Flip Gordon is one of the most surprising tales from the indie scene in the United States. Once seen as the next big star in Ring of Honor, a future member of The Elite and one of the fan-favorites at the iconic All In show in 2018, he is now rarely seen in any of the top promotions, and has fallen out of favor with the fans in just a few short years.
What happened to him seems to be a mystery to many, but actually makes a lot of sense. Once groomed to be the next generation of The Elite, he bounced around indie feds and faded into obscurity, despite being in his early 30s. He did not slow down in the ring, nor do anything horrific like Jimmy Havoc or Velveteen Dream, so his disappearance seems confusing to many.
In this article, we’ll explain what happened to Flip Gordon, the reason why he never signed for AEW over the past 4 years and why he decided to stop taking wrestling bookings in 2023.
What Happened To Flip Gordon?
Flip Gordon does not wrestle for any major promotions at the moment, struggling to find his way despite being a promising prospect just a few years prior.Flip Gordon seemed certain to be a regular in AEW, when the company announced themselves to the world in 2019.
He had been a key part of the “Being the Elite” web series around 2018, with his goal to be booked by Cody Rhodes being a key theme on the show.
However, Gordon re-signed with Ring of Honor in 2020, once Marty Scurll was revealed as the new booker in the company. Scurll was part of the Bullet Club, alongside the founders of AEW, and his deal with the company was a huge shock to the world.
Gordon stayed with ROH, joining Scurll’s Villain Enterprise stable. He signed a multi-year contract with the company, although the stable went into disarray once Marty Scurll was sacked for some allegations levied against him.
You can click hereto read the #SpeakingOut allegations aimed toward Marty Scurll, which halted his run as the booker of Ring of Honor and cost him a career that could have made him one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling.
Gordon soon fell down the pecking order in Ring of Honor, and stopped wrestling for the company in 2021. He signed for Billy Corgan’s National Wrestling Alliance in 2022, wrestling four matches in one week. Sadly, that was the only appearances he made in the company.
While ROH never commented on why they stopped booking the young star, it is likely that it had something to do with Scurll’s exit from the company. It’s clear the pair were close, given how hugely Gordon was featured on Being the Elite and at All In, so losing him as booker was bound to affect his standing in the company.
Being only 31, he still has years ahead of him to continue his wrestling career and make a star of himself. What happened to Flip Gordon is unfortunate, but was something of his own making.
Flip Gordon In AEW
Many fans are shocked that Flip Gordon never made an appearance in AEW. He was always close with The Elite, and was a key part of the build up to All In – the precursor to AEW. The build up to All In was mainly done on the web show “Being the Elite”.
On this, Flip Gordon did his best to convince Cody Rhodes to book him on the All In show, lead to a fan movement to get him involved in the show. Signs and chants of “Book Flip” rang out at ROH show, with the excited fans ready to see him get on the card at All In.
While The Elite feigned their disdain towards him, refusing to book Flip Gordon on their show, it was clear how highly they rated the young star. He was a constant presence on their web show, and they eventually relented and added him to All In, much to the delight of the fans.
He took part in a pre-show battle royal at All In, winning the match to earn himself a ROH Championship opportunity later that night. He was unsuccessful in beating Jay Lethal for the belt, but the fans got their dream to see Flip Gordon booked at All In.
The natural succession for Flip Gordon would have been to join AEW. Many fans expected to see Flip Gordon appear at the original AEW press conference, where they announced stars like Chris Jericho, PAC and Adam Page had joined the fledgling promotion. However, he was nowhere to be seen.
Flip Gordon did not join AEW in 2019 because he signed a long-term deal with ROH once Marty Scurll was brought in as the booker. Scurll’s signing was a huge shock for the world of wrestling, given how certain it seemed the Englishman was going to join his friends in All Elite Wrestling.
However, the offer was too good to turn down. Marty Scurll reportedly had total control over the promotion’s booking, as well as a seven-figure salary to make him one of the highest-paid men in wrestling. He used his power to sign his friends to deals, with Flip Gordon being one man given a long-term contract with the promotion.
However, as previously mentioned, once Scurll was outed and fired due to the speaking out movement, Gordon’s run with the company was on borrowed time. There was also the small matter of his insane conspiracy theories that got him almost blackballed from the wrestling world.
