Wrestling

Ric Flair says he apologized to Becky Lynch: ‘I am not The Man anymore’

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Ever since WWE started marketing Becky Lynch as “The Man” during her rise to the main event scene back in 2019, Ric Flair has made it clear he wasn’t happy about it.

While he didn’t come up with the idea to use the term to describe someone at the top of their field, Flair was synonymous with it in the wrestling space thanks to his “To be The Man, you’ve got to beat The Man” catchphrase. He filed a trademark on it when WWE started producing merchandise for Lynch with the nickname, and tensions have been high between The Nature Boy and Lynch (and her husband Seth Rollins, and often their employers at WWE) ever since.

It got ugly enough that during Becky’s last big feud with Charlotte Flair, Ric was publicly advocating for Charlotte to shoot on Lynch, and Bex was saying that Naitch’s behavior was “kind of sad”.

But with the elder Flair back in the WWE fold now that the world at large has moved on from sexual misconduct allegations raised by Dark Side of the Ring’s “Plane Ride From Hell” episode, it’s time to bury the hatchet. That’s what Naitch says he did while backstage at Raw XXX this past Monday (Jan. 23).

He broke down what he said was a cathartic visit to Philadelphia on the latest episode of his To Be The Man (there’s that term again) podcast:

“It was phenomenal. I gotta tell you, I learned more about myself and more about what I’ve missed in the business and what I hadn’t missed in one day because I haven’t been here for a long time. I felt like I was respected. I felt like I was wanted. I felt like I was part of it again. I walked away a better man with a better understanding of who I am as a person and what the business is about.

“It started out with me and Hunter talking for about an hour, which is a private discussion, but resolving a lot of issues that have been lingering for a couple years, and then I apologized to Becky Lynch. I walked up to her and said, ‘May I speak with you for a minute’, and I said, ‘I’m sorry that this got to where it is.’ I went over and shook Seth Rollins hand and I said, ‘I’m going to apologize to your wife.’

“I’ve just decided that, you know, it all comes with the documentary. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in things that you just forget, and you say it so many times for so many years. Actually, the whole ‘The Man’ trademark was decided by someone besides she and I. It’s not that as much as the money that was involved in it which the company reaps the better part of it anyway. Then I saw them with their child and I thought, ‘My God, this is going to be Ashley someday, and Megan [Flair’s daughter who is married to his podcast co-host Conrad Thompson] now with [her daughter] Morgan.’

“It’s not worth it. I am not The Man anymore. The Man is who the people think it is, and basically we’ve turned it over to social media to decide who The Man is.”

On the air Monday night, Flair was there to introduce Charlotte. He said he believes what he said on Raw that the current SmackDown Women’s champ is “the greatest women’s champion in the history of WWE, and in my estimation, the best worker in the company.” But that isn’t a reason for him to let issues linger with Lynch & Rollins:

“I can walk around and not walk by Becky and feel uncomfortable and I can shake Seth Rollins’ hand, and it makes it a better world for me to be in. I feel better about myself. Becky was very receptive and said nice words to me, and so did Seth. My daughter works there, I want it to be perfect. Nothing’s perfect, but you want it to be as best as can be. How many people get to introduce their daughter? That, you’re not gonna see for a long time, something like that. So I feel thankful that I had that opportunity.”

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