“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair is picking his daughter to walk out with the gold at WrestleMania 34 on Sunday.
Flair was in Georgia for rapper Quavo’s charity football game over the weekend, and caught up with a TMZ reporter.
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When asked who he thought would win the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship match at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, he didn’t hesitate to endorse his own daughter.
“I’m betting on Charlotte, you kidding?” Flair said. “The streak versus the title, the streak versus the greatest female athlete in the history of the WWE, not just the title.
Charlotte is walking into WrestleMania as the reigning champion, a title she won on the November 14 episode of SmackDown Live in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Opposing her is Asuka, the winner of the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. The “Empress of Tomorrow” also holds an undefeated record ever since she joined the WWE, eclipsing Bill Goldberg’s legendary 173-0 record months ago.
After debuting in NXT in 2015, she went on to win the NXT Women’s Championship (a title previously held by Charlotte) at NXT TakeOver: Dallas and held the gold for a record 510 days. She relinquished the title just before jumping to the main roster. The same weekend Asuka became champion, Charlotte was making history on the main roster when she won the WWE Women’s Championship in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 32 against Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.
Charlotte said in a recent interview with Sport Bible that she wanted a match with Asuka on WWE’s grandest stage from the get-go.
“I think there are a lot of great matches but the fact that Asuka and I have never touched, we have never been in the ring together, and what she represents — her entrance, her style and her own Japanese legacy vs my legacy — even saying ‘The Queen vs The Empress’, it’s very exciting,” Flair said.
“I have goosebumps sitting here thinking about it. I want it to be the match of my career; that’s how important this night is to me.”
After winning the Rumble, Asuka was given the choice to challenge either Charlotte or Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. While she initially feuded with Bliss and her posse of Mickie James and Nia Jax in the following weeks, she officially challenged Charlotte at the Fastlane pay-per-view after “The Queen” retained her championship against Ruby Riott.
Other women’s matches scheduled for Sunday’s WrestleMania include Bliss versus Jax, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in a mixed tag match and the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
