Two-time WWE Hall-of-Famer Ric Flair was accused of sexual assault by a flight attendant.On Sept. 16, Vice TV's Dark Side of the Ring touched on the 2002 "Plane Ride From Hell," a private flight in which numerous WWE Superstars, backstage officials and even the flight crew were involved in drunken fights and other debauchery. A clip from the episode quickly began circulating online in which Tommy Dreamer dismissed Flair exposing himself and swinging his genitalia around. "Hey, he's the Nature Boy for a reason. He's got a hammer on him," Dreamer said.
The clip then shifts to a flight attendant, who says, "Ric Flair was naked, in a cape only, and then he decided to come to the galley to get a coke, and then he wouldn't leave the galley. He had me back against the back door, and I couldn't move. I couldn't get away from him, I couldn't move. He was spinning around his penis, and he wanted me to touch it. He took my hand and put it on him."
The clip goes back to Dreamer again and he continues to defend Flair by saying he "was just flaunting -- stylin' and profilin' -- doing, like, the Ric Flair stuff where everybody's going to laugh about it. But obviously, someone took offense to it."
As others have pointed out, the incident was played as a gag in two separate productions in the time since.
Flair commented on the new Dark Side of the Ring episode ahead of its in August while on Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions podcast. "God, Iâve heard about it too," he said. "Just when things are going good for me. Listen, you [Renee Paquette] put me on your podcast after. Weâll see how it plays out, because I was there and I donât care whose name I gotta drop if the heat falls on me. I know who was where and what and who and what took place. I know the whole story."
Shortly after the episode dropped, Fightful reported that "Tommy Dreamer would not be at this weekend's Nashville [IMPACT]Â tapings. Dreamer appeared on last night's Dark Side of The Ring, where he recounted the events of the Plane Ride From Hell, brushing off Ric Flair's behavior during the event, and saying it was simply a 'joke,' among other things. We were not told of his role going forward and how it is affected."Â PWInisider later noted that Dreamer has been suspended indefnitely.
Dark Side of the Ring premiered on Vice TV in 2020. The series focuses on various controversial aspects of professional wrestling, with past episodes touching on the Montreal Screwjob, Chris Benoit, the final days of Owen Hart and more. The show is currently in its third season.
If you are a U.S.-based victim of sexual assault or misconduct in need of help, contact RAINN at 800-656-4673 to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area. If you are based outside the U.S., click here for a list of international sexual assault resources.