A series of apologies...

0:00 Hello everybody, Peanut Shell here. Or is it Peanut Shelf? Uh, I keep relisting to it. I'm not quite sure. The jury is still out on that one. But anyway, morning after regrets, beer, fear, anxiety. There's loads of different terms for the feeling you get when you've overmbied, you've had a bit too much tipple the night before. You know, you do or say something when you're a little under the weather, let's say, and the next morning you wake up and go because you know that you have done something that overwhelming fear of dread or a need to ask around to see how bad the situation you caused is. Implement some damage control, swear off the booze forever, etc., etc., until

0:47 next weekend, of course. Now, it's just that for most of us who go through that sobering moment of clarity and uh that that that period of self-hatred afterwards that at least you've got the comfort in knowing that whatever you did to embarrass yourself, you didn't do it in front of many many thousands of people on a widely viewed YouTube video and channel for an hour straight. Now, whose comments, by the way, were then picked up by every wrestling news site going to feed that particular media machine for days on end. Now, I'm actually not going to be too harsh on old Nature Boy Ric Flair here. The truth of the matter is it was just kind of a depressing situation all around ultimately because Stevie Dutch nor myself were even remotely upset by the comments whatsoever. I assure you and I

1:33 mean that genuinely. We were all really just excited to respond in our own ways and we are all content creators of course. Now uh and uh who else gets personally anointed with a nickname from the nature boy himself? Even if it is the worst, most nonsensical nickname of all time. Hey, at least I've got that going for me. But in the cold light of day, this is Ric Flair, one of the greatest wrestlers, entertainers, most colorful characters of this or any other generation. struggling with a number of demons here, not least the complete inability, it seems, to grow old gracefully and uh be content in a state of existence where he is not the focal point, the main character, the center of attention. Now, Ric Flair is choosing to

2:20 deal with these issues pretty poorly, looking from the outside in, as far as I can tell, and in the most public of forums. Now, in the days following the Ariel Hwani interview train wreck, whatever you want to call it, Ric Flair, like everybody else does, has been suffering from the beer fear, but he's been suffering from it for about a week straight at this point. And uh the post hangover disqu isn't quite leaving. And now he spent quite a few posts on social media bleeding them out over the days, walking back some of the comments that he made. But in true Ric Flair style, they don't quite make sense. I want to make something very clear to everyone after yesterday's podcast with Ariel Hwani. This was April 23rd, by the way. Number one, I'm more than thrilled

3:05 to see Miss Charlotte wrestling with her friend Alexa Bliss. I've never seen her happier, so let's clear that up. Number two, I enjoyed her in singles matches because I feel like she is able to put more of her talent on display. Number three, no one will ever criticize or make any attempt to judge my daughters or say anything about them. Number four, I wish we could all just put everything behind us and please don't report on something on me unless it's 100% true and everything after that is, you know, uh, you know, holding hands across America kind of thing. Now, this all has to do with uh Ric Flair saying he doesn't like Charlotte being anything other than the absolute poochie of wrestling. As I said on a previous video, Ric Flair wants all the other WWE characters on screen asking where's

3:52 Charlotte whenever Charlotte is not on screen. So, he is a very proud father. That is obvious. But similarly, the first post is just bizarre. And they continue to be bizarre, not least of which because it doesn't even acknowledge that he has a son. So, I presume that with part three, don't ever talk about my daughters. Uh but uh Ric Flair I guess has given us the green light to mock David Flair at least. Um once again let's just go to number three. I mean Charlotte Flair is a pro wrestler. That's how it is. I mean it says here I'll quote again. No one will ever criticize or make any attempt to judge my daughters or say anything about them. That's quite wide that's quite a sweeping uh declaration there which can't actually be put in practice

4:38 whatsoever. But it's also the line, I wish we could all just put everything behind us. There was nothing to put behind anybody until Rick opened his mouth. And then when people respond, it's all of a sudden Rick trying to make himself look like the reasonable party, if not the victim. Now, this trend will continue and it does so on April 27th. Mr. Lvig Kaiser, I never implied that you couldn't work, which he did, or didn't have talent, which he did imply that to. I actually understand that you're doing really well with the Undertaker's promotion, which it isn't the Undertaker's promotion. Undertaker is the booker, WWLT, TKO, I should say, is the majority owner of Triple A. I am sorry that I got upset. I

5:27 am naturally very protective of my daughters, as I am sure as you grow older, you will be too. continued success. Apologies for anything I said about you personally. It was not about your professional skill, which I've heard is very good. Uh, which actually it was about his professional skill and he is very good. So anyway, his initial comments, Flair said, "I threatened to beat up Tiffany Stratton's husband last year and I wasn't allowed to go." This is to the Hall of Fame in Wrestlemania. A 24y old kid being threatened by a 76-y old man and I can't go to Wrestlemania. Are you kidding me? That English kid, he's going to go as far as in wrestling as a gnat. He'll be a fly on the wall within a year," Flair continued uh referring to Love Kaiser, who is 35 and from Germany. Helwani uh asked to clarify and uh Flair said that they had

