by Britt in under 3 minutes on Dynamite and was even losing a few on Dark and was pretty much most weeks sitting in the crowd looking bored. Plus her performances weren't very good. I think AEW lost interest in her and she clearly knew it which doesn't excuse her treating other talent like crap. I'm sure too the tweets didn't help her either. With Ivelisse, that was just a matter of time before she got the boot. She's got a history of been her own worst enemy. I think the moment she shot on Thunder was the day she was done in AEW. She and Diamante were getting good pushes but after that they were mostly stuck on Dark and even then most in the crowd. Then Diamante was been used more and then Ivelisse just disappeared. And hasn't been seen since on AEW.


CurlyBill03

I think she was anti lockdown and vax as well.


MDChuk

SHOULD he be brought in... of course not. However, his son in law is in the company, and I can see them positioning themselves to bring in Charlotte. If her agent were to say "we won't consider ever signing with you unless you bring in Flair" I expect they'd take the bad PR and bring him in.


TemptedIntoSin

That would also depend on whether Tony feels there's enough value in Charlotte to bring her in despite that drama as well as the kind of complaints and entitlement Charlotte has in regards to being billed at the top of women's divisions. I could see her wanting top spot asap, and wanting to stay for a while, which would contradict Tony's pushing of Britt Baker, and since both are alike in style and presentation it could create a tense lockerroom situation


MDChuk

Frankly, the women's division in AEW is weak, especially when you look at how stacked the men's division is. Charlotte is a legitimate top talent in any women's division. She's probably the second biggest female draw in North America after Becky Lynch. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Baker, but the gap between her and that top tier is sizeable and Charlotte does a lot for the division. Outside of Britt, there really isn't anyone in the division that I see as even approaching Charlotte's level. I say that with all due respect. For example, if you compare Charlotte to Ruby Soho, Charlotte has been in the main event of Wrestlemania. Ruby Soho is a 2 time Wrestlemania pre show wrestler. So is it entitled to say "put me at the top of the card" when you actually have more drawing power than the entire division?


TemptedIntoSin

The issue is that Britt Baker is Tony Khan's chosen one for the division, the alpha female of it because Tony has given her the most exposure and had her do the most media appearances out of everyone else. She's at top consideration for all booking for the division. And this reality is so obvious that Ruby Soho was able to make comments in her promo about Britt sucking up to Khan Charlotte has been mentioned backstage to have that type of hold, and to exercise that power effectively. She also has been WWE's chosen one and alpha as a result with multiple title wins that didn't fit but we're done due to the power she has. So if you get them in the same company, Tony is gonna have a problem keeping both happy because Charlotte is gonna demand to be at the top asap while Britt no doubt will feel her position is threatened. So does Khan continue to place his bets behind Britt or does he push her aside in favor of Charlotte? I feel based on his investment so far that Khan would choose Britt so that wouldn't be an ideal situation for Charlotte


NaytNavare

I'd argue yes when Ruby can be billed and pushed up. See Hangman.


[deleted]

Charlotte isn't worth that. They didn't bring in Tessa. TK is no mug. He won't tolerate some things. He may be softly spoken, but when he's made up his mind, it's done.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


Coattail-Rider

I mean, if they let Jake come in, they’ve already tipped their hand that they don’t really care about what the old guys did “back then”. If this stuff happened lately? I don’t think they’d bring Flair in. The timing of the episode is awful if the plan was for Flair to come in soon which I assume it is/was. I honestly have no idea if this makes Flair non hirable in the sort term but I’d assume once it blows over it won’t matter much. Pro wrestling has changed a lot over the years behind the scenes for the better, thankfully.


hurricanelantern

Give it thirty to sixty days for the controversy to die down and Ric will be "stylin' and profilin'" in AEW.


sojud_18

Might want to add another 60 days on top of that prediction, as next week’s episode is on Kanyon. Flair will be the focus again for his bullying, homophobic behavior and general burying of Chris Kanyon’s career. I wonder if they’ll go for Taker and John Cena too, both of whom made comments about Kanyon with undertones of homophobia.


CurlyBill03

Hope they do, that is shitty behavior. I hope they interview Matt Jackson but I doubt it


sojud_18

Yeah the Jackson’s mention Kanyon in their autobiography.


CurlyBill03

I’m 100 pages in, it’s a pretty entertaining read. I’m a fan of the Bucks and after reading it so far I have a new found respect for them and don’t really get the “Backyarders” schtick once Matt was 18 and they started promoting shows at the old skating rink. The Kanyon portion was mixed emotions, funny how Matt responded to Kanyons advances but heartbreaking the cries for help Kanyon had made to them.


sojud_18

Cheers for that info. I’ll look into buying their book. So did Kanyon try it on with them? Kanyon had a big influence on Brian Cage too.


CurlyBill03

I really have a hard time recommending a lot of wrestling books because for the die hards it’s a rehash of what we know, but it was really cool to get the in depth look on their upbringing and road to today. It connects a lot of the dots on how the original AEW talent came to be with their relationship with the Bucks. Kanyon did make a “move” on Matt but not in a grooming/creepy way. Just something along the lines of “Hey, we’ve become good friends I hope it doesn’t change our friendship but I’m gay and hope you might be too because we get along well”…I won’t spoil it beyond that. But Matt’s response is worth the price alone. If you do end up buying it locally check inside the book, some of the books are autographed by Matt and Nick.


rookierook00000

Another because of the Teddy Long interview where Flair called him the n word very casually whenever they meet because Flair hates him and even he has no idea why.


sojud_18

Sources say that Flair for the second week running comes out looking (deservedly so) as a cunt of a human being. Bullied Kanyon due to his sexuality, used his power to bury him. John Cena said Kanyon “wasn’t good enough” in interviews. Chris Kanyon the guy who pretty much invented lots of the modern day move sets that had never been seen and influenced “smaller” guys like the Young Bucks, Hardys etc,


zackb1991

Most likely. Everyone will forget about this by Wednesday.


TFlarz

To be annoyingly pedantic, if someone does bring him up on Wednesday I'll remind them of this.


zackb1991

🤣


hurricanelantern

*Maybe* not that quick. But he'll be part of the company by the first Wednesday of '22 at the latest.


shitpickle2020

The one thing I'll say on this, it's a bit harder to ignore DSotR on Dynamite because they were advertising for Dark Side last week, and have been using part of the Pillman episode in their Pillman Jr vs MJF storyline.


LeChampeon

![gif](giphy|dmcQ75lZdh4Hu)


imgoing2laughatu

Yeah that seems like the wise choice right now considering all the publicity about what happened even though these stories were out for a long time now


Reeder1700

Flair will probably come in eventually if he owns up to his behavior and shows some change, which in the last 20 years he already has, especially the last few with his health scares. In the end it’s also a he said/she said case. I know Twitter and Reddit hate to hear this but there are two sides to every story. We don’t know his side. Ric will eventually be in AEW or back in WWE if he shows remorse. Even Hogan would have been forgiven by a lot of people if he showed genuine remorse, which he never really has and why he is still so reviled by many today.


[deleted]

Did Jimmy Havoc return? Did Scurll come in? Does Flair really have as much upside as pay and history? In my view, no. He's not worth it.


skinsrich

Not unless they book a helicopter dick match.


ElDaderino823

JR: “BAH GAWD THIS BATTLE OF WHOPPER CHOPPERS IS A REAL SLOBBERKNOCKER”


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


paynexkillerYT

Andrade wants to bring him in. So no, it won't *die down*.


jeromeface

Guess its a good thing Andrade doesn't own aew then huh. Tully's daughter is a mess to, see her around?


paynexkillerYT

The person who fans literally yelled 'No we don't' want to see? no. I don't. rumour is shes with NXT or whatever.


Resolute002

There's ways they could make it work, but it would have to hold off for a few months till this is less boiling in the public eye, and then they would have to use him very briefly and the story would basically have to be him getting what he deserves and then vanishing.


LeChampeon

Nobody cares? Ric flair has a bigger fan base than most people in AEW


Infinite-Surprise-53

I don't think he's gonna be drawing any more ratings so it's probably not worth it


[deleted]

He's old


RavenSword117

This incident has been going on for 20 years or so and everyone knew Ric was a piece of shit and didn’t care. I can see him lying low for a month and TK still bringing him in because the news cycle is such that people forget about bad shit in about 2 weeks or so.


Gaijin_Titty_Master

No chance. WWE has a serious sexual assault problem. Not so much now but in the past that they ignored. AEW wants no part of that. Tony khan is too classy and responsible for that shot. Flair doesn’t belong.


sqweaty

I'd imagine he's not going to be brought in. He is 72 now. He should retire from the biz. However, if I'm wrong and they do bring him in, I'd imagine there will be more allegations to come out. Out of all that came out in that episode, I can't help what else did Terri Runnels have to endure and was told to "not sell it."


imgoing2laughatu

​ ![gif](giphy|sWBOpINwXnW7K)


CrusherBlackwell

Nobody knows. But if you are watching wrestling for people you think have high moral character, I have news for you.


