More on Ric Flair's AEW deal (Patreon)

Ric Flair has signed a multi-year deal with All Elite Wrestling, the company has confirmed.

The former NWA, WWF and WCW World Champion Flair debuted on last week's episode of AEW Dynamite to surprise Sting, and will be with him through some of his upcoming retirement tour. We've learned much more about the deal, AEW's motivations, and how the deal came together.

The press release provided by AEW mentioned Flair's Woooooo! Energy drink. Sources close to Flair told Fightful that the deal was very similar to that of Randy Savage's to WCW in the mid 1990s, where part of getting Flair was also procuring a deal with the energy drink that would cover a significant portion, if not all of Flair's salary in All Elite Wrestling. 

In the 90s, Randy Savage departed WWF for WCW, and took a lucrative sponsorship deal with Slim Jim with him. Eric Bischoff had noted in the past that as a part of landing the Slim Jim deal, it paid a significant portion of Randy Savage's salary within the company at the time.

When asking AEW sources about the motivations of having Flair on the roster beyond what you see on the surface, merchandising was cited as a big possibility. Between video games, action figures, and general merchandise, those are seen as big openings for the usage of Flair, if those are a part of the deal.