WWE's Charlotte Flair Suffers Serious Injury, Will Be Out for 9 Months

Charlotte Flair will be out of action for a while. Over the weekend, WWE announced Flair suffered a knee injury and will miss the next nine months since the injury requires surgery. Before WWE announced the news, Flair went to X (formerly known as Twitter) to post a heartbreaking emoji, indicating her reaction to her injury. 

The injury occurred when Flair was in a match against Asuka on WWE SmackDown. According to PW Insider, Flair tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus. Additionally, the 37-year-old WWE Superstar possibly strained her neck during the match. She is set to undergo surgery soon and no timetable has been set for her return other than the nine-month estimate. The injuries happened when Flair fell from the top rope landing on her leg awkwardly while hurting her neck. The injuries could mean Flair could miss most, if not all, of 2024. 

Flair has had an interesting year. On Dec. 30, 2022, Flair returned to action after a seven-month hiatus and defeated Ronda Rousey to win the SmackDown Women's Championship. In April, Flair lost the title to Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 39. She took two months off before returning in June and has been competing on SmackDown for the last six months. 

In an interview with the New York Post earlier this year, Flair talked about her bir return last December. "I was very overwhelmed," she said. "For me to get overwhelmed out there, I'm usually controlling the emotions and the pace and where I'm at. I was just like, I had never had that comeback moment. I never had that feel-good [moment]. Maybe when I won [at] WrestleMania 32, but it wasn't a surprise. It was a big moment in my career, but no one's ever missed me. I'm always there."

In August, Flair spoke to Josh Martinez on Superstar Crossover about what keeps her motivated throughout her career. "I think because I didn't grow up wanting to be a WWE Superstar, and I definitely didn't see myself following in my dad's footsteps," she explained, per WrestleZone. "So if you had met me 12 years ago [compared to] now, it like, 'Are you even the same person?' I think what keeps me motivated is my life gets better every year, as a performer, professionally, personally. I'm like, 'Man, if I just put my mind to something, what can I achieve?' That's kind of what happened with WWE."