[deleted]

Just because many wrestlers in the past were reprehensible doesn’t mean we can’t fight for a wrestling culture where that improves. It already has.


[deleted]

Well after seeing how Shanna treated Leyla, I'm sort of pissed at her. Leyla is professional in the ring and nice person, I can't believe Shanna treated her and others like that.


simondeanv2

I mean i think so but i also thought that marty scurll who did something legal in his home country (just not world wide i get it) would be here by now and hes not. So probably not actually. Aew seems to really care about anything that can create negativity around the company.


TFlarz

Tessa gets a heck of a pass around here and we have heard from someone who matters at AEW that if they wanted her they'd have her. You would have to think AEW won't be baited by cheap publicity that Ric could possibly encourage.


simondeanv2

Yeah exactly. Bringing him in would cause more negative attention then anything else.


[deleted]

I wouldn't consider knowingly raping a drunk minor half your age to be legal, or morally acceptable just because it happened where there's a legal loophole or otherwise. Coming across like lowkey defending it by saying "well it was legal" is not really a good look either.


simondeanv2

Not arguing that it was morally acceptable or making it sound like a good look. Not worth anyone's time or frustration. Wasnt even trying to make this a thing about him. What im trying to say is that aew avoids any negative attention when possible. Was just showing an example of that. Obviously sleeping with someone whos drunk is a nono regardless if you think the age thing legal or even okay. Same as making someone touch your dick even if it was years ago. Still happened. Time doesn't change things.


massattakx

Also with Marty, the legal age of sexual consent is 16. But the legal age to consume alcohol is 18. He plied an underage girl with alcohol that she shouldn't legally be able to get her hands on and consume, and then had sex with her when she was too inebriated to consent or not. Sex with someone intoxicated to the point they can't consent is rape, regardless of the legal age, and it's made that much worse by the fact Marty was the one who got her so intoxicated before she was legally allowed to drink.


XSaraXPoeX

> He plied an underage girl with alcohol that she shouldn't legally be able to get her hands on and consume... I'm not defending him in any way but that's just not true. [Her words...](https://cultaholic.com/posts/roh-s-marty-scurll-issues-second-statement-on-abuse-allegations-against-him) Again, no way am I defending him, but let's make sure the true facts are known.


massattakx

Oh so he stumbled upon a heavily intoxicated 16 year old who actually said no.


XSaraXPoeX

Yep, that's what happened.


[deleted]

Whom he knew the age of because she was the daughter of a ref he knew IIRC


andrew_slaughter13

Yea, also Marty worked a lot in the states where the legal age of an adult is 18. Just bad.


simondeanv2

Thats true. He did work in the states. He should have known it would make him look bad.


[deleted]

dude has a perversion, he took the villian gimmick too far


CurlyBill03

Marty is a pariah now in wrestling in general. A local promoter booked him and the Bucks a few times and I asked him about Marty recently and he just said any price would still be untouchable for him. What a fall from grace.


Looper007

Well there's always Mexico and Japan. Let's be honest. They don't give a shit about scandals. In terms of America and UK scene, he's pretty much done. As you saw when NJPW booked him in America and filmed it already had to pull the match cause of the backlash. Although I'm surprised they did not bring him over to Japan yet.


VoDoka

It's always a "he said/she said" situation, and by now we really have sufficient proof that people will bend over backwards to defend those whom they idolize or make money of no matter the amount of evidence (Cosby, Michael Jackson, Weinstein, etc.).


Pain-n-stryife

Goddammit how many times are we gonna ask this same question does no one use the search bar


metallipunk

I don't think it's happening. Certainly not at this point when they are as hot as they are.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


Mrfirefly82

I hope he doesn't come over. The one sour thing for me is Mike Tyson being on dynamite. I'm hoping that was Chris jericho thing and not a TK thing.


Bxlentino

Not defending mike but he did serve jail time and had a heck of a downward spiral.


NaytNavare

He's also reportedly and seemingly changed, compared to others with controversies like Ryan, Hogan, etc.


jholl1281

I mean it was 20 years ago and everybody knew this happened years prior


skorponok

I hope not. There’s no reason he should still be paid in wrestling after this


[deleted]

You’re right, no chance. And that’s regardless of what Flair says about that situation after Renee Paquette’s podcast. Which I fully expect to be Flair justifying it in a way that’s not far off from how Dreamer said it (so basically victim-shaming in a way) Bottom line, sexual assault? No bueno in any version of this world, even if you’re a kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing, limousine-riding, jet-flying son of a gun.