6:12 this thing where Tiffany made a smart remark about Ashley's divorces, which we both know she's not smart enough to have written. Somebody gave her the script. And then he implied that I was just going based off social media once again, which is a lot. That he was implying that he wouldn't mind a one-off with Ashley. And I went, "Okay, I need your number." I got it, which I can get anybody's number I want to at any minute of the day. Hey, well, you don't have mine. Call me, Rick. Honestly, I got uh Anyway, I called him and I said, "Hey, when I see you, I'm going to beat the [ __ ] out of you." Uh, so he went like a little [ __ ] Told Triple H and I wasn't allowed to go. And then Flair implied, well, actually, he said he didn't know where he was in WWE. Ariel Hwani says that Flair was in Mexico and Flair then says, "I'm sure he is. I hope he stays." Now, in no realm do I believe for a

6:59 second that Ludvik Kaiser was even remotely threatened by Ric Flair or probably even told Triple H or made any mention of it. And Rick had somehow managed to get every single part of that story wrong. It was not Lvig Kaiser insinuating anything. It was Charlotte, his daughter, on a promo because she was bested by Tiffany after weeks of Charlotte going off script and trying to make Tiffany look bad. Tiffany then went off script, made Charlotte look bad, and Charlotte uh off the cuff went, "Uh, your boyfriend, it was the boyfriend at the time, Ludvig Kaiser's in my DMs." So, it was entirely Charlotte's fault. So, anyway, um, and whether he went to Triple H or not, or whether that was even the reason that he was banned or not from Wrestlemania, I have no idea. But yes, he goes on to say he wants exceptions made for him. He wants the red carpet rolled out for him. But not

7:45 only is he completely unpredictable is Ric Flair, and I'm saying that as kindly as possible, he's also signed with AW, so that's why he wasn't there. And he's also not been on WWE TV for 5 years at this point. Also, the whole Dennis Rodman wanted to induct me line that Flair also came out with the interview. Wasn't Rodman speech unintelligible enough without having Flair do the introduction and adding that to the mix? But anyway, we must move on to April 29th, and this is where it gets very odd. Ric Flair posts Dutch man tells Goofundme quote wishing you nothing but good health which is weird because he kind of wasn't wishing him good health prior. So for those who don't know Rick and Dutch Mantel and for those who a few of you who don't know Dutch Mantel and I co-host a podcast called Story Time with

8:30 Dutch Mantel. Rick and Dutch have disliked each other for many years. Uh Dutch always thought Flair was a liar, a politicker and not that very arrogant and not that great of a wrestler. Flair's retorts were always that Dutch is a nobody. He doesn't bother me. While bringing him up uh unprompted in interviews, going on several minute long rants uh talking about how he is a better person because he has Shaq's number. Uh by the way, we never actually clarified with the whole uh you know, one, does Flair have Shaq's number? Two, does he actually call these celebrities that he mentioned, including Shaq? And three, would Shaq pick up the phone if Flair called? Flair maybe maybe he's given the number for flirt divert for all I know which sorry it's a weird reference I understand uh Flair never actually refutes any points that Dutch

9:16 or anybody else has ever made about him Rick just diminishes puts down refuses to acknowledge pretends it doesn't bother him when it clearly does and then he also acts like he's forgotten people's names to make himself feel more important that is the pattern anyway Dutch has gone through two life-threatening bouts of sepsis aneurysms and everything else to boot. He was given a 50-50 chance of living, which he thankfully did. And after the fact, Dutch did a GoFundMe or his daughter did actually uh despite having health insurance because his wife got terribly sick at the same time. And I guess they maxed out their days. I don't know how it works. It's very confusing. It's very odd to say the least. Uh and now Dutch and his wife live uh in assisted living accommodation and the remaining funds continue to help with their care. Anyway, Flair had to make

10:04 mention for whatever reason that he was sicker than Dutch was. Why? I don't know. But then he started talking about how Dutch was a nobody again and how this criticism, which clearly absolutely bothers him, doesn't bother him. But bear this in mind. This is a repeat of a couple of years ago. Uh Dutch laughed about Ric Flair's disgraceful uh you know, last match ever kind of thing, which we all did. And keep in mind, Ric Flair did have a heart attack and at one point died in the ring basically partially because Rick had been drinking prior to that match. Also, in another interview, Ric Flair did say, well, maybe it was the aerial interview where he said, "I've never been drunk for a match." I mean, his last match he was. I mean, you're only as uh drunk as your last match, I guess. But, uh, Rick was also in his mid-70s and he was in no shape to do anything remotely physical

10:50 like that whatsoever. Flair got but hurt at Dutch's remarks. Then the two had a war of words on Twitter uh that went back and forth for days. And then Ric Flair just one morning, maybe it was another whatever it was, I don't know, moment of clarity. Flair then apologized and then Dutch accepted. And then Flair went back to uh trashing Dutch offline. Now that got back to Dutch in double quick time and then nothing ever got resolved. So even though there was a public apology privately, Rick was still uh doing everything. So Dutch says anyway uh to call Dutch out. Anyway, why Flair is now trying to make amends by publishing Dutch's GoFundMe. I have no idea about that, but I guess it's a nice gesture if he actually means it. Now, if Ric Flair for the next post or a future

