Folks, it's official: Charlotte Flair is back in WWE, and “The Queen” is a champion once more thanks to a minute-long victory over Ronda Rousey to open up her 14th reign with one of the promotion's main roster belts. Stopping by The Bump to discuss her return to WWE, Flair explained how her return to the ring was “surreal,” but the audience eased any worry about ring rust.
“It’s kind of surreal. I mean I was gone for eight months, and then to be back, here I am in my office, holding the title, it feels like I never left, really,” Flair said via Fightful. “I was sincerely so touched by the fan reaction on Friday. I done a lot of things in my career, but to see the smiles and the cheers, and the reception that I received when I came back, I was just thinking to myself, any time I’ve ever thought negative or ‘Do I still have it,’ I know I always have it, but it was just very rewarding after this journey that I’ve had for ten years. Being in the audience, which I’ve never done before, like I’ve been in the audience, but I’m usually kicking someone’s butt, but here I was holding the title in Tampa, where my career started full circle, and being back after eight months, it really made me emotional.”
“I think after being gone for eight months, the things that I worried about before, I don’t worry about as much. My legacy is cemented now, and I think moving forward, I’ve always been so serious. I’m very serious about the champion, about [having] the title and progressing, and never resting or coasting or being complacent, but it let me know that everyone had appreciated what I’ve done leading up to being back after eight months. It meant a lot to me.”
Was, after eight months away, Flair nervous about returning to the ring, especially for what rapidly devolved into a championship match against “The Baddest Woman on the Planet?”
“It’s not that I was nervous. I was just enjoying the moment of the fans being excited to have me back,” Flair said. “Seeing everyone cheer, I was just blown away. I’m usually not in that role to where everyone is just so excited to see me because I’ve never [been] away, I’ve never had a break. I’ve always [been] just go, go, go, consistency, dedication, passion. I feel like because I was so consistent [with] my skill, my talent, my presence, was kind of taken for granted. To come back and be in the audience and just see so many faces, and not just so many happy faces, and not just boos or having to be arrogant, just being me, I was enjoying the moment as not feeling like I had to put on my armor and be arrogant or bossy about what I’ve done. I was just literally in the moment.”
While some fans quibbled with the exact way Flair returned to the ring, as dropping Rousey in under a minute 83 days into her championship reign was certainly a choice, it's hard to argue that WWE is worse off with the second-generation wrestler in the ring. Why? Well, because as Flair pointed out herself, she's a legitimate Hall of Fame caliber talent who no longer has anything to prove in her career save matching her father's 16-championship reign record. Considering she's never had a WWE main roster title reign last more than 200 days, that milestone feels incredibly tenable.
.@MsCharlotteWWE says the fan reaction to her return and big win on #SmackDown meant the world to her after 8 months away. #WWETheBump pic.twitter.com/VUfDiAHulX
— WWE (@WWE) January 4, 2023
Ric Flair missed his daughter's return to WWE for a very Ric Flair activity.
So, being that Ric Flair lives in Florida, did he happen to see his daughter Charlotte in the ring in person? As it turns out, the answer's no, but for a very Ric Flair-y reason, as he explained on his Be the Man podcast.
“I was in the building and left and didn't know it,” Flair said via Wrestle Zone. “It was the first time in so many years that nobody knew. I was in the building, I went and saw Roman (Reigns) and John (Cena), it was the greatest time and I really felt like part of the family again. I had a ball, but I didn't even know. I left and went to American Social [sports bar in Tampa, FL], and then I got word that she was there. I had a couple of drinks with the hockey players. Hockey players on the Lightning like to drink. I wasn't going to go back to the building. I watched it and they put it on every TV for me. It was amazing. That was old-school kayfabe.”
Oh Ric, never change.
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