Raw champion tells Sky Sports about her dad and her WWE rise
Friday 30 September 2016 14:36, UK
When WWE's biggest event, WrestleMania, takes place in Orlando next April, it will be poignant for Charlotte in more ways than one.
The city is not only where the reigning Raw Women's Champion began her wrestling career in NXT and earned rave reviews for her matches with Bayley, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.
It is also where her father, record 16-time world champion Ric Flair, fought his final WWE bout - the Nature Boy retiring from the company after going down to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24 in 2008.
Flair and Michaels' emotionally-charged encounter - both men welled up as Michaels hit a decisive Sweet Chin Music - was fought inside The Citrus Bowl, a venue WWE will return to for WrestleMania 33 next spring.
Charlotte told Sky Sports she cannot wait to create some 'Mania memories of her own at the stadium after holding such vivid ones of her father's tearful swansong.
"To know there is a possibility I will be wrestling at the same stadium at a Wrestlemania where my dad had his last just blows my mind - it's crazy," said the 30-year-old.
"My dad was my hero and I loved watching him but it wasn't until I got into wrestling that I realised how important he was to the industry.
"My whole family watched that match with Shawn and to see and hear over 70,000 people chanting: 'Thank you, Ric' and to see him living out his dream and what he dedicated his life to was very special.
"I look at the photos and wish I could go back to that moment."
Flair was a focal point of WrestleMania weekend again in 2012 when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for a second time - the veteran earning entry alongside Four Horsemen stablemates Arn Anderson, Barry Windham and Tully Blanchard and former manager James J. Dillon.
It was over those few days that Charlotte, prompted by her late brother Reid, made the decision to carve out a wrestling career having previously been a personal trainer and volleyball player.
"I was with my dad, Reid and [WWE employee] John Laurinaitis and John just said to me: 'Why aren't you doing this?'
"My brother said: 'You have to, we can do it together' and three months later I showed up in Florida. The rest is history."
If words of encouragement from Reid, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 25, convinced Charlotte to lace up her boots, it was her father's aura that made her determined to reach the pinnacle of WWE.
Flair accompanied his daughter to many of her matches when she first began appearing on the main roster in 2015 - and Charlotte admits it was a "challenge" trying to be the centre of attention.
"He drove me to get better night after night," she said of Flair. "He is my dad but in the environment that I work in he is a two-time Hall of Famer and one of the greatest of all time.
"To know I had to walk out with him time after time and be the focus and forge my place on the roster was a challenge. I wanted it to happen, though, so it pushed me harder.
"The most important piece of advice he ever gave me was that when you walk through the curtain you have to believe in yourself or the fans will see straight through you."
Charlotte, Banks and Lynch met in a Triple Threat encounter at WrestleMania 32 earlier this year, Charlotte retaining her title after over 16 minutes of faultless wrestling.
Yet, the former NXT Women's Champion believes her time spent speaking has been just as valuable as her high-quality matches as she seeks to impress demanding WWE fans.
"Mic time for me is extremely important as it allows me to show who Charlotte is," she said.
My next goal is to headline WrestleMania, while Stephanie McMahon is my dream match.
"Charlotte can be condescending, she can be demeaning, she can be over-confident - you can show that in so many ways in the ring but to get my voice on the microphone is just as important."
Proving herself is not something alien to Charlotte, though…
"When I started out wrestling people said: 'Oh, she is only here because of Ric Flair'," she added.
"I would go: 'Excuse me, I've been in the weight room all day, I've been watching wrestling films all night, I've been working just as hard as every other girl'.
"I'm Ric Flair's daughter but I'm not just Ric Flair's daughter."
Watch Charlotte in action every week on Monday Night Raw, live on Sky Sports.
When I know I have someone as hardworking and talented as Becky Lynch as Women’s Champion on Smackdown, I know that I always have to be on my A-game.
