Ric Flair thanks Vince McMahon & Triple H, plans to get a drink with Tony Khan

Ric Flair returned to the National Wrestling Alliance last night (Aug. 29) in St. Louis. The 10 time NWA World Heavyweight champ said he wanted a shot at reclaiming the ten pounds of gold (more on what’s going on with that iconic belt here) on the 73rd Anniversary PPV, but the promotion’s owner Billy Corgan just wanted him to talk. The Nature Boy was happy to do that.

The 72 year old shouted out WWE and its owner several times, and thanked many of the people he worked with there prior to his exit from the company. Flair said Vince McMahon wasn’t watching NWA 73, but he knew the WWE Chairman would hear about it. Naitch expressed gratitude to Triple H for motivating him in the twilight of his career, and Shawn Michaels and Undertaker for “carrying” him to legendary matches at WrestleMania.

In addition to stories about his nearly two decades as a fixture of the NWA, Flair also talked about the importance of having different brands in the pro wrestling business. He plans to take advantage of the current landscape, mentioning his appearance with future son-in-law Andrade El Idolo on AAA’s Triplemania a few weeks ago, and teased that he’ll be having a drink with Tony Khan when he flies to Chicago (site of All Out and all this week’s AEW shows).

Family got repeated mentions, especially his wife Wendy. He apologized to his children, who “all lived the nightmare of having the NWA World champion as a father.” Ric didn’t miss a chance to put over the current Raw Women’s champ Charlotte Flair, saying he had hoped Randy Orton would break his record for most WWE-recognized World titles, “until The Queen went 12.”

No word on when The Nature Boy will be back on an NWA show, but it sounds like we’ll be seeing a lot of him in a lot of different places in the weeks and months to come.