Basically as soon as he was released earlier this year, fans expected The Nature Boy to head to AEW-however, it seems Ric Flair is not All Elite after all. Plus, a Hit Row Superstar had heat within WWE.
Ric Flair Not All Elite After All
For months now, many expected The Nature Boy to sign with AEW. That has not happened, so perhaps Ric Flair is not All Elite after all?
Just to recap, at a very high level, Ric Flair’s year to date.
Flair had himself a super comfortable, well-paying, gig. However, he did not like his on-screen creative direction.
He asked for, and was granted, an immediate release from WWE.
Based on that, and some other factors, fans expected it was a matter of when, not if, he was All Elite.
Of course, in the time since his WWE release, Ric Flair landed in some rather hot water.
That all stemmed from an episode of Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring series. In Flair’s episode, they covered the notorious “Plane Ride from Hell”.
At that point, it seemed safe to say that Ric Flair was toxic, and that no one could or would touch him.
source: custom, wrestling edge twitter screenshot
That point was supported by the fact that, well…no one signed him.
Flair made some comments recently, about having AEW have him come in to talk with CM Punk.
Those comments made fans think he was either going to be All Elite after all…or was simply lobbying for a job.
Well, the former WWE Superstar offered this post to clarify things:
Just Having Fun And Sharing Memories Does Not Imply I’m Looking For A Job! I Left One Great Company & It Wasn’t Because Of @VinceMcMahon! And I’m Not Going To Work For Another Great One, And It’s Not Because Of @TonyKhan! It’s As Simple As That.
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) November 20, 2021
In a very Ric Flair way, he lets fans know that he was not lobbying for work, and in fact, is not going to AEW.
Until, of course, he gets some crazy rich offer from somewhere.
Hit Row Superstar Had Heat Within WWE
It seems like just yesterday, this faction was seen as one of the next big things for the company. Now, all are gone, and we are hearing one Hit Row Superstar had heat within WWE.
According to the Wrestling Observer, the heat that this Hit Row Superstar had, has followed him since his time within NXT.
So which Hit Row Superstar was getting the heat?
source: custom, Adam Goldberg 28 twitter screenshot
That would be none other than Top Dolla.
Per the report, AJ Francis has had heat dating back to their time with NXT. That heat followed him to the main roster.
At this point, the report does not list specific reasons for the release, but it really does not matter either.
For Hit Row, it was a rather spectacular crash and burn.
Ahead of the WWE draft not that long ago, rumblings were that Hit Row might go up fast.
The reports were accurate, and the faction got drafted to SmackDown.
Now, the group is gone.
Perhaps that one Hit Row Superstar having heat in the locker room was a contributing factor to his release.
