A toast over a can of shrooms. Not your standard Friday get-together in the gym, but it should be and could be soon.
“They’re functional mushrooms; perfectly legal,” I’m assured by Chad Bronstein, founder and president of Carma HoldCo, and the man behind the Tyson THC ear.
Aptly named “Wooooo” and fronted by “the Nature Boy” Ric Flair himself, the sparkling mushroom elixir is formulated from adaptogenic mushrooms that help the body fight off harmful chemicals and biological effects that create stress at a cellular level.
Said to enhance physical performance, boost brain power and even help reduce the risk of cancer, shroom-infused energy drinks are the latest movers and shakers of the experimental health industry, captivating both experts and enthusiasts alike.
At 74 years old, WWE legend Ric Flair is no stranger to a good party. Renowned for his extravagant drinking habits, he’s found the perfect balance between maintaining a healthy lifestyle and having a blast.
Jump-starting energy levels…
With grocery stores stocking their shelves high and wide and no minimum age limit, the former WWE star promises to move and shake the energy drinks market in a fashion only he could style.
Wooooo Energy is being plugged as the healthier, longer-lasting and even more tasty alternative to your standard pre-workout.
“Ric drinks energy drinks a lot,” Chad tells me.
I turn to the 74-year-old adolescent to gauge his state of mind. He’s been looking at his watch for the past hour. At first, I feared I was boring him, but on closer inspection, I realized he was casually checking his heart was still beating.
The “Nature Boy” isn’t shy of a party; energy is his best friend.
“Red Bull is just good for two or three hours. But Wooooo is BOOM. That stuff will last you all day.”
Before the “wooooos” get any wackier, I ask Chad how he met wrestling’s most eccentric Hall of Famer ever to have graced the ring.
“Ric and I share a boat captain,” he reveals. “I’m not a fan of many people, but I was (and am) a fan of Ric Flair. I walked up to him and said, ‘Hey Ric, I’m going to start a cannabis CBD line called the Ric Flair Drip.’ He looked at me like I was mad, but we went on a lunch date, and now we’re family. We’ve known each other for over a year and a half now and built an amazing brand together.”
In the ring with Mike Tyson…
Famed for his penchant for parties, Ric admits there is someone he can’t compete with.
“I had asthma as a kid, which I didn’t grow out of until I was 25 or 26, so I just didn’t smoke, period. But I mean, I’ve smoked cigarettes, done everything, and smoked marijuana. I’m smoking it now. I must be careful not to get too crazy because I haven’t smoked enough lately to keep up with Mike (Tyson). When I go out with Mike, sometimes I forget where I am. I can’t keep up with Snoop Dog either.”
Chad assures me that Ric sticks to micro-dosing when it comes to CBD and mushrooms, but it seems he still consumes alcohol in large quantities, and Ric responds with utter discontent to my suggestion that perhaps booze isn’t the body’s best friend.
“I don’t put confidence in anything my blood work doesn’t indicate. If you listen to the FDA, everything is bad for you.”
“I drink booze every day. A lot! I drink Mic ULTRA, or if I’ve been on my boat and I’m sweating, then I drink vodka, cranberries, soda, a squeeze of lime, and a bottle of water. My recent blood work just came back from my Doctor, and their only recommendation was that I drink more water if I’m going to keep drinking that much alcohol.”
The beauty of Wooooo is that it pairs perfectly with any vodka, you can just pour it straight on, and you’ve got five hours of energy right there. It goes well with tequila too.
Making money in his sleep…
When the lights eventually go out, Ric makes money while he sleeps.
“I’m making more money than ever,” he smiles. “Our cannabis products and merch are so popular, and the drinks are just getting started. Mike Tyson, Future and myself, are all a part of Carma HoldCo, and now Hulk Hogan is too, since I introduced him to Chad. I didn’t realize how much cannabis is loved and people were dying to get it until I got into business.”
