Lost in the shuffle of the actual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV) event that ran through the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, last night (Sun., Aug. 18, 2013), was the WWE 2K14 symposium that took place the evening before. Hosted by legendary commentator Jim Ross, it featured a panel of past and current WWE stars -- Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Paul Heyman, Mick Foley, and Ric Flair -- discussing the WWE 2K14 video game.
Or at least that was the idea.
What actually went down was, as Austin might call it, a modified clusterfuck that featured Ross seemingly slurring his words to the point that he would later be accused of being drunk, and Flair flying so far off the rails he reportedly got heat on himself from executives within WWE.
To watch the entire presentation you can click here.
To get to the goods, you can skip to the around the 37-minute mark. It's at that point, that things start to get crazy, with Ross joking that the event was sponsored by Grey Goose. Here he is responding to rumors that he was drunk during the proceedings:
"@dono6971: @JRsBBQ Some on-line sites are posting that you and Ric Flair were drunk. Complete lie. I was not drunk. Ridiculous
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) August 18, 2013
And a bit more of an explanation on that:
When I'm tired my Bell's palsy has always made he slur @ times giving some who don't know me the wrong impression. Weakened facial muscles.
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) August 18, 2013
As for Flair, he was deep in storytelling mode and talked openly about drinking and going out both before and after the event, which is already confirmed. At one point, he completely took over the presentation, leading to Heyman getting up and ripping up the script Ross had in front of him.
Flair even mentioned TNA.
According to both PW Insider and the Wrestling Observer, this has put some heat on Flair for the fact that he was about to sign a deal with WWE to become something of a public relations ambassador. Apparently that's now on ice and he was pulled from all upcoming 2K14 PR events.
Because the WWE product is PG, it's not exactly a good look to have a drunken Ric Flair running amok.
Oh, that "Nature Boy," always living the gimmick.