Ric Flair Reveals Why He Went To TNA, Says It Was "A Disaster"

Ric Flair received what appeared to be the perfect sendoff from WWE following his loss to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXV.

But the Nature Boy ultimately decided that he wanted to continue wrestling, and he signed with TNA in 2010. The wrestling icon spent the next two years there, losing his final career match to Sting on the Sept. 12, 2011 edition of Impact!.

Many wrestling fans and pundits, however, consider Flair's TNA run as a disappointment. His career in WWE ended on a high note, and Flair didn't necessarily add a whole lot more to his wrestling legacy in TNA. He had already accomplished everything before arriving, after all.

But the desire to keep on wrestling wasn't exactly Flair's reason for signing with TNA. During an interview on The Wrestling Inc podcast, Flair explained that he did so because of his financial woes as well as problems in his personal life.

"I needed the money," Flair said. "Very simple. I was paying alimony to three women at one time and lawyers. I got bombed as everyone hit me and then the IRS. It's very simple – like Jim (Ross) said, I needed the money."

And though he got to spend more time with two of his longtime companions in Sting and Kurt Angle, the Nature Boy referred to his tenure in TNA as "a disaster."

"I would have never have gone there,"Flair continued. "Even though I got to hang around Kurt (Angle) and Sting, it was a disaster. Everything I did with Bischoff and Russo… You know what people say to me now: where would you have been if WCW hadn't treated you like that? I get that from people that are my friends who wanna know where I would have been if they treated me with any respect whatsoever."

RELATED: Ric Flair Reveals Texts He Sent To Stephanie McMahon & The Undertaker After WrestleMania

Flair was fired from TNA in 2012, although he was looking to get out of his contract. He returned to WWE and has continued to make occasional appearances, often supporting his daughter Charlotte Flair.

Since retiring, Flair has had a handful of health scares. In Aug. 2017, he underwent surgery to have part of his bowel removed, narrowly avoiding death. Thankfully, Flair has been doing much better over the past couple of years. His daughter is one of the premier stars in WWE now, and he's been happily married to Wendy Barlow for well over a year.

The "Disaster" In TNA Doesn't Hurt Flair's Legacy

Flair's epic WrestleMania match with Michaels didn't end up being his final showdown, but the run in TNA doesn't do anything to affect the legacy of the Nature Boy. Even after he left WWE, Flair had already asserted himself as one of the all time greats in the wrestling business.

NEXT: [Report] Backstage Reaction To Ronda Rousey's "Fake Fights" Comments

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