“Right now, as a company, we’re global,” explains Chad. “We’re in fifteen countries and thirty states in cannabis. We’ll be in all fifty states with Woooo Energy and multiple countries, plus online.”
“The stigma surrounding cannabis is pretty insignificant now. Our products are designed to help people. For example, if you suffer from anxiety, our THC CBD products could help you make a positive switch from addictive pharmaceutical drugs. Ric was taking Xanax and Ambien to sleep when I met him.”
Ric jumps in to verify Chad’s account of his prior addiction to pharma pills.
“I had major anxiety issues in ’89,” he recalls. “Somebody handed me a Xanax. I started just taking one or two milligrams a day, which is not a lot. But it’s addictive. It is really addictive. So, when I first got the cannabis and the Mike Bites, I would section myself off.”
“I have gone back periodically, when I’m really stressed out, to taking a Xanax. But when I’m calm, like I am today, and I have my life in order, I can strictly sleep with edibles and booze and have no anxiety and no need for Xanax.”
There’s something really special about Ric. When he manages to sleep well, aided “only” by copious amounts of booze and a handful of edibles, his life is “in order.”
“Since I met Chad, my life’s a lot clearer, and I have a better picture of where I’m going,” he says. “I’ve almost been dead a couple of times, so I lived for a long time for the day. Now I want to live longer. But I don’t give a shit if something happens. When you’ve been as sick as I’ve been a couple of times, you either walk around like I did every day worrying about dying, or you say, “screw it.” It took me a long time to get to that point. Since I’ve met Chad, I really say, “screw it,” because my bank account is bigger than ever during wrestling.”
Richer and fitter than ever…
Not only is Ric richer than ever before, but he also insists he’s as fit as a fiddle.
“I go to a guy, he runs the NFL combine, he’s trained Olympic athletes,” he says. “So I do my sessions with him, and then I ride the Airdyne bike, which I’ve mastered really well. I do 10,000 meters in 10 minutes.
“If I’m not on the bike, I’ll do 500 free squats in less than 14 minutes. I used to be able to do 100 pushups. Now I can only do 70. But I’ll get back to 100. I’m going to bench press 225 pounds five to ten times on my 75th birthday. That’s six months away.
“I eat really well too. I eat nothing but chicken and fish. My weakness is pasta, but I haven’t had that in a long time. I love Chinese food too, good Chinese food.”
Our talk turns to nicknames, and I can’t help but tap into something I heard earlier.
“I have a new erectile dysfunction drug coming out,” says Ric. “It’s called “Thick Ric.” It was Chad’s idea, and I loved it. I’ll have samples soon and can’t wait to try it out. We also have the Wooooo chews in THC, CBD and Delta eight and nine forms. They’re a synthesized version of a cannabinoid you can buy in stores.”
I’ve made up my mind. I’m a huge Ric Flair fan. He’s obsessive, addictive and downright hilarious.
“Ric is not just Ric Flair, WWE, Ric “Nature Boy,” Chad says. “Ric means a lot to sports. At 74 years old, he blows my energy out of the water. He works harder than anyone I know. If he goes out, he’s going to outdo you. If we have a convention, Ric is there on time. If he’s supposed to be there at six, he wakes up at 5:30. He’s there before anybody.
“Wooooo Energy is a big focus for us right now. Because most sportsmen aren’t like that. I work with a lot of people. Ric is just very humble. What he asks you to do, he’ll do himself. He’s just very sincere.
“When people win something in sports, they celebrate by saying “wooooo.” That’s why we created Wooooo Energy. It represents Ric’s high energy levels. We wanted to find the right way to bring the energy Ric Flair has to a can.
“You’ll see a lot more coming from us. We’re launching a Wooooo Light product. It will have zero sugar and zero certain additives.”
There’s only one thing left to say, and it’s aptly written on every can of Wooooo.
Diamonds are forever, and so is Ric Flair!
