Photo courtesy of WWE, Inc.
With two-time WWE Hall of Famer “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair as her father, it’s no surprise that WWE Diva’s Champion Charlotte has a natural talent in the ring. Even though her late younger brother Reid amassed an impressive record on the independent scene and in Japan, and her older brother David is a former World Championship Wrestling United States and World Tag Team Champion, Charlotte has followed a very different path as one of the leaders of the WWE Divas Revolution. Rather than prove herself on the indies before making her way to the WWE Performance Center, Charlotte has the distinction of being NXT‘s first completely homegrown talent to make it to the main roster.
“Just because you have a parent or sibling or someone in your family that wrestles doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what you want to do,” she says. “I played sports my whole life, then this opportunity came up. I wasn’t doing much at the time accept personal training. So, I showed up and fell in love with it.”
The opportunity to start training with WWE arose in 2012 when she was in Miami to see her father be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for his second time, this time as a member of the Four Horsemen. At Reid’s encouragement, Charlotte began wrestling shortly thereafter. It didn’t take her long to display her natural Flair for sports entertainment as she won the NXT Women’s Championship in 2014 with her father in her corner.
Photo courtesy of WWE, Inc.
“He always believed that wrestling was something you had to learn on your own,” she says. “He was very much hands off up until the point that I won the NXT title. He only gives me advice when I want it because he still wants to be dad, he doesn’t want to be a coach. Knowing my dad’s background and what he means to the business, I don’t think he wants to add to the pressure. He wants me to grow, learn and adapt to how WWE is today because it is much different than the territories, NWA and WCW. But if I have questions, he’s open to answer them.”
Charlotte has continued her ascent as she made her Raw debut in July of this year, going on to defeat Nikki Bella for the WWE Diva’s Championship at Night of Champions in September. While she and other former NXT women continue to change the audience’s perception of what women can do in WWE, her reign as Diva’s Champion has cost her at least one friendship as former friend Paige has become her biggest foe. But considering the rivalries she had with Paige and others in NXT, it should come as no surprise that every woman in WWE is after Chalotte’s title.
Photo courtesy of WWE, Inc.
“With the Four Horsewomen – me, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch – it was almost lightning in a bottle,” she says. “It only happens once and it was just meant to be. With Ronda Rousey, Serena Williams and the [United States] women’s soccer team, it’s kind of like the year of the woman. People want to see women do well. With how hard we worked in NXT, it was just a matter of time before it transitioned to the main roster. Everyone’s so competitive and each girl wants that.”
With TLC only a few days away, it remains to be seen who Charlotte’s next opponent will be. Regardless of who it is, she’s proud of what she has accomplished so far in WWE.
“I really haven’t had a chance to sit back and take it all in because once you debut, you just take off,” she says. “I just had my first overseas tour and I’ve had a few pay-per-views now. It’s been great having Becky Lynch by my side. I’m just looking forward to seeing where this Divas Revolution goes. I’ll continue to work hard and I’m looking to keep my title.”