Conspiracy Theories
One of the reasons Flip Gordon has not made it in a big company is his controversial opinions regarding topics like the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also apparently subscribed the theories regarding thigns like flat earth, which AJ Styles revealed being a believer of during an episode of “Talking Smack”.
Speaking on the 3 Count podcast, Gordon discussed his “Unreal” character and how he’s leaned into conspiracy theories.
Flip Gordon claimed that the whole idea was actually a work, and believing all these conspiracy theories was actually a gimmick.
However, fans and wrestlers alike do not believe it, and think that the whole thing was a cover up.
“‘The Unreal’ was kind of like a spin off of my mercenary character that I was doing back in Ring of Honor. Towards the tail end of Ring of Honor, I was doing this conspiracy gimmick, because I was a heel.
I never really watched movies or TV shows or read books growing up, only thing I was really into was professional wrestling. That was really my only source of entertainment. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started getting into conspiracy theories as a way to let my mind explore.
‘What if this is happened? What if that’s happening?’ I started going down some of these rabbit holes and I was like, ‘I can throw this into my gimmick. I’m a heel, so I can amp up this a little more.’ I remember, I was down in Mexico with Juventud Guerrera and he pitched the whole flat earth thing to me. ‘That is ridiculous, but I like it.’
I came back the following week, and we even put it on BTE [Being The Elite], I told the Bucks [The Young Bucks], ‘Let’s do this flat earth thing.’ They laughed and enjoyed it, and we tied it into that. Then I did the whole Milk first, and I was like, ‘Man, conspiracies is a way to get on people’s nerves,’ and I started coming up with the wackiest theories like wild fires having borders and not entering into Canada or Mexico.
Obviously, when COVID hit, I was really on the whole ‘no mask’ thing because people would freak out about it. ‘A mask isn’t going to work.’ Meanwhile, I was the first person to wear a mask. When COVID first hit, I did a bit in the airport with a gas mask.
People just had this narrative about me and I kept going with it. For me, that’s where I got my entertainment from. Taking something I enjoy outside of wrestling and bringing it into wrestling. To me, that was conspiracy theories,”
Flip Gordon did wrestle for AEW (sort of), as a part of the Jericho Cruise this year. He wrestled against Matt Cardona for the Oceanic Title, failing to defeat the Death Match King on the cruise.
Book Flip
In 2018, Flip Gordon was a guest on Interactive Wrestling Radio, just after All In.
He spoke about the Book Flip movement, and how it changed his career almost overnight.
“It has been crazy because everywhere I go now, I hear the chants “BOOK FLIP!” It is at shows I’m not even on! I was in Japan for Best of Super Juniors and ROH was on their United tour and the fans were chanting “BOOK FLIP” at Cody every time he was on TV! It is really cool to see. You look on TV, you see Book Flip shirts everywhere! It has been really cool. It has been really special. But, it hasn’t gotten me booked yet! I’m still not All In. I’m not on the biggest independent wrestling event of all time. So, it has been frustrating but the Book Flip movement has been really cool. But, I feel it has to pay off. I still have to get booked! But, I’m still going to be in Chicago. I’m having an “All Out” pre-show party. It sold out, a little under 2 hours, 2,000 tickets! I’m still going to try my best to get booked. I think it would mean a lot for Ring of Honor to have another one of their superstars on the show!”
Flip Gordon Is No Longer Taking Wrestling Bookings
In a recent Instagram post, Flip Gordon announced that he stop taking bookings for wrestling matches in the near future.
No other information has been given, outside his initial statement on Instagram post. He took to the social media app on September 26th, 2023, stating:
“At this time I’m no longer taking independent bookings!! Thank you”.
There are many reasons why Flip Gordon may have stopped taking bookings. It could indicate that he has signed to a big company like the WWE, and is just finishing up his dates before moving to NXT.
It could mean that he is having issues with his family, or personal issues. This could see him taking a step away from the business for a time, taking a break before returning, hopefully, even strong.
Or, it could mean that Flip Gordon is retiring from professional wrestling, and this is him announcing that he is no longer taking any wrestling bookings in the future.
We have reached out to Flip Gordon for comment on the issue, although he has yet to reply. We will update this article once more information becomes available.