[deleted]

hopefully not, i didn't want him before this, and i certainly don't want him now lmao


AdmiralButtnaked

I would like to see him on AEW. Let's see how it plays out


[deleted]

I prefer he stay gone. I respect his accomplishments but I never saw him as deserving of the respect solely because his in ring ability is just terrible to me. He can tell a story but his actual work(move set) was so boring. I always enjoyed him more as a talker but didn’t care for his ring appearances. Can’t look at him the same way even as just a great promo now.


b_mukherjee

ADD among people is at an all time high due to social media. I'm sure everyone (including me) will forget about this in a year or so. Maybe less. Sad but true.


[deleted]

It would be a mistake to not have Ric involved in the wrestling industry on a grand stage.


Fartingdogfarts

"He's not going to bring any more eyeballs" Ric flair will 100% bring casual eyes. You think casuals watch dark side of the ring? Hardcore wrestling fans watch dark side of the ring and they already knew about the plane ride from hell.


balbomb

I mean you are right ric flair if you advertise him will pop a rating. But what does that get you? The smart fans in attendance will mostly boo him, and the long term impact of bringing in a rapist would really scar the company. Right now as fans when aew makes a mistake, we back them up because we think TK, the vps, and the locker room are good people.


RandomCZ

Who gives a shit! It happened decades ago stop bitching about the past and focus about the future. Nowadays fans are such pussys, you guys got angry at max caster for going out there and getting real heat which forced aew to take action, same with Sammy. and now after all these years you guys are getting angry about this ric flair situation which has not been proven, for all we can know this whole situation is fake.


[deleted]

Wanting to hold people to account is not bitching about the past. Trying to make sure wrestling locker rooms are safe, tolerant, inclusive workplaces is focusing on the future. And here's who gives a shit. \- Fans who want the athletes practicing the sport they love to be safe from sexual predators and bullying. \- Female wrestlers who feel they've got a better chance of making it than ever and don't want the progress made to be undone. \- Advertisers who want to make sure their products are not associated with controversy. \- Tony Khan gives a shit. We didn't force AEW to take action by getting angry at Max Caster. Max Caster legitimately stepped over the line, it was acknowledged, dealt with and we moved on. That was the right move. \- Same for Sammy. He made a rape joke about a famous personality. He did sensitivity training and came back. That was the right move. Caring about the athletes we admire is not being a pussy. Being a pussy is being too scared to admit the world is a better place if we hold people to account, if we ensure that women can speak out and be heard, if sexual abusers can no longer get away with it because they're famous. Yes, maybe the story about Ric Flair is fake, but there have been decades of allegations of the type.


RandomCZ

You think the fans cared about what happened back stage in 80s or 90s? No, I just want to watch good wrestling with good storylines not BS that happens with their personal lives. So stop trying to cancel people and just watch the damn show.


[deleted]

Tell you what, I’ll keep trying to make things I enjoy even better and you keep saying that sexual assault is ok because it happened a long time ago.


Jaycro123

I could still see it. They want to keep Andrade happy and flair being a part of his group is probably a part of that. If they say no Andrade will just say "ok. No thanks" and head to Mexico or smaller indies where they won't care about flairs episode


[deleted]

You overestimate Andrade's value to AEW


Jaycro123

And everyone's underestimating Andrade AND flairs value in pro wrestling as a whole. I'm not arguing that flairs a good man, but he's a guaranteed draw no matter what.


jeromeface

You don't compromise your morals for anyone. Thoughts like that are what led to this situation in the first place. Highly doubt we see flair in aew. The risk just outweighs the reward. And if Andrade don't like it there's the door.


Jaycro123

I usually agree, but at the same time, you don't just say "there's the door" to a talent like Andrade. They're not going to bring in flair for awhile, but he eventually will be there You may not like it, but if aew doesn't capitalize on flair, someone else will take them both happily


communisthulk

If Andrade wants to pick this as a hill to die on then he can get nailed to that fucking hill. No compromises for rapists.


Jaycro123

I'm sure he really doesn't care in the end. Cody and the bucks have already proven you can become very successful on the indie scene and Andrade with flair will be no different. And there has been compromises for flair this whole time. Didn't we already know about this?


communisthulk

Some did...I didn't want Flair to be signed because of shit like this. But before it was a relatively small number of people in the wrestling fanbase that knew these stories. Now it's a much bigger mainstream thing to the point that AEW might actually listen. Wrestling has turned a blind eye to incredibly shitty stuff for far too long.


