Billy Corgan: Ric Flair Can Say Whatever He Wants In The NWA

When Ric Flair made his triumphant return to the NWA at the recent 73rd Anniversary Show, Nature Boy took the mic and thanked everyone near and dear to him, reserving special praise for the WWE’s Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels.

McMahon notoriously helped destroy the territory system in the 1980s, severely weakening the NWA, and you'd expect the mere mention of his name would send NWA execs into meltdown. But Flair is Flair, and as NWA President Billy Corgan told Busted Open Radio, Naitch can say whatever he likes in an NWA ring:

"No," Corgan said when asked if he knew if Flair would talk so much about the WWE, "but you know what, Ric said, 'What do you want me to say?' I said, 'Ric, you're Ric Flair, you can say whatever you want.' He went, 'Really?' I said, 'Yeah, talk about whatever you want. I trust you.' He said, 'I want to speak from my heart. I've been thinking about what I want to say and it teared me up, thinking about it.' I said, 'Do your thing.' That's it. That's what we're about. Ric Flair has earned the right to step through those ropes and say whatever the damn hell he wants. I asked Ric, 'Did you wrestle here?' He said, 'Many times. [I wrestled] Harley, Dusty, Blackjack.' He rattled off twenty names and I was like 'oh my God.' Of course he can step in the ring and say whatever he wants. You don't think he's earned that? I do. I don't care what anyone else thinks with their company. In my company, Ric Flair can say whatever the damn hell he wants.”

H/T: Fightful