The fallout continues from last night’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on WWE’s infamous May 2002 “Plane Ride from Hell.”
As noted earlier, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and Tommy Dreamer have been trending worldwide since last night’s episode aired on Vice TV. Flair has significant heat from fans and others for his behavior on the flight, including how treated two flight attendants that eventually settled with WWE out of court, Taralyn Cappellano and Heidi Doyle. Doyle appeared on last night’s episode and talked about the incident. Dreamer has been suspended indefinitely by Impact Wrestling for his comments on the DSOTR episode, which included Dreamer making light of the incident and defending Flair.
In an update, PWInsider reports that Flair’s Car Shield commercial campaign has been paused due to the “Plane Ride from Hell” controversy, which has been known for years but publicized again with this week’s DSOTR episode.
The Car Shield spots have featured Flair with other pro wrestling stars, including WWE’s LA Knight, AEW’s Peter Avalon, and David Marquez. A spokesperson for InterMedia, the advertising agency that handles Car Shield’s commercials, issued the following statement on the controversy:
“We take these matters very seriously. As of right now, we are pausing the campaign and we will do our due diligence.”
There is currently no timetable for the spots to return. It was noted that the commercial will soon disappear from TV pending an additional investigation and decisions.
Flair denied the “Plane Ride from Hell” accusations as recent as a few days ago when he appeared on Renee Paquette’s “Oral Sessions” podcast.
“God, I’ve heard about it too. Just when things are going good for me. Listen, you [Renee Paquette] put me on your podcast after. We’ll see how it plays out, because I was there and I don’t 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,” he said.