11:36 post, we'll just slip on some Daisy Dukes and a half shirt for for a future post, then I'm sure Stevie would be very appreciative. Next up, April, and this is the last one, by the way. April 30th Twitter. I've apologized and I have retracted statements. I have made assumptions that are incorrect. I acknowledge everything that I have said. Can we just wake up tomorrow and let Ric Flair be Ric Flair? I am 77 with a heart condition and nothing is ever guaranteed. Let's just all be at peace. If you look at my social media, people love to attack every celebrity online without using their real name. I'm Ric Flair. Take me for who I am. The people who know me know how hard I've worked my entire life to achieve my level of success. That is not for debate. Thank you for everything. Please let me wake

12:22 up tomorrow and have my social media screen be only positives. I'm always going to be a cowboy on a steel horse he rides. Woo. Now, the fourth post. Uh, this is probably the weirdest because for whatever reason he's he's accompanied this post with a photo of what looks to be Lady Penelopey's car from the old Thunderbird's puppet show from the 60s. But, uh, anyway, Rick, it's just it's just weird. It just like the photo itself. I mean, let's just have a quick look at the photo a bit better. The photo itself accompanying it is just kind of weird, but he kind of does this every time really whenever he's doing these various apologies. Anyway, uh it's already a bizarre post because Rick and Rick does spend a lot of time in these posts. How could you not when

13:08 he goes through capitalizing every word, but Flair claimed that he retracted statements, acknowledges that he made assumptions that are incorrect, acknowledged everything he said? Can't you just leave me alone? I'm sick and old. Then he starts talking about people attacking celebrities uh online without using their real names. And then he goes on to use his fake name as a reference point. And just before we get on the attacking celebrities, Ric Flair was the one who was attacking first. Never let that be forgotten ever. He is the one who starts these back and forths ultimately whether he uh you know launches an attack on an interview or he just does something stupid and that gets in the news and people react to it. Ric Flair is the one who was starting this every single time. But he, you know,

13:56 he's claiming he's retracted statements. He's acknowledging he's made assumptions, etc. But really, has he really? As best as I can tell, he didn't really apologize to anybody aside from Ludvig Kaiser. He's just doing the uh this kind of post and then him with a car and a private jet in the background and basically doing the look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey thing to detract from the points. Now, the GoFundMe post for Dutch was kind of random, but at least it seemed like a genuine olive olive branch, but he didn't apologize to Stevie or Triple H or WWE for embarrassing them or or Tiffany Stratton, who he called an idiot. But hey, who knows? We've got more tweets to come, maybe. Uh, I don't think if this string of media contrition posts have anything to do with Flair's cameo being discounted

14:43 because business has dropped off since the happy birthday barf debacle. And yes, I am considering getting one. So, if I do get one, I will be posting it here, I assure you. But to kind of wrap this up really um I or the rest of us at the WSI family of podcasts or YouTube shows do not go out of our way to talk about Ric Flair. We don't just conjure up reasons to talk about him. Flair goes out of his way to make an ass out of himself and then we react to it. We follow the news all of us really. Then we get the apology tweets then the next off-the-wall interview or ridiculous incident putting over pizzeras or whatever and then the cycle continues. Now, Ric Flair's legacy is everything to him, but he seems to lack the basic self-awareness to understand that he's doing as much damage to his own brand since retiring

15:29 that Hulk Hogan did to his. And they both did it over the course of many years after they stopped wrestling. The attention-seeking behavior is what I presume to be the root of all this. Now, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I hope Rick finds genuine contentment uh and and sorts out his life properly because as far as I can tell, well, he's not doing great despite the fact that he's trying to claim that he is. Uh the aerial interview might have been entertaining in a perverse way to some. I just found it depressing ultimately. And also to people who interview him, if he is as pissed as a fart and you can tell it from the off, just cancel the interview and rebook the damn thing because you know what? You know what you're getting into when you book Ric Flair in the first place, but it's not doing anybody any favors

16:14 broadcasting his worst moments. And I'm not really trying to take a shot at Ariel about that because it's ultimately Ric Flair's responsibility to show up in shape for these interviews, but still it's just isn't I just don't think it's a great look for anybody. But the problem is uh and once again this is in Ariel's defense, it's a live show as well. You can't go are you pissed? Get off the screen, you know, kind of thing. But anyway, so uh if Rick, like he did in the interview, claims he's got as many true friends around him as he said, uh they should really rally around him, calm him down, advise him to comport himself a little better and more respectfully in public, and gently let Rick know that if he wants to be remembered for his many, many wonderful achievements and fantastic moments and

17:00 glittering wrestling career, just help him make wiser choices in the future. I think that's pretty much it. Um, that's the video.