NEWS: Many Upset Over the Paige/Charlotte/Reid Flair Angle

NEWS: Many wrestling fans were upset at the WWE for Monday Night's angle between Charlotte Flair and Paige, during their contract signing on the show. Paige made an incendiary comment about Reid Flair and the lack of fight he had. Paige venomously stated, "Your little baby brother didn’t have much fight in him, did he?" The comment was a scripted remark designed to add heat and controversy to the feud, which it has undoubtedly been successful at doing. Reid Flair died of a drug overdose and it was his father, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair who discovered Reid dead. It was Ric Flair who made the heartbreaking and well publicized 911 call to emergency services, to inform them that his 25 year old son had passed away. The unexpected and premature death has undoubtedly been traumatic for Ric and the entire family. That; however, did not stop the WWE from using his death in a cheap ploy to generate more viewers for the upcoming Divas Championship match between Charlotte and Paige. Some folks in the Flair family and close to the family are particularly incensed. Charlotte Flair's mother, Elizabeth Fliehr took to Twitter to express her outrage. In a tweet directed to Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Vince McMahon and the WWE, Fliehr wrote, "WWEWriters really, that lazy! #CheapHeat #disgusting #disrespectful #cruel #sad." Long-time family friend and former WWE ring announcer, Jim Ross wrote the following on his blog, "After hearing the line and being able to think about it, I’ll play post, RAW quarterback and say I’d have passed on using it." Finally Ric Flair states on his podcast WOOOO! Nation, "I never heard a word about it. I started crying when I was watching it. Nobody called me and no one’s called me today. That would indicate that they just assume that it’s good. I don’t have an answer for that. Here’s the problem. Obviously I have an opinion, but I’m afraid to voice it because I don’t want anything to affect Ashley’s career. I would just say that I know that Hunter and Stephanie and Michael Hayes have her back. I think…if anything I don’t think that she feels she’s comfortable enough to say ‘no’ to anything yet. She’s only been up there three months. It’s a pressure cooker and a tough spot to be in. Even though she’s the champion doesn’t mean that she goes ‘hey, this is what I wanna do or what I’m not gonna do. If you’re asked to do something, that’s pretty much the way things operate up there. Everybody walks on pins and needles and just because you’re the champion doesn’t mean you have the right to say no and if somebody writes it down…one person approves everything. So I really don’t have an opinion. I was very sensitive to it obviously because it’s a very sensitive issue and it’s very new. I know her mom is on fire. I’m not going out on a limb to say what I think. I was upset when Jerry Lawler was verbally abusing Bret Hart’s parents [in a 1990s storyline] much less touching on something as sensitive as [Reid]. It’s still new…it’s not even three years old. It’s something we deal with in the family on a daily basis” It should also be noted; however, that sources within the WWE have confirmed that it was Charlotte Flair who actually came up with the idea to use her deceased brother Reid in the promo. The entire segment appears in the video below.