The recent superstar shakeup delivered plenty of new scenarios and feuds for WWE fans, but one of the biggest moves was the new addition of Charlotte to the Smackdown Live brand. It brings one of the WWE’s best heels to the blue brand, but while she’s a stellar heel to be sure, there are plenty of reasons to love the second generation superstar.
Charlotte Flair was born in 1986, and swayed towards Volleyball in high school and college, winning a few championships during her time in the sport. Her history with wrestling started at the young age of 13 when she took part in a WCW storyline involving her dad Ric Flair and brother Reid Flair. They were both at Ric’s side again during a retirement match in 2000 and another match on Nitro.
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Since then Charlotte has worked her way up from NXT to the main roster and has already participated in two WrestleMania. Not only that, she’s held the RAW Women’s Championship numerous times, as well as the older Divas Championship, a belt her and others like Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley worked so hard to get past. The Flair legacy has only been enhanced by her career in the ring thus far, as opposed to a shadow that can’t be escaped. It’s a delicate balance to strike, but so far the talented superstar has done so gracefully, and her career shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Flair only wants the women’s division to get stronger, recently saying “I have the Women’s Championship and I think our focus should be building a stronger division, showing that we are just as big of a draw as the men, but once I’m not in the title picture anymore, I think it would be great to enter the Rumble, because, at the end of the day, I can outwrestle some of them, but it would have to make storyline sense. I hope in the future, if we have a big enough division to do it or if they ever bring RAW and Smackdown back together, I’d love for us to have an all-female Royal Rumble. I think that would be awesome.”
So hit the next slide and see why ComicBook.com loves Charlotte Flair!
Up next for the WWE is the RAW branded Payback pay-per-view on Sunday, April 30. You can see the entire match card below.
United States Champion Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho
RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boys vs Sheamus And Cesaro
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt – House of Horrors Match
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville vs. Austin Aries
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe
RAW Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss
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Her Versatility
No matter who she’s in the ring with, any Charlotte match is going to be an entertaining one. That’s because the talented athlete is keenly aware of her opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and not just for exploitation purposes. If the other superstar is better in submissions based matches, she can whip out a figure four bridge. If the battle is better served in the air, she can moonsault off the top rope with the best of them.
That makes her programs remain fresh from bout to bout, important since WWE programs tend to go on for at least a few months. That will prove a valuable skill now that she’s been moved to the blue brand, where she will encounter plenty of new opposition, and will undoubtedly put on a great show.
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The Flair Legacy
The biggest takeaway from Charlotte’s move up the roster is how she’s slowly implemented the Flair name. At the beginning, Charlotte wanted to forge her own identityย and not just be known as Ric Flair’s daughter, and that turned out to be the right choice. She didn’t even use the Flair name for some time, but once she embraced it she went all out.
Her robe game is right up there with her father’s, and at times even surpasses it, like the peacock inspired outfit she wore to WrestleMania 33. The music and the commanding presenceย are all Flair trademarks, but it doesn’t feel as if she’s using it as a crutch. Rather, she’s taking it places it’s never gone before. The Flair legacy has a bright future.
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Pitch Perfect Heel
Part of that Flair legacy is having the ability to turn things up to 11 in the heel department, and Charlotte has no issues with this. She has the uncanny ability to get under a crowd’s skin with her words, aided by her haughty attitude and snarkyย smile. She displays the perfect amount of ego to annoy her opponents, who can only say so much thanks to her stellar performance in the ring.
She’s got the win record to back up all her words as well, which helps her attitude not come across as delusional.
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Physicality
One of the biggest breakthroughs made by the four horsewomen was a renewed focus on in-ring work. That included an increase in the physicality female superstars were allowed to display in the ring, and Charlotte was a big part of that effort.
The days of slap fightsย and bra and panties matches are long gone, and in their place are actual matches that reward brutal kicks, punches, and suplexes. Charlotte always delivers believable offense that feels like it connects, with hard-hitting big boots and hard chops that do the Flair name proud. You never leave a Charlotte match not getting your money’s worth.
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Wonderful WWE Ambassador
Charlotte is quite good at playing a heel inside the squared circle, but outside of the ring she is one of the most approachable people on the WWEย roster. She often takes part in meet and greets with the fans as well asย WWE’sย bevy of charity events, and all it takes is a googleย search to see why. She’s nothing but smiles, and that joyful demeanor extends to interviews as well, whether she’s talking to a WWEย aficionado or someone brand new to the business.
It almost makes you want her to turn babyface, but she’s just too good as a heel for that, at least right now.
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