Potential reason why Ric Flair made his AEW debut - Reports

Fans were stunned to see The Nature Boy Ric Flair make his AEW debut on the most recent episode of Dynamite, and the reason for his appearance might have been revealed.

Flair was Tony Khan's gift to Sting after The Icon announced on October 18th that he would be finishing off his career at the Revolution pay-per-view in 2024, which, at the time of writing, does not have a confirmed date or location.

Flair cut a promo stating that he would love to join Sting on his final ride through the wild world of professional wrestling before giving his old rival one of his trademark chops for old-time sake.

However, The Nature Boy might have shown up on AEW Dynamite for a different reason, as Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio claimed that Ric Flair's debut might be due to the company wanting to show to TV networks how valuable they are ahead of plotting a new deal.

“It’s the (TV) contract year and I think they’re really trying to hotshot as many stars for ratings purposes because of the name value and things like that, but by doing that you’re also ageing the show, and nostalgia when it comes to TV ratings is usually a short drug, not a long-term thing.” [H/T WrestleTalk]

Ric Flair wasn't the only debut that happened on AEW Dynamite

The October 25, 2023, edition of AEW Dynamite will go down as one of the most newsworthy episodes of the show in company history. Ric Flair made his debut, RVD made his return, and the Philadelphia crowd got to see the American TV debut of Kazuchika Okada.

The Rainmaker teamed up with Orange Cassidy to take on The Blackpool Combat Club's Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli in the show's main event. Okada has appeared on Dynamite in the past but had never wrestled on AEW's flagship show until October 25th.

Okada and Cassidy were eventually defeated by Claudio and Bryan. But towards the end, The American Dragon suffered a large amount of punishment, leading some fans to wonder if he had broken his jaw.

Did you enjoy this week's edition of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments section below.