Charlotte Flair made an appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin this week to discuss her time in WWE, getting into the business because of her late brother Reid, and more. Here are some of the highlights:
Her inspiration to become a pro wrestler: “When I was watching, I didn’t see myself in that light as this beautiful Diva. I just didn’t. I’m just looking at Torrie Wilson going, ‘Wow, you are the most beautiful woman in the world.’ Or I remember seeing Michelle McCool in makeup with my dad when he retired in Orlando. I was like 21 or 22 at this time. I walked past her and was like, ‘Gosh. She’s so glamorous. What’s it like to wear boots like that? Or an outfit like that?’
I was front row when Lita and Trish main evented in Charlotte, North Carolina, with my friends, and to think, at that time, I was a senior in high school. It was like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ It’s easier to assume that that’s what I wanted to do my whole life than to think that actually, no. I have a story, and I didn’t care about wrestling. It was because of my brother.”
Her brother Reid: “My little brother was like, ‘Dude, yes, you have to do this. We can do it together. We can go to Tampa together.’ Because, at the time, NXT — our third brand — was FCW. ‘Let’s do this together. You gotta do this, Winky.’ That was my nickname. ‘You gotta do it. You’d be excellent.’ I still tell Nattie to this day, but Reid was always like, ‘You gotta watch Natalya. You gotta watch Natalya. She’s a legit wrestler.’ It’s crazy then to think I had a match with her that put me on the map.”
Her first training session with WWE: “I reported to Tampa July 12. Then my little brother ended up passing a year later. So when I got there, I was scared, nervous, didn’t know what to do. Like, ‘Here I am. Ric Flair’s kid just showing up.’ The only thing that kept me in the game was I was super-athletic and just kept earning the respect from my peers just by working my butt off and my blow-up drills and stuff like that. And when my brother passed, it really just started to click.”
Remaining on top: “Everyone’s like, ‘Well, you’ve done it all.’ So because I’ve main evented WrestleMania once I’m not supposed to want to do it again?” Flair asked, knowing the answer to her question. “You think Simone Biles doesn’t want to be the G.O.A.T. anymore?
Because I’ve main evented one pay-per-view, I’m not supposed to want to main event more? Randy [Orton], he’s active. No one’s going, ‘You’re one of the greatest of all time. Do you want more?’ I just get confused why people don’t understand that. I want to get better. I want to evolve. I want more layers. But I don’t understand why that makes me selfish.”
