Ric Flair vents about WWE's 'lack of respect' after alleged WrestleMania snub: 'Not even a call'

· Yahoo Sports

Ric Flair is not happy with WWE. The 77-year-old pro-wrestling legend vented on Wednesday’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” after what he perceived to be a less-than-welcoming weekend in Las Vegas for this year’s WrestleMania 42 spectacle.

Flair, a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, claimed that he “wasn’t allowed to go” to WWE’s annual two-night event this year due to an alleged altercation in 2025 with Ludwig Kaiser, the former boyfriend of WWE star Tiffany Stratton. Flair said he “threatened to beat up” Kaiser last year amid a dispute between Stratton and Flair’s daughter, 14-time WWE champion Charlotte Flair, ahead of their WrestleMania 41 title match.

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Flair’s account of the situation:

“I didn’t get invited to WrestleMania this year. I threatened to beat up Tiffany Stratton’s [boyfriend] last year and I wasn’t allowed to go. A 24-year-old kid being threatened by a 76-year-old man, and I can’t go to WrestleMania? Are you kidding me?

“I went OK, ‘I need your number,’ and I got it — which, I can get any number that I want any minute of any day. And I called [Kaiser] and I said, ‘Hey, when I see you, I’m going to beat the s*** out of you.’ So he went like a little b****, told Hunter [WWE CCO Paul Levesque], and I wasn’t allowed to go.”

“Even though I’m not there, I know everything because I know everybody. There should a red carpet for me — a red carpet to the front row. And I talked to them about it. With my contributions to this business and the work that I’ve put in, hours and hours and hours of trying to make wrestling something that it is today, and I’ve got to have problems with politics? Give me a break. Come on. I’m not mad at anybody, I understand it’s politics now — it’s too much politics and not enough wrestling.”

Flair also claimed that Dennis Rodman personally requested him to give an induction speech for the former NBA star’s entry into the WWE Hall of Fame, however Flair was unable to do so after allegedly getting the cold shoulder from WWE officials.

“Dennis Rodman called me and said, ‘Will you induct me in the Hall of Fame?’ And I sent to the powers that be, ‘Dennis wants me to induct him.’ I never got a call back. … I never even got a call back.”

“I think there’s a lack of respect. And I think there’s so many people under fire right now, they’re all ducking and dodging.”

“I don’t know. All I know is that it seems like people, they hate the fact that I’m so relevant. They hate the fact that signed more autographs this weekend at WrestleCon than anybody. They hate the fact that I did a pool party with 3,000 beautiful women with Diplo.”

Flair also noted frustration with not being able to be there for the WWE Hall of Fame induction of Stephanie McMahon, who was part of the 2026 induction class as well.

However, his grievances with WWE didn’t stop there. Earlier this month, a furious Flair admonished the pro-wrestling leader on social media, claiming that WWE nixed a merchandizing deal he’s long had with popular apparel brand Roots of Fight.

Indeed, Flair-branded apparel can no longer be found on Roots of Fight’s online store, however fellow WWE legends “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker all still have their merchandizing lines available to purchase.

In Flair’s eyes, the alleged halting of his deal — and the manner in which he claims it happened — was yet another example of WWE’s “lack of respect” for him.

“I woke up that morning to find out — because 10 people called me — that Roots of Fight had to drop me. Then I got a very long, extended text from [Roots of Fight co-founder] Jesse [Katz] saying, ‘I apologize, they bought the company and I have nothing to do with it. Thank you.’ And that pissed me off. Not even a call. And sometimes I think — and I believe this in my heart — there are exclusions, because some people that have done so much to help so many people and influence so many personalities, that I could get cut a break. It’s not a financial deal with them, you don’t make a lot of money with Roots of Fight. It’s prestige. It’s Muhammad Ali, right? It’s Ric Flair, I could go down the list. And I was the No. 2 seller behind Muhammad Ali. So why not just say, ‘Hey Ric, we can’t use you,’ a simple phone call?”

“Now they just add on who they want to. Not that those guys don’t deserve it. Make no mistake, Taker, Steve, all those guys. But now the WWE wants to control everybody, just does want they do. … I try not to have any animosity with anybody, but just to be quite honest with you, how do you not have respect enough for me to call me and say, ‘I’m sorry Ric, we do you anymore.’ That’s what I call a lack of respect.”

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