After coming back from a lengthy injury layoff, Charlotte Flair won the 30-woman Royal Rumble match to seal her WrestleMania fate. The decision had already enraged fans, so they started treating Flair as the heel, even though she was a baby face at the time. The Queen would go on to choose Tiffany Stratton as the champion she wanted to wrestle at The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Their feud wasn’t gaining much interest until their infamous shoot-like promo segment in Chicago. They met on SmackDown, and their face-off went completely off the rails. Things started going haywire when Stratton joked about Flair’s past as a three-time divorcee.
The Queen addressed that part in her Players’ Tribune note by saying the line rocked her. She wasn’t expecting it to come up during a scripted promo designed to advance her feud with The Buff Barbie. Flair wasn’t proud of an entire arena mocking her for something that was still devastating to her.
“I think in those times when people have seen me appear rattled by the booing, those are just the times when I’ve felt like — at least for a moment — the boos aren’t for Charlotte. They’re for Ashley. They’re for me. They’re because of the way I look. Or because of the energy I’m giving off as a woman. Or because of real trauma I’ve gone through in real life. So when it got mentioned in Chicago that I have an “0–3 record at marriages”…yeah, it rocked me legit.”
Charlotte Flair in her Players’ Tribune write-up
The tussle between them was very physical and felt personal. Both fought at WrestleMania 41 for the WWE Women’s Title. Stratton emerged victorious, retaining the title after defeating Flair. Currently, the 14-time Women’s Champion is involved in an interesting storyline with Alexa Bliss. The duo will challenge Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez in a Fatal 4-Way match for the tag titles at Evolution 2.
Charlotte Flair Urges Fans To Give Ronda Rousey Credit for Her WWE Endeavors
Ronda Rousey bowed out of WWE on less-than-ideal terms. However, in her heyday, she had some trailblazing moments and career-defining feuds, like the one with Charlotte Flair. They faced off against each other on five different occasions, including three one-on-one matches.
In her Players’ Tribune write-up, The Queen made sure to credit The Baddest Woman on the Planet for helping put women in the main event of WWE’s greatest spectacle. Flair mentioned that Rousey’s UFC stardom was a game changer for women, who headlined multiple PPVs that sold over a million buys—a feat that remains unbroken in women’s MMA.
‘I don’t think Ronda gets enough credit for WWE putting women in the main event. A lot of things about the women’s revolution might be true, but this is definitely true: Ronda being a main event draw in UFC changed everything. I know that for a fact. I wish people would talk about that more, and give Ronda her due.”
Charlotte Flair in her Players’ Tribune write-up
Flair noted how the U.S. women’s soccer team and pro athletes like Serena Williams being draws helped women gain recognition in sports as a whole. However, when it came to WWE viewing women as potential WrestleMania main eventers, Rousey played a pivotal role in that, reiterated the 14-time Women’s Champion.
