Ric Flair Explains Why He Departed WWE

Ric Flair has explained why he departed WWE while speaking to Renee Paquette on Oral Sessions. 

Flair departed the company in early August after he requested and was granted his release. The Nature Boy had reportedly become frustrated with daughter Charlotte's recent booking and Flair has previously detailed that he wanted to pursue other business opportunities. 

Now, Flair has gone into more detail about what led to his WWE release. 

"I had a bunch of pending opportunities. I had things that I was doing currently at the time I signed my contract. They allowed those. Wendy got to keep her shop. These are big things. I got to keep cameo and a couple other things. A couple of deals were coming along and I got to the point where, I was asking them, I probably exhausted them asking, not to grandfather me in, but to let me do them. Of course, the answer was, 'You can do them, maybe.' I wanted to finally, which I did for three years, make a living not being under a wrestling payroll. That's all it was. There is no animosity, it's just business. I wanted to try something and they had a different vision," Flair said.

After Paquette inquired about WWE's vision for him, Flair added: "To just get paid, basically, a lot of money. Nothing is wrong with that. I'm doing NWA 73, which is a huge deal. I was the last travelling world champion, 365, twice on Saturday and Sunday. I did that for five years. Not a lot of people can say that. I probably wouldn't have been able to do that. Not because Vince would have said no. It would have never got to him. I didn't leave with any animosity. 

"When I almost died four years ago, I found out who my friends were when I woke up, and I found out who my friends were when I left WWE. You'd be surprised, on the positive side, how many people who reached out. I can also tell you, people who started rumors, no need to get into that. 'Oh, he's going to AEW. He and Tony Khan are friends.' Yeah, we are friends, but I haven't heard a word from Tony [Khan]. If he asks you, tell him I'm around [laughs]."

Flair last appeared on WWE TV in February after a widely-panned romance angle with Lacey Evans. The Nature Boy has appeared in AAA and the National Wrestling Alliance since his release. 

H/T to Fightful