Eric Bischoff is happy that Ric Flair has found a new home in wrestling but wants to wait before ultimately making a judgment.
Fans were surprised on November 2nd when Ric Flair was announced to have signed a multi-year deal with AEW that also included a lucrative sponsorship with Wooooo! Energy. With The Nature Boy’s passion for the business being well documented, Bischoff is happy that the 16-time World Champion has a creative outlet once again.
Speaking on Strictly Business, Bischoff described how delighted he is for Flair following the new deal and shared his own experiences with trying to get a Hulk Hogan-endorsed energy drink into stores back in the day:
“I’m happy for Ric. Professional wrestling is Ric Flair’s life. Ric Flair left Richard Fliehr behind a long time ago. I’m happy for Ric because Ric loves the business. He loves being around the business. It’s good for Ric. It’s really good for Ric. The Wooooo! Energy thing, that’s obviously a great opportunity for the people who are behind Wooooo! Energy to get it some national promotion and exposure. That’s a good thing.
It makes it easier for the distributors who are trying to sell that drink and getting it into the retail outlets around the country. I had a little bit of experience with that with the Hulk Hogan energy drink way back. We got it into 3500 Walmart stores nationwide. It’s hard. It’s hard to penetrate the retail market and this is a leverage point that I’m sure the sales team behind Wooooo! Energy is going to be able to leverage and take advantage of, so it’s a win for Ric personally, it’s a win for the people behind Energy, and let’s see what it means to AEW. Time will tell.”
Eric Bischoff Recalls Unique Randy Savage Deal
Following Flair’s AEW signing, a report stated that Wooooo! Energy would be paying most of, if not all of The Nature Boy’s salary. This deal is said to be similar to what happened when Randy Savage joined WCW, as he had a lucrative endorsement from Slim Jim at the time. When asked about the nature of the deal back in 1994, Eric Bischoff admitted that it was part of the reason that Randy Savage was signed to the promotion.
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