WWE Hall of Fame: Ric Flair Doesn't Give a Damn About a Stinking TNA Contract

Promises and handshakes have always been a rather tricky thing in pro wrestling. Trust was what got Vince McMahon in trouble during the Monday Night Wars when Lex Luger was working without a contract and was therefore able to show up on the competition's television show virtually overnight.

In fact, if ever there was an industry where a contract was paradigmatic, national professional wrestling would be just that. Yet still there manages to be a looming controversy geared towards a possible breach of territorial employment, despite the existence of a clearly inflated contract signed to avert such an incident. 

This past week on RAW, two rather surprising inductees were revealed for the 2012 Hall of Fame.  With Edge retiring last year, and a slam dunk Hall of Fame choice for whenever Canada gets to host another WrestleMania, the Rated R Superstar was suddenly brought out of the frying pan and into the fire. He is set to become the youngest member of the Hall of Fame come March 31st. 

The other inductee was just...weird. 

With Ric Flair still bound to an unnecessarily bloated TNA contract, the WWE defiantly announced legendary wrestling stable the Four Horsemen as Hall of Fame inductees. This means Flair—a 2008 inductee—will now be a two-time WWE Hall of Famer of sorts. 

The announcement was as much arrogance on the WWE's part as it was defiance. The usually petty promotion's liberal showcase of Flair footage, despite the legend working with the (distant) competition, was an indication that talks with Flair to appear at the WWE Hall of Fame had already been conducted and perhaps successfully closed, as was reported by PWInsider earlier this week.  

It's hard to imagine that Dixie Carter was in on these top secret negotiations, as it is highly likely that Vince McMahon still doesn't even know who he she is. Not that the big bully in the sandbox of pro wrestling would be compelled to ask to begin with. 

Flair wasted little time in confirming that he will, in fact, be attending the WWE Hall of Fame. After all, he's Ric Flair, they're the WWE, and last time he checked TNA has forged an unenviable legacy of hemorrhaging all leverage in favor of making Gods out of past-their-prime talent. 

Flair's controversial migration to a high-profile WWE function while still being under contract with TNA will certainly create a healthy amount of indirect buzz for the second-tier promotion. Consider it yet another form of a highly paid name from the past blowing his nose on the very commitment that so many of the original TNA stars excreted to keep their upstart promotion alive. 

The inexplicably undying commitment from many TNA stars seems to go unnoticed in favor of the most recent free agent who was shoved forcefully from the moving WWE tour bus by the foot of management.  

It's safe to say that Flair may have accepted a handsome appearance fee from the WWE, as anything he does for free these days brings him one depressing step closer to bankruptcy. 

This could open a whole new can of worms depending on the literature of Flair's TNA contract, but if TNA finds they have grounds to sue the Nature Boy, they may become discouraged upon seeing the line they'd have to stand in prior to doing so.

In the grand scheme of things, Flair's pending arrival to the deep end of the pool will bear little significance in terms of a power struggle. That battle was won long ago by the WWE when WCW went out of business. 

This will simply be just another humbling and episodic reminder of just who number one is in sports and entertainment. With Flair a hot commodity for the impending launch of the WWE Network, the WWE will be presented with another opportunity to possibly woo Flair back into their arms thus rubbing dirt in the other eye of their so-called competition. 

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