Tag: Wooooo Energy

Ric Flair done with AEW as energy drink sponsorship winds down

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

After a brief run with AEW, Ric Flair appears to be done with the company as is the Wooooo! Energy deal that brought him in to begin with.

Fightful first reported the latest developments on Friday that the company has no future creative plans for Flair with Dave Meltzer confirming independently afterward.

In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer reported the following:

“Those who have pointed out no “Wooooo! Energy” graphics on the screen of late, that is a smart observation and unless something changes, it doesn’t look like you’ll be seeing that going forward. There was no explanation given, but unless something changes, it does look like that deal is over with.”

Flair first appeared on an October 2023 edition of Dynamite to reunite with Sting as Tony Khan’s “special gift” to the icon as part of the lead-in to his retirement run. At the same time, a multi-year sponsorship deal between Wooooo! Energy deal and AEW was announced and on a November episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Flair said he had signed a two-year deal.

It’s unclear if both sides decided to mutually end the deal early or if there were other circumstances that led to its demise.

Khan said in a later interview that the deal was paying for Flair’s appearances and that “he’s essentially paying (AEW).”

Flair was part of Sting’s final run to retirement which occurred in Greensboro, NC, at March’s Revolution. He was double superkicked by the Young Bucks during Sting & Darby Allin’s AEW Tag Team title defense over the Bucks that night which saw Sting and Allin retain.

The short run was not without controversy as Flair cut a suggestive promo on an episode of AEW Rampage last fall that was heavily edited when it made air. The blowback caused Flair to say he would “walk away” from AEW if he was embarrassing the company.

Flair has been in the news for other incidents and comments as of late which includes a well-publicized conflict in a restaurant and some comments against Eric Bischoff, Jim Herd and Vince Russo which he walked back.

The Rock’s Seven Bucks Productions is currently in the early stages of working on a biopic about Flair’s life.

Tony Khan: Ric Flair ‘essentially paying us’ for his AEW appearances

Posted on by Josh Nason

According to AEW head Tony Khan, the company isn’t paying anything for Ric Flair’s appearances and that he “is essentially paying us.”

Talking to the New York Post about the road to Sting’s retirement match at March’s Revolution, Khan was asked about Flair’s inclusion as part of the final countdown. It first started when they were approached by Flair’s Wooooo Energy drink company for a “high-paying sponsorship.”

Khan then said, “We’re not paying Ric Flair; Ric Flair is essentially paying us. We’re getting paid by Wooooo Energy for all of his appearances, so we’re collecting revenue from them.”

He did not say how much revenue that was.

Flair debuted on a late-October edition of AEW Dynamite as Khan’s “special gift” to Sting and was later announced as signing a multi-year deal (later revealed by Flair as two) with AEW in conjunction with his energy drink becoming the official one of AEW.

Last week, Flair tweeted that he would leave the company is he was embarrassing Khan. While not specifically mentioning it, that came on the heels of a taped Rampage promo where a part about him inviting women between 18 and 28 years old to his hotel room was omitted prior to broadcast.

Khan said he approached Sting before the All In ticket sale announcement to see if he would be returning to London’s Wembley Stadium. However, Sting felt he couldn’t make it and they worked toward the final date.