One of pro wrestling’s all-time greats is no longer working for the WWE.
Ric Flair – known for his famous “Wooooo!” – was reportedly released by the WWE effective Monday, according to Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc. and Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.
The 16-time world champion was “frustrated” with recent booking decisions and contacted WWE chairman Vince McMahon directly to share his frustration and request his release.
He reportedly got his wish.
Earlier in the year, “The Nature Boy” was in a storyline with his daughter, Charlotte Flair, and Lacey Evans, but it was dropped when Evans became pregnant in real life.
Ric Flair, 72, was unhappy with his role – there was a slight romantic angle brewing in the storyline with Evans, who is more than 40 years younger than Flair and married – and shared this with McMahon.
“In this instance, I didn’t [feel comfortable],” Flair told ESPN in May. “The one thing I’ve learned is you’re not going to win a war when someone’s got their mind made up. She most definitely didn’t like it, but the one thing that I can say about me is I always said yes. I didn’t want to be that guy that was always going ‘Oh, that isn’t perfect for me.'”
“When that was all over, I was mad but now I just look back and say it wasn’t it. This was something that when I got to TV, [McMahon] wasn’t there to argue the point with and he had stuff going on, I don’t like to put the pressure on someone if I can’t talk to him.
“He just made up his mind, I think a lot of it was because [Evans] was a marine. God only knows we cannot give enough back to the people that serve in the military and I think he wanted her to be successful and the way to get successful sometimes is to take two people that are doing really well and give them the rub.”
While Flair – who signed a new contract with WWE in 2020 after his prior contract expired in 2019 – is gone, his daughter is still with the company. Charlotte Flair will contend for the WWE Raw women’s championship in a triple-threat match at WWE SummerSlam on Saturday, Aug. 21 in Las Vegas.
