The Infamous Vince McMahon "Ear Tug" which featured in the segment in which Ric Flair made his return to WWF in 2001 as Vince McMahon's business partner has been explained by Bruce Prichard on his 'Something to Wrestle' podcast. Reddit user JMPBass summarized what Prichard revealed:

"I was listening to the latest Something to Wrestle last night and Bruce told the story about the Ric Flair return to the WWF in 2001 after the Survivor Series in which Flair announces that he and Vince are storyline partners, having purchased Shane and Stephanie's stock in the WWF.

Remember that iconic moment when Flair hugs Vince and Vince does that wide-eyed, mouth open ear pull? Turns out that it was a cue for Bruce and Kevin Dunn to hit Stone Cold's music!

Vince had told Bruce originally that he was going to pull his ear as a cue to hit the music, but apparently it was never fast enough for Vince's liking (Bruce explains that it takes a little time to "hit the music" once you get the cue since you're giving direction to the truck, so it's a chain), so Vince decided to exaggerate the tug, which only made Bruce and Kevin lose it in the back and not hit the music any faster than Vince had intended.

So there you have it! The ear tug of 2001 is finally explained in this week's episode of Something to Wrestle with...."