Although Ric Flair did not make an appearance at WWE Raw last night, there is growing speculation that he is about to make a big comeback to the company and that Flair and Vince McMahon are in talks.

WrestleZone.com reports that WWE’s creative team have been instructed to come up with various different on-air roles for Flair, should he make a return soon. The most popular option is to use Flair as Dolph Ziggler’s new manager when he drops Vickie Guerrero, as it seems where the current storyline is headed.

WWE have been desperately trying to think of a way to elevate Dolph Ziggler to the next level, some comparing him to Shawn Michaels of the mid 90′s before he won his first WWE title. Everyone could see the talent and the charisma but there was a piece missing before they would trust him in regular pay-per-view main events.

Similar to that situation, WWE have tried out using Mason Ryan at house shows as Ziggler’s bodyguard, similar to how Kevin Nash was used with HBK that started to really get him over. However they have been slow to execute this on television and Ryan has yet to accompany Ziggler to the ring on our screens, though WWE are planning to do just this soon in the event Flair’s negotiations fall through.

Even if Flair does sign with the WWE, the Ziggler (wrestler), Flair (manager) and Ryan (bodyguard) triangle looks like it would stay in tact.

WWE are negotiating a “legends contract” with Flair and we must stress that there are absolutely no plans for Flair to wrestle in the WWE again. Reports are that some officials in the WWE are concerned that there is no use for Flair considering his advancing age and his tendency to break from the script and go into business for himself but most agree his name value is one that would help the WWE, especially with three hours or Raw to fill soon.

One small stumbling block on Flair’s contract negotiations with the WWE is TNA’s recent lawsuit which could pose a problem for him performing for McMahon. Though it still seems likely Flair will be back on our screens before the summer is out, I would suggest most likely at the Raw 1,000th episode in July.

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