10 Worst Moments In AEW History
8. The Signing Of Ric Flair
This ultimately pointless signing was ugly, in and of itself, but it significantly impacted AEW’s reputation as the “babyface company”.
Tony Khan had just, earlier in that very month of October 2023, lashed out on Twitter at Vince McMahon’s “alleged misdeeds”. Vince deserves every breath of trash-talk aimed in his direction, certainly, but this tiresome attempt at Wednesday Night Wars rhetoric was rendered hypocritical and idiotic within weeks.
In parallel, WWE overtook AEW as the red-hot, fan-forward babyface promotion (whether earned or otherwise, that was the narrative). Flair’s signing depicted AEW as a poser of a promotion with no backbone. Ric Flair - who was only effective at Revolution 2024 as Sting’s moment eased the sickly feeling - of course acted like Ric Flair almost immediately.
On an episode of Rampage, and Flair of course played victim in the backlash, he asked any willing 18 year-old girl to meet him in his hotel room. He said he’d go as high as 28.
Flair, accused of sexual assault in 2002, resulting in WWE settling with Heidi Doyle out of court, was emblematic of AEW’s slide into the heel role.