Ric Flair Opens Up About Big Falling Out He Had With Triple H

Ric Flair and Triple H have a lot of history together, most notably alongside Randy Orton and Batista as part of the highly successful faction known as Evolution. Some iteration of the group lasted from late 2002 until 2005, but it all started with Triple H and Flair.

"I don't think we're thick as thieves," Flair said on his "To Be The Man" podcast. "We had a big falling out over the trademark, the 'Man' issue. A big falling out."

Flair is referring to a dispute between himself and WWE's over the trademark of "The Man," a moniker Flair believed he legally owned, but that WWE had applied to rising superstar Becky Lynch in 2019. The dispute was settled in 2020 with Flair transferring his rights to the name to WWE, but in an interview last November, he revealed some more details about the legal battle, including the fact that Triple H had told Flair he only owned the rights to the phrase "To Be The Man," not to "The Man" itself.

Despite this, it would be a mistake to believe that the two men are eternal enemies. Flair went on to say that he'd "be very surprised if I wasn't in the top five people to reach out to Stephanie when he got sick."

Listening to Nature Boy's account, there seems to be far too much history between himself and Triple H to be overcome by a single trademark dispute.

"He's the first person I called when Reid died," Flair said, referencing his son, who passed away in 2013. "When Reid died, I took my Hall of Fame ring from 2008, when Hunter inducted me, and I put it on Reid's finger in his casket ... When I went to NXT to see [Charlotte, Flair's daughter], he pulled me aside ... He gave me another Hall of Fame ring with 'Richard Reid Fliehr' on the side of it."

"I can guarantee you this, I'll be at his funeral, and I'll guarantee you this, he'll be at mine," Flair said. "Everything I have today, in terms of redemption in the business, would be because of him and Vince. I don't have any problem with saying that to anybody, and anybody wants to try and pick that apart can go f*** themself. Without him and Vince, I'm not here today."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "To Be The Man" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription