Following the “Plane Ride From Hell” allegations that resurfaced against Ric Flair on last Thursday night’s episode of Dark Side of the Ring, WWE is continuing to distance themselves from the WWE Hall of Famer as his merchandise is no longer available at WWEShop.com. When you search the website, there are no longer any items listed for Flair. This includes the Flair Legacy Championship Collector’s Title that was available for pre-order. WWE had just announced the replica title last week. As of this writing, WWE has not publicly commented on the allegations.
In other Ric Flair news and a classic case of “sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut”, Flair has issued a second statement to Wrestling Inc where he confirmed that the “helicopter” bit is accurate. For those who didn’t see Dark Side of the Ring, it was revealed that Flair often spun his penis around like a “helicopter” in front of women and the WWE Hall of Famer doesn’t deny it one bit.
Flair said,
“To clarify, the ‘helicopter’ as it was called, is accurate. I wish I could blame it on youth, but it was a case of drinking too much and being inappropriate and I apologize for that (and have countless times over the years).
I made some bad decisions during dark periods in my life, and it is something I’ve spent a significant part of years I was given by the doctors in 2017 trying to make right.
I condemn sexual assault in any way, shape or form. I could (and have) written books (as have others) that have covered my transgressions. I’ve made some terrible decisions, but I’ve never forced myself on anyone in any way. Period.”
ORIGINAL: After much speculation as to how “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair would respond to the controversial allegations that he sexually assaulted a flight attendant in what was dubbed as the “Plane Ride from Hell” during his run in WWE back in 2002, Flair is now coming forward and has released a statement regarding his actions.
You can check out Flair’s full statement below:
“Every person that I’ve worked with, from my lawyer to my publicist to my wife has said to not post a response; but I’ve never run from past behaviors before and I’m not going to start now.
I want to clarify a few things:
About four years ago, I gave ESPN full access to my life for a “30 for 30” special. They covered taxes, financial issues, adultery, divorces, the passing of my child and drinking/partying AT LENGTH.
Rory Kamp, desperate to matter for another 15 minutes, did an interview about it this morning. When Rory’s lips are moving, he’s typically lying, but one part of what he said was the God’s honest truth:
“I’d never heard that he had forced someone to touch his genitals,” Karpf admitted. “Everything with Ric that was construed as negative I tried to address in the 30 for 30. His drinking, his philandering, his adultery, his money problems, there’s quite a bit, but never, at least in the people that I spoke to, no one ever brought up that he would force himself on somebody.”
I allowed my personal life and the lives of my wife and children to be turned upside down for one reason: Whether it’s good or bad, even the really bad, the truth has to matter. Even in wrestling.
My issues have been well documented over my 40+ year career. The impact of drinking too much (which nearly killed me 5 years ago) has been told time and time and time again. The reason Rory (or anyone else for that matter) never heard stories of me forcing myself on ANYONE is simple: it never happened.”
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) September 21, 2021