WWE Has A Charlotte Problem
As WWE barrels toward WrestleMania they are realizing they have a problem on their hands… and that problem is Charlotte Flair.
Charlotte Flair has been one of the best women’s wrestlers for the past decade. She’s racked up 14 world titles, 2 NXT titles & a Women’s tag team title. She’s the only 2x Royal Rumble winner. Her 2023 WrestleMania match with Rhea Ripley was a MOTY candidate. Despite all of those accolades, Flair has remained a divisive figure with some fans who feel she’s been cemented in the women’s title scene entirely too long at the expense of building up other stars. When Flair came from NXT to the main roster, she was a part of a group of women instrumental in revolutionizing women’s wrestling. Since her main roster debut in 2015, women’s wrestling has gotten so much better that one could argue The Horsewomen’s needed status at the top of the division isn’t needed.
Charlotte Flair went out with an ACL tear back in December 2023 and spent all of 2024 rehabbing for a comeback. In that time, stars such as Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky and Liv Morgan elevated their game while the NXT women’s roster arguably became the best women’s roster in professional wrestling headlined by Stephanie Vaquer, Guilia, Roxanne Perez and Jaida Parker. The elevation of the women’s division made it so that Flair wasn’t really missed.
When Charlotte was announced for this year’s Royal Rumble, fans immediately dreaded the thought of her winning the Rumble and getting an instant title shot when there were other women on the roster who could have benefited from that win. As expected, Flair won the women’s match and quickly set her sights on the current WWE Women’s champion – a young, up & coming star in Tiffany Stratton. Stratton spent most of 2024 as a white hot heel who turned face after cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase & dethroning Nia Jax.
The night after the Royal Rumble, Charlotte Flair was mercilessly booed on Raw in Cleveland. The problem WWE has with Charlotte is fans know whenever she’s around she will either have the title or have a title opportunity. While her in-ring ability was never questioned, her mic work and character work has never been on an elite level. Simply put, Flair’s “I’m the Queen” character is not only not interesting, it’s exhausting.
On paper this feud between Flair and Stratton should be box office gold but it’s been mostly a train wreck. WWE tried to lean in on the fan backlash of Flair winning the Rumble to make her the arrogant heel but the fans aren’t buying it. They’re tired of Charlotte always being in the title scene. They’ve never seen her struggle and have a redemption arc – something that Becky Lynch, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley all have done. The other problem is this feud has exposed Tiffany Stratton. Stratton, like Flair, works better as a heel so this run as a face has not worked for her. The feud has also exposed Stratton’s mic work and since Charlotte’s mic work always feels stiff it had the makings for some cringe moments. Take for instance this past Friday on SmackDown:
Someone of Charlotte’s stature should be able to carry a feud and help to make the younger star look like she belongs but sadly this feud has stunted Tiffany’s progression and I don’t see her going over at WrestleMania. Charlotte will win her 15th title and fans will despise her even more. At this point Charlotte Flair needs a Roman Reigns-type reboot.
Updated WrestleMania 41 Card
With less than two weeks left until WrestleMania here is the updated card:
- WWE Undisputed Championship: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. John Cena
- Triple Threat Match: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk (w/ Paul Heyman)
- World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther(c) vs. Jey Uso
- WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton(c) vs. Charlotte Flair
- Women’s World Championship: Iyo Sky(c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley
- United States Championship: LA Knight(c) vs. Jacob Fatu
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez(c) vs. Winners of Gauntlet Match
- Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
- AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul
- Naomi vs. Jade Cargill
- CM Punk finally revealed what is the favor owed to him by Paul Heyman on SmackDown. Heyman must be in the corner of Punk during his Triple Threat match with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. While I don’t think this is the real favor, Heyman being in Punk’s corner will add even more intrigue into the match.
- John Cena & Cody Rhodes went toe to toe with each other last Monday:
- The Intercontinental Title match should be made this week with champion Bron Breakker putting his title on the line against Penta, Finn Balor & Dominik Mysterio
- Kevin Owens announced on Friday that he has a legitimate neck injury and will not be able to make WrestleMania. Owens’ injury has left Randy Orton without a dance partner and seemingly no path to WrestleMania. That news didn’t sit well with The Viper who responded in his own way:
- With the IC Title match all but set that leaves 2-3 spots left to fill out the card. Both women’s midcard titles have no direction or feud set up for a spot. This is very disappointing and continues to shed a light on the lack of stories being told with the women’s roster. What is the point of having Both men’s tag team champions still have no match set either. I do suspect The Street Profits will probably get a spot by defending in a multi tag team match.
- The lack of emphasis on midcard storylines has hampered the build to this year’s WrestleMania. It’s hard to get into the other feuds when the build for most of the matches outside of the two main events has been very lackluster. While I have do doubts the wrestlers will go out & do their thing a good storyline will help sell the matches
Final Thoughts
- As part of WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony, the company has added a new category called “Immortal Moment” which will showcase iconic matches from WWE’s history. The first match to be on this list is the famed match at WrestleMania 13 between Bret Hart & Stone Cold Steve Austin:
- With this new category here are some other iconic matches that will more than likely be added over the years to come:
- The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania 25
- The Undertaker vs. Triple H, WrestleMania 28
- Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, WrestleMania 3
- The Undertaker vs. Mankind, King of the Ring 1998
- CM Punk vs. John Cena, Money In The Bank 2011
- Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, WrestleMania 10
- The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania 26(Career vs. Streak)
- Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudleys, WrestleMania 17
- The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan, WrestleMania 18
- The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, WrestleMania 17
- Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair, WrestleMania 39
- Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania 21
- Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair, WrestleMania 32
- Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, NXT Brooklyn Takeover
- Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena, Royal Rumble 2015
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