Khan Says AEW Is Not Paying Flair, He Is Paying Them

WWE Hall of Famer “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair made a surprise appearance on an episode of AEW Dynamite a few weeks back when he was revealed as Tony Khan’s gift to “The Icon” Sting ahead of his retirement match at next year’s Revolution PPV. Flair said at the time that he couldn’t pass on this opportunity and that he wanted to be with Sting until his final match at Revolution. It was then revealed several days later that The Nature Boy signed a multi-year deal with All Elite Wrestling and part of his deal with the company is his Woooooo! Energy drink will be the official drink of AEW.

AEW President and CEO Tony Khan spoke with The New York Post on Ric Flair’s deal with the company and how they are not paying Flair, in fact it is Flair essentially paying them via his energy drink every single time he makes an appearance.

This is what Tony Khan said:

“We’re not paying Ric Flair; Ric Flair is essentially paying us.” “We’re getting paid by Wooooo Energy for all of his appearances, so we’re collecting revenue from them.”

Ric Flair’s deal with All Elite Wrestling is reportedly similar with that of “Macho Man” Randy Savage from his time with WCW in the mid-1990s, where part of signing Flair was also having his energy drink cover a significant portion, if not all of Flair’s salary in AEW. This is similar to what WCW did for the Slim Jim sponsorship that came along with Randy Savage’s signing.