That one site with the badware and the same initials as the most famous independent wrestling magazine has reported that Ric Flair and TNA management have reached a détente after Flair's blow-up in Ireland when he was refused a draw (advance) on his salary and then wouldn't join the rest of the crew on their plane to Germany, so he's back on the European tour and no longer living in some random guy's house in Dublin (seriously, that's what happened). TNA management decided that with Kurt Angle (flew home when his wife went into labor prematurely), Alex Shelley, and A.J. Styles (injuries) off the tour, they needed to deliver as many stars as possible to the local promoters and fans, so they gave in to Flair.
Many of the other wrestlers were not happy with Flair and management, to say the least. Before they reached their agreement, the wrestlers were glad that Flair was gone, feeling that he ruined a pleasant tour. Some wrestlers cut Ric Flair style promos about the incident, while others talked to members of management to request that Flair be sent home or even fired. An anonymous TNA wrestler summed up the talent's feelings in this scathing comment:
The whole thing was stupid but most of us feel more sorry for him than upset. If someone told you everyone is mad, that's a lie. But, there are some pissed because it makes the entire crew look like a**holes and we are certainly tired of his sh**. Flair's asked several of us for money when he's had his credit cards declined. When that happens, the bar tab comes and others get stuck paying for the very drinks he said were on the house in the first place. Everyone loves the "Nature Boy", but when the limousines and party lifestyle is based on bad credit and lies, it suddenly becomes more pathetic than anything else. There is nothing glamorous about a guy who has no concept of money management and then lies to try and get out of it. The fact he has no money should be a lesson every wrestler today should take note of. Don't let this happen to you. If you read the Gorgeous George book that came out and then take an honest look at Ric, you realize, wow, that book is pretty much predicting his future - and that's not a happy ending.
For those not familiar with the story, "Gorgeous" George Wagner went from being a tremendously well rounded performer who was the biggest wrestling star of the early TV era and one of the biggest TV stars of the time period to an alcoholic who burnt bridges and divorced multiple wives. Desperate for work, he had his and his (then) wife's heads shaved in hair vs hair matches to get promoters to use him again because the stipulation would draw and get thus lead to him being paid well. After that, he was diagnosed with a severe liver problem, retired, and died broke not long thereafter.
A different source in TNA felt that the situation was a positive for the company in the end because it forced management to deal with the problems directly. He or she added this comment:
I respect what the older guys have done, but they aren't making us any money. Nothing reflects that. We would draw the exact same if 99% of them were gone. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take a leap forward and I really think more and more that's where TNA is. Obviously, you need some veteran talents but there's a crew here that wants to build a company and we want to focus on that, not paying someone's bar tab and having to wait for him to fight it out with Craig Jenkins [TNA Management] when he doesn't get his way.
Flair has been on a scary path for years. While he was still in WWE, his financial problems were well-known, his long history of flashing people while drunk became very public via a lawsuit about the infamous "flight from hell," and the financial problems worsened after Beth, his second wife, divorced him after over two decades of marriage. She made some very serious allegations, the most public one being that he would beat her and then bust open his freshly scarred forehead so he would be bleeding heavily if he needed to make it look like he was defending himself. She received a very favorable settlement, worsening his financial problems. He remarried as soon as possible...twice, and there was a violent incident with his current wife last year that led to her being arrested.
He started a financing company that never got off the ground and was largely ridiculed. He lost more money in the process. He was attacked by his daughter's boyfriend a couple years ago in a strange incident that left him with a terrible black eye for weeks, which was immortalized in the shoot interview DVD he did with Highspots. During the interview, he proudly talked about getting recovering drug addict Shawn Michaels drunk, repeatedly trying and "failing" to get recovering alcoholic and drug addict William Regal to start drinking again, and turning John Cena (who didn't drink because he wanted to avoid any potential intoxicants so he didn't go down a bad path) into a big drinker.
Speaking of which, he's been sued by Highspots and Ring of Honor over various financial transactions, allegedly never paying back a loan to the former and deposits for appearances that weren't made for the latter. He held up convention promoter Greg Price for more money in a scene where he threw a public tantrum. After those financial disputes, his reputation was destroyed and independent appearances dried up, so he went to TNA.