Ric Flair Apologizes For ‘Cruiserweights Will Never Headline WrestleMania’ Comment
Ric Flair hasn’t wasted time grabbing headlines since debuting his MLW Radio podcast, The Ric Flair Show.
Last week, he was critical of how Roman Reigns was being handled, especially when it came to eating a pinfall to Finn Balor, and in the melee it came up that “Cruiserweight guys will never headline WrestleMania.”
That comment, for many followers of Finn Balor and other high-performing cruiserweight wrestlers currently with the company was tantamount to a slap in the face.
After experiencing Internet outrage for the first time in his life, Ric Flair said that he wanted to apologize for saying the remarks and that he didn’t mean to offend anyone.
What he left out, though, was a retraction.
Don’t miss Ken Patera on the @RicFlairShow — available now on @iTunes and @mlw!
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— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) August 4, 2016
“Look, it takes a long time to build a brand,” Flair said, adding that deciding who goes into a WrestleMania event has nothing to do with weight and more to do with which wrestlers have branded themselves effectively.
“Randy Orton has built a brand. John Cena has built a brand. Roman and Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are all in the process of building a brand. And only two guys get that spot every year.”
When prompted to discuss how that spot is chosen by co-host Conrad Thompson, Flair said that it’s the writing team, and, above all, Vince McMahon who makes the final decision.
Flair didn’t get through the segment without showing a bit of his biased father mentality when asked if he thought women would ever headline WrestleMania.
“I think my daughter is good enough to,” he laughed, again praising the Sasha-Charlotte match that stole the show on Raw last week. “But I don’t know if they’ll ever main event a WrestleMania. I do think they’ll main event a pay-per-view.”
Just heard Ric Flair claim a cruiserweight would never main event wrestlemania
I think he’s got dementia pic.twitter.com/SDFwcPhL7b
— SickBoy (@GamingAnarchist) August 4, 2016
As far as the “Cruiserweight” comment is concerned, Ric Flair would have been wise to not make it so definitive. After all, as the tweet above shows, a cruiserweight has technically already headlined a WrestleMania, but that situation is likely different from what “the Nature Boy” had in mind.
While Bryan did headline WrestleMania 30, it was as part of a speculative stipulation and was against three heavyweights — Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista.
Bryan had to beat Trips at the start of the show in order to face the last two in the main event. He did so. Everyone expected him to do so. But his billing had more pushing it than just the cruiserweight thing.
Now that the WWE is moving away from beefcake performers and placing an emphasis on the leaner guys, it’s highly probable there will be a cruiserweight main event at WrestleMania in the next five years, so, yes, Ric Flair is likely wrong, but he likely meant that WWE — more specifically Vince McMahon — would never have his main event be between two 205-pounders.
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But what do you think, readers? Was Ric Flair right or wrong to say that cruiserweight wrestlers will never headline a WrestleMania, and do you accept his “apology” from this most recent podcast episode? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Image via WWE]
