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WWE has officially commented on the Reid Flair angle during the main event segment of Monday’s Raw.
WWE’s statement issued to the Wrestling Observer reads: “Subject matter this personal is only approved as a result of the strong advocacy of the talent themselves. Notwithstanding that, WWE is ultimately responsible for what airs in its programming.”
Reid, the deceased son of Ric Flair and brother of Divas champion Charlotte, was initially referenced by Charlotte in the promo. Paige, playing the heel, retorted that Reid “must not have had much fight in him,” which set up a show-closing pull-apart brawl leading into their title match at Survivor Series on Sunday.
The statement suggests that Charlotte “strongly advocated” for the line.
Ric Flair said on his podcast this week that he was not given a heads-up on the subject material, nor would he have been okay with the content. Charlotte and Reid’s mother, Elizabeth, was also hot about the angle.
Reid died of a drug overdose two years ago. Flair said on his podcast that he and his family are still coping with Reid’s death on a daily basis.
Caldwell’s Analysis: There isn’t much WWE can say other than “we collectively made a mistake, we apologize to Ric, Elizabeth, and fans who were upset about the angle.” The first sentence tried to nudge Charlotte into the spotlight, which is unfortunate because Charlotte is young and new to the business, obviously wanting to make her own mark not living in Ric’s shadow, so she’s willing to go through with the angle perhaps without exercising proper judgment wanting her brother’s name to be part of something significant in wrestling. The adults in-charge of the segment did not step in and nix the line, which would have shown they understood it was not in good taste for viewers and would hurt the parents of Reid Flair. In this statement, WWE was unwilling to outright say a mistake was made, so they left it at “WWE is ultimately responsible for what airs in its programming.”
I thought, according to reports on this and other websites, that Ric had confidence that Hunter, Stephanie, and Michael Hayes would have Charlotte’s back.
This reads to me like they just threw her under the bus. Imagine… a young lady, only on the roster for 3 months or so, has all this creative input! So, it’s HER fault!
Really? HHH isn’t secure enough in his position as the owner’s son-in-law and future head of the company that he couldn’t step in and say, “Hey, look, we admit… ‘creative’ (no need to single out any of the more than 2 dozen writers by name) blew it. We went too far. We’re sorry, we apologize to Charlotte for putting her in this position, to Ric and Beth for not consulting with them beforehand, and we are taking measures to ensure that this won’t happen again.”
Or, was this a Stephanie idea? Let’s face it, when it comes to classless on-air content, no one has ever topped her (comparing Vince’s legal troubles to 9-11, telling a wheelchair-bound Freddie Blassie that he was going to die, etc).
I don’t know, I thought it made for compelling television. It was an “Attitude Era” moment and it got me engaged with the segment and invested in Paige as a heel and Charlotte as the face – Charlotte, who by the way, did her best mic work in this segment. It finally gave the women’s division a real angle and something to fight over. I do agree they should have consulted with Ric, but I actually think with fair warning and a case to be made for this being what could help get Charlotte over, he actually would have allowed it. And if not … In the end, Charlotte’s a big girl. She can make her own choices. Certainly wasn’t the worst thing that has ever happened in the wrestling biz.