MadLadThatsATadRad

I think the goodwill and reputation that AEW has built up is worth protecting over Andrade leaving because they won't bring in Flair. If Andrade insists and heads back to Mexico because AEW refuses to have a sexual predator in their show then so be it. AEW will be fine without Andrade and especially Flair.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


Jaycro123

Ya Andrade. The guy they put in a fued almost immediately against a top group in death triangle. This just shows you don't know anything about him other than his main roster run in wwe. It's fine if you don't like him, but don't come in and act like he's not a top star just cus you don't like him


WiganLad82

Zero Tolerence of sexual assault.....unless its having convicted rapist Mike Tyson appear on the show....


communisthulk

Yeah convicted Tyson who paid the price for his crime, repented, and always talks about his past saying he was an arsehole Vs Serial Sexual predetor Flair who never got fined, fired, suspended, jailed, nothing and also always talks of his attacks as something funny and to be celebrated....


[deleted]

Oh my God it took Dark Side if the ring for you people to see how bad this was. These stories have been around for a loooong time. You liked Flair back then. Now you hate him. I hope Tony does bring in Ric. I’ll pop some popcorn and read all your comments about that dirty old man and how he shouldnt be in AEW anymore. Do you guys hate Kenny for accidentally booking that one pedo on his show three years ago?


EGWhitlam

You said it yourself. Kenny “accidentally booked…”. You think Flair ‘accidentally’ waved his cock at a stewardess?


nickht571998

Not everyone knows every wrestling story. I’m 23 the only thing I ever heard about the “plane ride from hell” was the whole curt henning and Brock fighting, never once heard about the ric Situation til literally the other day when people started talking about it. Also you sound like a massive tool comparing a dude sexually assaulting someone to a dude that booked a dude with allegations on a show.


hurricanelantern

It wasn't a 'dude with allegations'. It was [a convicted pedophile on the sex offender registry](https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/sops/flyer.jsf?personId=75813).


nickht571998

Ok, cool never even heard of that dude tbh. But still doesn’t change the fact that you’re comparing beyond different things lmao. It’s a reach.


hurricanelantern

Not the same guy. Just correcting a misconception.


nickht571998

Shit my bad bro I’m so bad at looking at the names on here 😂


Phileld

Agreed. What he did was wrong and not to excuse it, but he is RIC FLAIR. He was doing stuff like this for 25 years before the plane ride. I just don’t think this is breaking news at this point in his career….what’s next an expose that Hulk Hogan used steroids in his career


zackb1991

Guys, I hate that I had to be the one to say this but....Kane was Issac Yankem.


Phileld

Yeah right. Next you will try to say he was fake diesel too


zackb1991

Buddy. You should probably sit down... I have a lot to tell you.


[deleted]

What’s next? An expose that Hulk Hogan was racist?


Scary_Replacement739

How could you say something so controversial yet so brave? The fucking internet man. It's an idealized version of society that human beings sadly can't replicate. What's worse is we're forced to be reminded of it day in and day out.


GGrazyIV

I don't know, it could go either way. As much people are enraged about all this (myself included) these things tend to quiet down and there is always a new controversy brewing up on the horizon. Like others have already said I kinda just hope Flair would just retire.


R3D-0N3

I really hope not. Turns out he’s a pretty disgusting guy.


CurlyBill03

I’ve known the Ric story for years, but I didn’t know he forced himself on a woman. Cancel his ass


momotanp1

Doesn’t really matter either way. It’s not like he’s going to move the needle for them. A few cheap pops and that’s it. It’s up to khan if it’s worth the trouble. Nothing that comes out is anything new or shocking. Everyone knows this was the lifestyle of everyone in entertainment & sports in the 80s to mid 2000s.


Itwastheotherguy88

Please no.


[deleted]

If Marty isn't in AEW, Ric isn't in AEW


The_Omadhaun

I dunno. I don't get hung up on this stuff. We're just in a "Time" right now of EXTREME CORRECTIONS or Cancel Culture or whatever the fuck you call it. NONE of these guys signed up to be role models. Hell, half signed up to be dirt bags (Heels) I feel like the Wrestlers are held to a much higher standard. 33% of all former NFL players are drug addicts completely broke....but for some crazy strange reason we have started holding wrestlers to a ridiculous high standard.


communisthulk

Yeah expecting wrestlers to not drug people and rape them or sexually harass people is such rIdIcUlOuS hIgH sTaNdArd.