WWE News Dot Net Exclusive: What went wrong with the idea Steve Austin pitched to Vince McMahon for Ric Flair’s retirement Mar 15, 2008 - 04:41 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing Regarding the Dot Net story earlier today on the idea Steve Austin pitched to Vince McMahon for Ric Flair’s retirement, McMahon loved the idea. He was initially very excited about it and instructed Raw head writer Brian Gewirtz to get started on it immediately. Unfortuantely, Gewirtz is not a Flair fan. He grew up a fan of the old WWF product and never developed an appreciation for Flair’s work during his formative years. Gewirtz pushed the project to the back burner until Austin contacted McMahon and asked for an update. Vince checked with Gewirtz and was upset when he learned that the project hadn’t received much attention, because it embarrassed him with Austin when he had to pass along an update. It’s also worth noting that Gewirtz and Austin do not have a good rapport, which led to speculation within the company that Gewirtz was in no rush to put the story line in motion because it was Austin’s idea. The angle became completely derailed when Flair left the company out of frustration with his push and being moved to Smackdown. One source speculates that Flair may have been told about the angle in the early stages and may have been frustrated because the story line had not been launched by the time he went on hiatus. Powell’s POV: It’s a shame this angle was never given the treatment it deserved and we can only wonder how good it could have been if the all the power brokers would have supported it. HELP SUPPORT DOT NET! BECOME A MEMBER AT OUR CHARTER RATE OF JUST $5 A MONTH - GET THE FIRST LOOK AT EXCLUSIVE INSIDER DOT NET NEWS, TONS OF EXCLUSIVE AUDIO SHOWS, MESSAGE BOARD ACCESS, START YOUR OWN BLOG, AD-FREE MAIN LISTING: SIGN ME UP (or MORE INFO) GOT AN IPHONE OR IPOD TOUCH? THEN BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD OUR NEW FREE iPhone APP: (click here!) (or SEARCH "pro wrestling" in iTunes App Store) FOR MORE BREAKING WWE & TNA NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE PWTORCH.COM (click here!) FOR MORE MMA & UFC NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE MMATORCH.COM (click here!) CLICK TO RETURN TO DOT NET MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY WWE News Latest Twelve Articles Jim Ross shoots down talk that he's targeting WrestleMania 26 for his return, comments on his current contractual status with WWE Shore's WWE Superstars Hitlist: Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder, Eric Escobar (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Jimmy Wang Yang, and Mark Henry vs. Cody Rhodes 11/20 WWE Smackdown preview: The complete lineup for tonight's show headlined by Undertaker and Kane vs. Chris Jericho and Big Show, plus a hot Intercontinental Title match (no spoilers) 11/20 WWE Smackdown spoilers: Full results of the show that airs tonight with John Morrison defending the Intercontinental Title against Dolph Ziggler in a best of three falls match (spoilers) Where Are They Now: Former WWE wrestler Duke "The Dumpster" Droese WWE "ECW on Syfy" rating: How did the return of C.M. Punk to the Tuesday night show perform in the ratings?