Brooke Hogan isn't the only daughter of a famous wrestler to sign with a major wrestling company this week. As Dave Meltzer reported in his May 21st Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ashley Flair has signed a developmental deal with WWE, which is eyebrow raising as her father Ric is currently working for TNA:

Ashley Fliehr Johnson, Ric's daughter, is scheduled to start at FCW under a WWE developmental deal, as opposed to OVW with a TNA deal, this summer.

I suppose there is only room for one celebrity daughter in TNA to hog the spotlight from their Knockouts and obviously Brooke gets the nod even though she clearly doesn't want to become a full time wrestler.

If Ashley's WWE signing wasn't enough to get the rumour mill working on overdrive, Meltzer pointed out that her dear old dad also missed all the dates that he was booked on for TNA this week:

There is something going on with Ric Flair that both TNA and Flair are hush-hush about. Flair wasn't at the two house shows over the weekend that he was advertised for, nor the PPV (which he may not have been booked on to begin with), or at television, including the 5/15 tapings which included a Gut Check, and he's been established as one of the three judges. Those in TNA have said that it's obvious something is going on, particularly when he wasn't at the 5/15 tapings, but nobody is saying a word about it on either side.

The obvious speculation is that Ric Flair's lawyers and TNA management are trying to come to terms on a settlement which would allow Ric to leave TNA before his contract expires and return to WWE with his daughter in tow. Once Ric Flair agreed to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame again as one of The Four Horsemen earlier this year, it was clear that a return to WWE was just a matter of time. Indeed, the writing has been on the wall ever since Flair was refused an advance on his salary when he maxed out his credit cards and couldn't pay for his bar tab after an expensive night out in Dublin while touring for TNA in January 2011, which led to Flair very briefly walking out on the company. We all know Vince McMahon wouldn't have turned down such a request, so I suppose the drinks will be on Ric again shortly.