After making his AEW debut on last Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, Ric Flair has signed a multi-year contract with the company.
Flair made his debut as Tony Khan’s gift to Sting ahead of his retirement at next year’s Revolution PPV. Flair stated that he couldn’t pass up this opportunity and that he wanted to ride along with Sting until his retirement from Revolution.
AEW’s announcement mentioned Flair’s Woooooo! Energy drink. According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, 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 1990s, he took a large sponsorship deal with Slim Jim with him, which Eric Bischoff confirmed and noted paid a significant portion of Savage’s salary.
According to AEW sources, merchandise, in addition to video games and action figures, was a big possibility for the promotion being motivated to sign him.
