By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ric Flair was not invited to WrestleMania 42 due to an incident with an active wrestler. Flair appeared on Ariel Helwani’s podcast on Wednesday and explained that he threatened Ludwig Kaiser. “I threatened to beat up Tiffany Stratton’s husband last year, and I wasn’t allowed to go,” Flair said. “A 24-year-old kid being threatened by a 76-year-old man, and I can’t go to WrestleMania. That English kid. He’s going to go as far in wrestling as a gnat. He’ll be a fly on the wall in a year.
Flair was asked what caused him to make the threat. “Well, they had that thing where Tiffany [Stratton] made a smart remark about Ashley’s divorces, which we both know she’s not smart enough to have written. Somebody gave her the script.”
Flair said Kaiser wrote something on social media that triggered him. ‘I called him, and I said, ‘Hey, when I see you, I’m gonna beat the shit out of you.’ So he went like a little bitch and told Hunter [Paul Levesque], and I wasn’t allowed to go.”
Flair went on to say that he deserves special treatment. “There should be a red carpet for me,” said Flair. “A red carpet to the front row. And that’s how I feel about it. With my contributions to this business and the work that I put in, hours, hours, hours of trying to make wrestling something that it is today, and I got to have problems with politics? Give me a break. Come on. I’m not mad at anybody. I understand it’s politics now. There’s too much politics and not enough wrestling.”
Flair also said Dennis Rodman requested that he induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame. Flair said he reached out to “the powers that be” and never got a call back. Check out the full interview below or via Helwani’s YouTube channel.
Powell’s POV: Stratton dated Kaiser, but they were never married and are no longer together. Flair took no accountability for threatening Kaiser, nor does it seem like he’d considered the possibility that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He also neglected to mention that he’s under AEW contract, though it’s unclear if that had anything to do with it.
It wasn’t all negative. Flair praised the Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton match from WrestleMania 42. He also said Roman Reigns granted one of the most professional interviews he’s heard to ESPN, and compared it to listening to Tom Brady. He also credited Levesque for restoring his confidence after Eric Bischoff destroyed it in WCW. He stated later that Undertaker should be next in line to head up creative if Levesque leaves the position. Flair said he should watch AEW more, but he praised Tony Khan and said it wouldn’t surprise him if the Khan family bought WWE someday. Flair also praised MJF’s work. He said MJF had an ego problem at one point, but he’s calmed down.
Flair went on to say that his relationship with Levesque is not the same, but they still exchange pleasantries. He also grumbled about Stevie Richards and Dutch Mantell writing things about him online, but claimed it didn’t bother him. Flair bragged about having a recent phone conversation with Donald Trump. “They don’t even have Donald’s number,” he said. Flair boasted that he can call Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Mark Wahlberg, Darius Rucker, Kid Rock, and Snoop Dogg. He went on to tell a story about being roofied by Curt Hennig, and boasted about his sexual exploits. It was noon somewhere.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
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