Will Ric Flair be in Miami for the Four Horsemen's WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony? (Updated)

WWE made a curious decision this year for one of its annual Hall of Fame (HOF) inductees, the ceremony of which will take place at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, on March 31, 2012. As announced on Monday Night Raw this past week, The Four Horsemen will be inducted.

It's important to note exactly what incarnation of the supergroup will be going in, as there were many different members scattered throughout its near decade long existence. The five members going in this year are Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and J.J. Dillon.

The name that pops out on that list, because it should, is Ric Flair. That's because he was already inducted individually back in 2008 the night before WrestleMania 24, when he was "retired" by Shawn Michaels in one of the best matches in the history of the company, at least on an emotional level.

Now, four years later, Flair is headed back as a member of one of the greatest stables in pro wrestling history. This wouldn't be such a big deal if not for the fact that, you know, Flair currently works for WWE's chief competitor, TNA.

That obviously led to questions regarding how exactly they went about putting him in the HOF a second time and how TNA feels about it or if they were even told beforehand. The Wrestling Observer brings a few details:

Based on the chronology of events the way it was explained to us, HHH called Ric Flair on 1/9, before it aired. Flair was at the TNA tapings working. HHH told him they were inducting the Horsemen and it would be announced later in the night.

It doesn't appear the key people in TNA were aware of it until it aired on television. Flair and Vince McMahon do talk and I would suspect the subject was broached about a Four Horsemen in the Hall of Fame, because I've heard it discussed over the last year or two, ever since they made amends with J.J. Dillon. Arn Anderson was always someone considered. Arn Anderson was expected for last year in Atlanta, but I guess the idea was the Horsemen as a group, and at that point, with Flair far more prominent and still wrestling on TNA television, not to do so at that time.

...

WWE has not outright said Flair will be there, so at this point they haven't done anything wrong. They have the right to induct anyone they want into their Hall of Fame and the right to use any of the footage they own in marketing.

But they do want Flair there. And Flair wants to be there. Flair was going to go this year to sit in the crowd, even though TNA probably wasn't thrilled about it, if they were inducting people he knew like Edge and Arn Anderson, and he went last year when Shawn Michaels was inducted which WWE pushed hard on its web site. But it's a different thing from a contract issue to go and sit in a crowd at an event and another to be one of the featured performers.

So right now the situation is to see how TNA reacts to this, if they just let it go, or make it an issue with Flair, or an issue with WWE.

As noted by Meltzer in his Newsletter (subscription required but it's worth it), TNA is in an interesting situation here. On the one hand, it's a good thing that Flair is being inducted into the WWE HOF because in a sense, it shows that they have a top star worthy of induction twice. The flip side to that coin is that they look second rate, which they do anyway.

So should they let him go to the ceremony and be a part of the festivities?

Again, that's quite the conundrum because the WWE HOF is really nothing but a gimmick, a fairly cheap and easy way to make money off ticket and DVD sales. And without Ric Flair, inducting the Four Horsemen is essentially a waste of time, seeing as he's the only one who ever really had enough drawing power to stay over more than 20 years after the group was originally formed. Plus, his going back will provide a great bit of nostalgia for fans who want to see him back with the better promotion, anyway.

At the end of the day, TNA will look terrible if they don't let him go and they'll look terrible if they do. To that end, this was a brilliant move by WWE. The only welcome side effect to this is that Flair will likely still be under contract to TNA when the ceremony rolls around, so it's publicity for the company. Of course, many of the WWE fans of the world likely have no idea TNA is even a wrestling company and certainly don't think it's something worth finding out about. And really, what are the chances Flair starts talking up TNA while accepting his induction as a member of the Four Horsemen?

Somewhere safely between slim and none.

Another fascinating aspect of all this is that this could very well be the opening salvo fired by WWE in an attempt to lure Flair back into the fold. With the WWE Network upcoming and with Flair being such a big part of its video library, naturally, they would rather not have to freeze him out completely due to the fact that he works for TNA. Bringing him back would mean he could play a much larger part in anything they have planned to that end, which simply makes the most sense, all things considered. Yes, the shine has definitely rubbed off Flair's phony retirement -- and pro wrestling fans have great memories and won't soon forget the way he went out of the company -- but having him in WWE is now far preferable to having him in TNA.

The next few months should be a very interesting time indeed.

UPDATE: PWTorch is reporting that Flair told fans at an autograph signing in North Carolina today that he would, in fact, be on stage for the induction of the Four Hoursemen at the HOF ceremony.