10 Wrestlers Who Were Critical Of AEW

3. Ric Flair

Ric Flair WWE
WWE.com

There was a point during Andrade's earliest days in All Elite Wrestling that it seemed as though Ric Flair would be following him through the door.

He'd accompanied the former NXT Champion for his match against Kenny Omega at AAA's TripleMania XXIX and scuffled with 'The Best Bout Machine', but as one opportunity didn't turn into another, he was more willing to be a little critical of AEW's process. Speaking on their wins and losses policy on his podcast, Flair said;

“Well, you can become a star for a short period of time but to me, especially if you’ve just lost a big match, you need to be back on it the next day. Unfortunately, I think today some of the kids when they get to a match where it’s a big finale they want time off. I don’t agree with that either. I think they need to be on TV, the stars that want to be the players. It’s the same ten people right now in WWE that it was five years ago. It’s good, that’s how you build your brand.”

Flair's philosophical difference might well change with the way the wind blows, but his identification of what he liked about WWE's choices felt directly at odds with AEW's methods, as well as what many people want from their regular Raw and SmackDown doses.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett