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WWE right to deny Flair Fame

Posted: Jun 9th 2008 By: mikeiles

THIS week's comedy of errors in the pro wrestling industry comes to us from the organisation that just won't die - The National Wrestling Alliance.

The loose grouping of independent federations, clinging to a name that no longer carries any cache with today's generation, has made the decision to try and bring back the promotion.

It?s the umpteenth time they?ve tried to resurrect from the ashes left when Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling made the decision to become WCW and discard the NWA almost 20 years ago.

Now a bit of a disclaimer here.

It's pretty common knowledge that I had Shane Douglas throw down the NWA title in 1994 at the ECW Arena and proclaim himself the new ECW world champion in the wake of the death of the NWA.

And I have to also admit, my only reservation about doing that angle was whether or not we could get anyone to care about the practically non-existent NWA back then.

And that was 14 years ago!

So now, almost a decade and a half later, some people got a few dollars together, and decided to put on an NWA show at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jim Cornette - an excellent choice, mind you - was smartly hired to be the Master of Ceremonies for a nostalgia-filled ?NWA Hall of Fame Ceremony? that would feature The Midnight Express, Wildfire Tommy Rich, Nikita Koloff, The Iron Sheik and The Corsica Brothers.

But the main attraction of this night was the induction to the NWA Hall of Fame of WWE contracted performer Nature Boy Ric Flair.

Well I'm sure before announcing and advertising Flair's appearance, the NWA?s head honcho Robert Trobich - a lawyer, no less - got written confirmation from WWE regarding their contracted personality who was just in a featured match at WrestleMania.

I mean, surely an attorney at law would have the common sense not to go public with Flair's appearance before having something in writing, right?

UH OH.

What do you think happens?

On the week of the show, as the NWA is doing everything it can to exploit the name of Ric Flair to sell tickets to this event, World Wrestling Entertainment pulls Flair from the show.

And get this... the NWA is surprised by WWE's decision.

World Wrestling Entertainment does not want Ric Flair to appear in a wrestling ring, especially following his retirement ceremony on Monday Night Raw.

The Nature Boy got some serious coin for his retirement weekend, and you can't blame WWE for protecting their marketing rights by keeping Flair out of a wrestling ring until it's time for him to re-appear in a ring to create attention.

And you can bet your last bottle of JR's BBQ sauce that when the time comes for Flair to appear in a wrestling ring, the initials on the side of that ring will read WWE.

World Wrestling Entertainment does not want Flair appearing on anyone else's DVD releases, either.

Can you blame them for that?

The longer Flair is kept out of the public eye, the more a simple guest appearance will mean when Vince McMahon decides "it's time to play the Flair card".

World Wrestling Entertainment has made a substantial investment in the Ric Flair brand and they don't want anyone else tinkering with it.

The NWA went forward with a marketing campaign built around Ric Flair because, unfortunately, there's no other way for the promoters involved to get people to come to their event.

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Yesterday, a store in Atlanta named Aaron's - a pretty big name in the Southeast - offered FOUR free tickets to the event to anyone who wanted to go, and would then give a discount to anyone who brought their ticket stub into the store.

I guess the NWA has given up on getting anyone to pay to see their Hall of Fame Ceremony.

NWA attorney/honcho/intellectual Robert Trobich released a statement saying: ?I am deeply sorry that Ric will not be in Atlanta for the Hall of Fame ceremony.

?Ric was very honoured to be recognized by the NWA and wanted to be in Atlanta to thank his fans. Unfortunately, the WWE refused to allow him to be there.

?It is truly a sad action on their part, as the main people injured by the WWE's seeming petulance is the wrestling fans.

?Nonetheless, Ric Flair was a legend in the NWA long before the WWE was anything other than a regional promotion in the northeast.

?As such, Ric will still be a member of the 2008 class. He has earned that honour, and we intend to bestow it upon him."

What's the slang for bull excrement?

Ric Flair was a legend in the NWA long before the WWE was anything more than... blah blah blah?

If I ever need an attorney, and I do seem to need them every now and then, please don't ever have Robert Trobich present my case to a jury.

WWE is petulant because they want to protect their intellectual property rights, and their sizeable investment in the retirement of Ric Flair?

WWE is to be criticised for opting not to have Ric Flair water down the retirement ceremony the company spent so much valuable time during WrestleMania weekend to make so memorable?

A weekend-long tribute, I might add, that WWE is counting on propelling its DVD sales through the roof.

And yet, the attorney who serves as spokesperson for this incarnation of the long-dead NWA wants to point the finger at WWE when the NWA had no right to market/advertise/promote Flair to begin with?

In the past week, I've seen Vince McMahon move forward with his campaign to offer a million dollars a week to viewers just to watch Raw.

I've seen another eccentric billionaire, Donald Trump become the public face of a new competitor to UFC.

I've seen Kimbo Slice damn near get beat, and while the ratings were spectacular for the EliteXC primetime network debut the stock took an IFL-like nosedive.

But nothing in the past week made me shake my head as much as the stupidity of those who believed that it was appropriate to advertise Ric Flair without written authorisation from the company to which he is contracted.

This industry is driven by an investment of time and money, and the allotment of minutes given to someone on whose performance and marketability that first investment is made.

Ric Flair is WWE's Goodwill Ambassador.

Whether you like it, or don't like, learn to love it. Because Diamonds are forever, and so is Ric Flair's association with World Wrestling Entertainment.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Tags: Ric Flair, NWA, WCW, Shane Douglas, ECW, Jim Cornette, Midnight Express, Nikita Koloff, WWE, Jim Ross