The news came to light the other day that Ric Flair reportedly was quitting WWE after a nearly 6 year run. He was unhappy with the state of his push on Smackdown, having just moved over in the June draft. Oh, sure, there was the brief reunion with Dave Batista, with whom he won 2 World tag team titles on Raw, and they would've been put right in line for another tag title run with a non-title win over then-champs Deuce & Domino on Smackdown were it not for Uncreative deciding that Flair was to be fed to World champ Great Khali, setting up a Batista-Khali title match at Summerslam.

Flair hasn't been seen since losing to Khali on Smackdown, and they can say that Flair is still selling the effects of Khali's Punjabi Vise Grip (brain claw). All well and good, but Flair can be of good use to WWE right now. Last month, William Regal was made Raw GM after winning a battle royal. However, he's gone for 30 days, serving a suspension for violating the Wellness Policy. What if it were decided that Flair and not Regal would be GM? Like Regal, Flair is no stranger to playing an authority figure, and was thrust into that role almost immediately upon returning to WWE in November 2001. If it meant turning back heel, all the better, because a heel Flair in this role would be much, much better than the perpetually ineffectual Jonathan Coachman. Coachman is Waylon Smithers to Vince McMahon's C. Montgomery Burns. Flair, on the other hand, would be a more demanding boss, something like a J. C. Dithers to Coach's Dagwood (Blondie). You get the idea. However, the complaint is that Raw head scribbler Brian Gewirtz hasn't done his research on Flair's mammoth body of work. Flair has a support team over on Raw starting with Arn Anderson and Triple H. You know they're working overtime trying to coax him into staying.

The same can now be said of King Booker. Reports are now surfacing that Booker was reportedly going to be gone for 60 days. Let's face it. Despite what Booker would have you believe, the "King Booker" gimmick has run its course, which would explain a clean loss to Triple H at Summerslam 2 weeks ago. Booker was a little put out because his PWA promotion in suburban Pasadena, Texas was passed over in favor of Steve Keirn's relaunch of Florida Championship Wrestling, thanks to some cronyism between Keirn and John Lauranitis. That alone had to have weighed heavily on Booker's decision. Not only that, but the former World champion had been talking about retiring off and on for the last couple of years. He has PWA and 2 wrestling schools, plus a hip-hop clothing shop in his hometown of Houston. Booker already has his post-WWE career in place. Even though they want him to stay, it doesn't look like WWE will win this fight.

In both cases, the locker rooms are losing some veteran leaders. Flair, the elder statesman, could still slide into an agent's role and still wrestle, the way Jamie Noble is now. Flair's been promised a major program if he decides to stay, which might translate into a US or World title run as a grand exit. It's been talked about that Flair wanted to retire next March at Wrestlemania 24, and likely would be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the same time. An abrupt departure such as this would leave that in doubt.

Over on Raw, Booker is one of the most experienced men on the roster, along with Triple H & Shawn Michaels. In fact, Booker & HHH might have accrued the same amount of time in the business, with HBK ahead of them by a few years.

Meanwhile, a quick check of house show reports on the South African tour tells us that Santino Marella is on the tour, so if he is to be suspended, it may be delayed because WWE doesn't want to be caught too short-handed over the next few weeks. The same, I suspect, would hold true for Ken Kennedy, pending what happens tomorrow night.

And if in fact Booker and/or Flair are sticking to their guns about quitting, it adds fuel to the speculation TNA has generated with their claims of signing a former World champion. The only ones that make any sense now would be the last Wrestling Society X champion, Ricky Banderas (reportedly coming in as Judas Mesias to feud with Abyss) and quite possibly Rob Van Dam, who certainly wouldn't be welcomed back in WWE now that they've added marijuana to the list of substances they'll test for. Right now, it looks like Banderas will finally debut tonight at No Surrender, and he's the one they're teasing.

Of course, it surprises no one that J. Jonah Mushnick ragged on WWE in his NY Post column today, but it's the same vitriolic spew he's been throwing up for years. He wanted to know if Congress would talk to Donald Trump and Dick Ebersol about their business dealings with WWE. I'd rather have a Congressional investigation launched into Mushnick's witch hunt against WWE, Barry Bonds, and ESPN.......!