Ric Flair Denies AEW Double Or Nothing Rumor, Talks Cody Smashing Triple H Throne

AEW is the hottest new thing in wrestling and everyone from current WWE stars to former ones are giving their opinions on the promotion. That includes Ric Flair, who is good friends with president Tony Khan.

Flair talked about AEW and Khan when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.

"I'm very close to Tony and I think he'll match up and will work as hard as he can to bring the best product forward. He's got some good people that have worked in really high places like Jim Ross and Jericho," stated Flair before Nick Hausman brought up that Arn Anderson could be there soon as well.

"One of the greatest finish guys in the business," Flair said of Anderson. "Make no mistake, there's another guy who should be in the Hall of Fame. Don't even get me going on that. But for finishes for tag matches, there's nobody better."

There was a rumor that Flair was supposed to be at Double or Nothing before his health issues popped up. The rumor was that he was going to present the AEW World Championship instead of Bret Hart and Flair responded to that rumor.

"No. Absolutely not. I heard that too and I've never discussed that with anybody," revealed Flair. "I'm flattered that I was under consideration but I was never approached for that deal."

Flair did catch Double or Nothing and called it a "fantastic show" before talking about the main event between Cody and Dustin.

"I thought it was great. I just saw Dustin in Austin, Texas a few weeks ago and I talked to both of them after the show. They were tremendous," said Flair. "I thought Chris Jericho was tremendous. I'd never seen the guy he worked against [Kenny Omega] and I'd never seen The Young Bucks. I'm told I did in TNA, but I don't remember them. But they lived up to everything I'd heard and more.

"Then the surprise with Jon [Moxley] at the end, I thought they did a great job with that. They hit a home run. ?If you are a young, aspiring wrestler you couldn't be in a better position than right now."

During the show Cody smashed a Triple H-inspired throne with a sledgehammer and he revealed why he thinks Cody went after The Game.

"If you are going to make a statement, Hunter's a top guy," said Flair. "Hunter is a disciple of the business and could not have come along at a better time in wrestling than he did. Then of course marrying Stephanie and he's got a work ethic just like Vince has. In my mind, if something ever happens to Vince, God forbid, Hunter will be the one running the company.

"So, that's how you get someone's attention. You jump on a guy. When they are talking about you, you're doing something good. That's a good saying in this business."

With AEW on the rise like WCW was in the mid-90s, many see parallels between this time and the Monday Night War era. Flair said the true test of that will come later this fall.

"There's the potential for that but I tell you when you're really gonna feel it ? after they air their first [TV] show in October. That'll set a whole different dialogue," stated Flair. "It's gonna build momentum and I think they have another show at the end of August [All Out]. If they hit a home run there and go into October with people talking, they will nail it."

Flair discussed Tony Khan and how smart he is. He said he is not just his father's son and he talked about how Tony has been his dad's sideman since day one with the Jaguars and is very intertwined with the Khan business.

"I heard that his dad was there in Vegas and he really didn't get 'it' and understand what Tony was doing because he hadn't been to a live event," Flair said of Shad Khan. "But he was over the top with Tony and told him, 'I get it' which is really cool because they have a lot of money. They're not gonna be foolish because they understand sports. They need to take their time, not worry about WWE and just do their own thing."

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair's new RicFlairShop.com is now open, featuring Ric Flair t-shirts, hats, posters, backpacks, pillows and more. Flair's full interview will appear on Tuesday's episode of our WINCLY podcast on Wrestling Inc. Audio. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.