"Shawn didn't like having to fire her" - HBK's close friend gets honest on Mandy Rose's WWE release

The unforeseen WWE exit of Mandy Rose has undoubtedly caught many people off guard. Ric Flair reacted to the latest WWE release and noted that NXT boss Shawn Michaels would not have enjoyed firing Mandy Rose after her impressive work on the brand.

As reported extensively over the past few days, WWE released Mandy Rose from her contract after company officials discovered that she was posting racy content on the FanTime website.

A 50-year-old former champion reportedly informed Shawn Michaels about Mandy Rose's FanTime account, and she was immediately let go despite being one of the most improved stars on the roster.

Ric Flair, who shares a very close real-life relationship with Shawn Michaels, was confident that HBK would not have been in favor of releasing The Golden Goddess.

Michaels is WWE's Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Hence, Ric Flair understands that his former on-screen rival's job involves making a few tough decisions that he would ideally like to avoid.

Here's what Flair revealed on his To Be The Man podcast:

"I'm sure that Shawn didn't like having to fire her. I mean, that's not the kind of guy [he is], I'm sure; Shawn didn't like walking up to her, saying, 'Hey, Mandy, you're out of here.' That had to be a hard job for him to do. But Shawn's got a job to do. So, everybody answers to somebody." [51:43 - 52:11]

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Ric Flair has nothing but praise for Mandy Rose

As we noted earlier, Ric Flair personally would have chosen to continue being on TV if he was Mandy Rose. The Nature Boy explained that there had to be no distractions if a talent dreamt of getting to the top of WWE.

Ric Flair felt Rose would have had all the time in the world to pursue other avenues after achieving her WWE goals.

While Flair realized Rose had the freedom to do what she wanted, he would have loved to see her resume her run as a pro wrestling performer. The WWE legend added:

"She had improved a lot, in my opinion, she obviously looks great. That would be my choice. But I'm not thinking for her. I don't manage her. She and husband [Tino Sabbatelli] have the decision to make. They are both great people." [56:21 - 56:35]

What are your predictions on Rose's future in wrestling? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Please credit the To Be The Man podcast with a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use any quotes from the article.