Dave Meltzer mentioned on a recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW sources have said that on the heels of the company landing massive names such as CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, AEW has a “new major acquisition” making his way into the company soon, who is believed to be none other than two-time WWE Hall of Famer “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
Other names have been discussed and tossed around as AEW’s possible new major acquisition, but it has been said that Bray Wyatt is still likely under a 90-day non-compete clause with the WWE, which means that he would not be legally able to sign with AEW as of the moment. Brock Lesnar, on the other hand, seems more likely that he will be making his highly-anticipated return to WWE in the near future than sign with AEW. Adam Cole is also another possibility since his WWE contract expired last month and he currently only has a handshake deal with the WWE to stay on for one more month, which will come to an end after this Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: 36.
Of all the possible names to be AEW’s newest major acquisition, professional wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair would make the most sense since he doesn’t have a non-compete clause with the WWE and that means that he is free to sign and make appearances for any other promotion he chooses to right now.
Meltzer also noted that Ric Flair secretly agreed to manage AEW’s Andrade El Idolo at AAA TripleMania XXIX and that the WWE Hall of Famer made the trip to Mexico on his own expense alongside his daughter and current WWE Star Charlotte Flair, who reportedly asked for time off several days ago so she could skip the live event that was scheduled to take place at the exact same time as TripleMania.
It was also mentioned by Meltzer that while Ric Flair is the best and highest possibility to be AEW’s newest major acquisition, no confirmation has been made to him, but it is interesting to note that he will be appearing at NWA‘s 73rd Anniversary Show, which means that The Nature Boy is free to sign and appear in any promotion he chooses to.
