Every wrestling fan knows that Ric Flair is not only one on the greatest in-ring performers of all-time, but he’s also one of the best talkers the industry has ever seen. As strange as it sounds, that’s exactly why WWE was terrified at the thought of bringing Flair back to the company in 2012, and almost decided to not bring him back.
Why would WWE be so scared to bring such an all-time great like Ric Flair back to the company? Well, the answer is simple: Since Flair is one of, if not the greatest, talker in the history of professional wrestling — for the most part, Flair never used a script, and came up with his material off the top of his head — WWE knew that Flair would likely work without a script during his television appearances, and the thought of that terrified WWE.
In the past decade or so, WWE has vastly expanded their writing team, and currently have up to 25 writers on staff. Almost every single word said by a WWE superstar on WWE television is written for them by one of the writers. There are exceptions made for certain people, such as John Cena, CM Punk, Steve Austin, The Rock, or any other past great when they return. But those exceptions are made by WWE because, like Flair, those guys refuse to work with a script.
The subject of WWE being apprehensive to bring back Ric Flair in 2012 was talked about on the post- TLC edition of Wrestling Observer Radio , when hosts Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer were critiquing Roman Reigns’ obviously scripted promo, and how WWE should just let their wrestlers come up with their own material, much like guys in Ric Flair’s generation had to. Meltzer also noted that WWE was absolutely terrified at what Flair might say on the air upon his return, as they would have little to no control over it because Flair won’t work with a script.
Ric Flair finally returned to WWE television on December 17, 2012 to present the Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year, which John Cena won. Flair’s segment, where he went face-to-face with the then WWE champion CM Punk, and subsequently took out Paul Heyman, was one of the best segments of the entire year, mostly due to Flair not using a script and being allowed to be himself.
WWE second-guessing bringing back one of the all-time greatest talkers in the history of professional wrestling is a great example of the overly-contrived environment that WWE has created over the last couple of years, and Flair’s appearances since he’s been back are a great example of how it’s a lot more likely that WWE superstars will “get over” if they’re just allowed to be themselves and aren’t overly-scripted.
Past WWE superstars, such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Mick Foley and CM Punk, have criticized WWE for their decision to force their talent to deliver scripted material instead of their own. In a recent interview , Mick Foley talked about the problems with WWE scripting every single promo, and said, “If you don’t make the talent go out their and deliver scripted material, and just let them be themselves, you’re not going to get that special moment every single time, but the chances of it happening will be greatly increased.”
As mentioned before, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has been a very vocal critic of WWE’s scripted promos, and believes that his famous “Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your a**” promo would have never happened in today’s WWE,because that was a line that Austin delivered off the top of his head. That catchphrase, among other things, went on to make Austin’s career, and was put on the front of one of the best-selling t-shirts in WWE history.
It’s been two years since WWE brought Flair back to the company, and they’re still a bit apprehensive about putting Ric Flair on television. Earlier this year, WWE had plans to make Flair a full-time manager, and he would have likely managed The Miz. However, Flair told WWE that he didn’t want to manage The Miz, and that he would rather be Dolph Ziggler’s manager. WWE shot that down, and they haven’t called Flair back to television since, even though Flair is more than willing to do something.
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