Late in 2023, AEW controversially announced that it had signed Ric Flair to a multi-year contract. The AEW announcement also mentioned Flair’s Woooooo Energy Drink.
The storyline reason for bringing in Flair was that he would be revealed as Tony Khan’s gift to Sting before his retirement at the Revolution PPV. Flair stated that he couldn’t pass up this opportunity and wanted to ride along with Sting until his retirement from Revolution.
The AEW President confirmed that Flair’s contract with AEW was very similar to Randy Savage’s with WCW in the mid-1990s. Part of getting Flair was having the energy drink pay for a large portion, if not all, of Flair’s salary in All Elite Wrestling. WCW did this to promote the Slim Jim sponsorship that came with Randy Savage.
“We’re not paying Ric Flair; Ric Flair is essentially paying us,” Khan explained in a previous New York Post interview. “We’re getting paid by Wooooo Energy for all of his appearances, so we’re collecting revenue from them.”
In the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that fans may have noticed a lack of graphics for the drink on AEW television recently, and unless something changes, it appears that fans will not see advertisements for it in the future.
Meltzer stated, “There was no explanation given but unless something changes it does look like that deal is over with.”
It’s unclear how this will affect Flair’s status with the promotion.
