AEW confirmed today that they’ve signed Ric Flair to a multi-year deal after Flair made his AEW debut on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
The debut saw Flair be revealed as Tony Khan’s gift to Sting ahead of his retirement at next year’s Revolution PPV. Flair said he couldn’t pass on this opportunity and wanted to be along for the ride with Sting until his retirement at Revolution.
The announcement from AEW mentioned Flair’s Woooooo! Energy drink. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported that they were told by sources Flair’s deal with AEW “was very similar to that of Randy Savage’s to WCW in the mid-1990s, where part of getting Flair was also procuring a deal with the energy drink that would cover a significant portion, if not all of Flair’s salary in All Elite Wrestling.”
When Savage left WWE for WCW in the 90s, he also took a big money sponsorship deal with Slim Jim with him, something Eric Bischoff has confirmed and noted the sponsorship deal paid a significant portion of Savage’s salary.
It was added that AEW sources noted merchandise was a big possibility for the promotion being motivated to sign him in addition to other things such as video games and action figures.
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