Charlotte Flair has been cast as the reluctant villain in Becky Lynch’s emotionally stirring antihero story, but it’s important to think about how Flair’s character will look well after this feud is over. Because if Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte is to happen at WrestleMania 35, the next iteration of Charlotte’s character should be the strongest version of herself.
WWE Superstars are, as a whole, a group of incredibly inspirational people, and Charlotte Flair is no exception. As a matter of fact, the woman behind the “Charlotte” character is among the most inspirational athletes I can think of.
She speaks about body positivity in wrestling, stressing the importance of women’s wrestling’s evolution into an athletic contest where performance is at a premium. You can see how much she values presenting women’s wrestling as a legitimate sport when watching her matches.
Charlotte frequently interacts with her fans on social media, supporting people of every single type of background. Her Twitter page is infectiously positive, because it exists as a shrine to inner confidence and celebrating wrestling. She’s supportive of other talent on social channels, and that’s not even mentioning all the promotional work she does. I mean, just check out her reading of Goodnight Moon with TV Guide.
But The Crowd Seems To Feel Differently…
Despite being a babyface and having done all of these incredible, empowering things as a positive voice in pro wrestling, Charlotte Flair finds herself on the wrong side of the crowd’s good graces. And while I admire Charlotte as an athlete and a person, I can absolutely understand why the fans are so willing to jeer her.
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Firstly, Charlotte is going up against Becky Lynch, who is so adored by the fans that there isn’t a chance in hell they’ll turn against her. They understand what she’s fought through and why she betrayed Charlotte at SummerSlam, because even if it’s hard to justify turning against a best friend, it is easy to understand why Becky would finally stand up for herself.
Secondly, Charlotte is a seven-time women’s champion, and the WWE Universe has become increasingly concerned with spreading the wealth in the women’s division. With those seven titles, Charlotte has now tied Trish Stratus for the most women’s championship reigns in the company’s history, even though she’s only been wrestling since 2012.
Showcasing the many instead of the few is their desire, and it’s a noble one that WWE would follow in an ideal world. But as we see with the world titles, that isn’t always how things work in WWE.
On the one hand, that number of title victories already can be seen as a negative, as many fans point out that her title haul in three years on the main roster is an indication that she’s won at the expense of others. But on the other hand, we have to acknowledge the fact that this is quite an accomplishment. Though the “Flair” name holds plenty of value, let’s not pretend like David Flair had a brilliant wrestling career. But Charlotte, who wrestles with Reid Flair in her heart every night, has done plenty to carve her own legacy.
The Fan/WWE Disconnect
There’s such a juxtaposition between Charlotte’s reception and how WWE wants Charlotte to be portrayed. WWE wants Charlotte to be loved by everyone while still being head and shoulders above the competition.
I mean, why else would she have defeated Asuka’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania 34 with a Figure Eight that wasn’t fully bridged? Why else would she have already tied Trish’s record? Why else would she have originally been booked as the babyface in a feud against Becky friggin’ Lynch, of all people?
WWE fans are smart, and they know when the company is blowing smoke at them. This fanbase does respect Charlotte, even if some fans believe her work has regressed this summer (I wonder how much of it has been due to pain and discomfort from an issue that required surgery). They were fully behind Charlotte’s feuds with Sasha Banks and Bayley, with her feud against Sasha standing as one of the best women’s rivalries in WWE history.
That said, they have pushed back against Charlotte lately, as she’s received mixed-to-negative reactions lately. Again, she remains respected and liked by most fans, but the boos are starting to grow more louder, and fans aren’t buying into her matches as much.
Finding What Fits Charlotte
To me, the problem is that WWE won’t let Charlotte be an inspiring character on her own terms. You see, they are so concerned with portraying her as the best competitor that they have inadvertently caused fans to nitpick her matches to the point where she is incessantly compared to the other top women on the roster.
When you anoint Charlotte as the unequivocal best on a roster that includes Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Asuka, and all of the supremely gifted women in NXT, the expectations become unfair. And the eventually negative crowd response becomes inevitable, even if her supporters find it puzzling.
Most people point to turning Charlotte heel again as the obvious solution, which is something I’d be perfectly fine seeing. Rousey vs. Charlotte would probably work best with Flair as a heel, and a heel Charlotte vs. a face Rousey could be the first woman’s main event of WrestleMania, assuming that match is WWE’s plan for 2019’s biggest show.
On top of that, Ric Flair has stated that Charlotte should be a heel, which is a role that allows her to strut with confidence and unselfishly work to get a babyface over (this may be her best trait as a wrestler).
She Doesn’t Necessarily Have To Turn Heel
However, if WWE decided to resist the easiest option, then they’ll have to rethink Charlotte’s booking long-term. If WWE wants to her to be as relatable, strong, and inspiring as the person behind the character, then they can’t have her run the table with title win after title win. She should be positioned as an elite competitor who rarely loses, but she doesn’t have to always be on top. Like, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins have as many combined title wins as Charlotte.
I think it’s good for WWE to have a recognizable star with a known pedigree who isn’t ashamed of her brilliance, her winning ways, or her family name. It’s good to have a woman who can inspire people by showing other women that you don’t have to be timid about your accomplishments or make excuses for who you are.
So you can keep Charlotte as a face who wins frequently. But just make sure she’s being a bad-ass on her own terms, which includes putting on breathtaking matches, cutting meaningful promos that don’t sound constrained by WWE, and doing things that are actually interesting. The promo embedded below is a good example of a recent Flair promo that struck the right chord.
It Starts With Making Things Interesting
Let’s pause for a minute and reflect on the fact that Charlotte hasn’t had anything to really sink her teeth into in the period between her rivalries with Bayley and Becky. Her feud with the Welcoming Committee was nonsense, her title reign didn’t have nearly enough title defenses for a babyface champion, and it just seems like WWE let her lose momentum for a whole year before beating Asuka. And then they had her lose to Carmella immediately after this sudden, career-defining victory over a woman with an unfathomably long undefeated streak.
Charlotte’s booking is sometimes too strong for her own good, in the sense that she ghosts for a bit, swoops in to win a title, and then loses it. The audience hasn’t been able to invest in her since she was “The Queen” of Monday Night Raw. Much of the “ghosting” was due to either injuries or her father’s scary brush with death in 2017, but WWE should have allowed the majority of the audience to find a reason to admire the babyface Charlotte character.
Instead, we got someone who wins a lot, and that isn’t relatable to the average fan. Are the cries of nepotism unfair? To me, they are. However, it’s important to see where the fans are coming from, and what exacerbates this is the fact that WWE hasn’t done enough to separate Charlotte from her father as an on-screen character. When booking a babyface, that has to be taken into consideration.
Charlotte Still Has It
Although Charlotte hasn’t produced the same classics she was famous for earlier in her career, her bouts with Asuka, Natalya, Ruby Riott, and Becky Lynch/Carmella at SummerSlam have all been well above-average. Even if she occasionally makes mistakes or engages in inconsistent story-telling, she’s making mistakes that 90% of the roster does in this difficult sport.
Charlotte Flair isn’t at the peak of her game, but even coming off of a surgical procedure, her apparent 80% is still solid. If WWE were either turn her heel or eventually allow her to portray a more interesting, down-to-earth, and inspirational character that is truer to her, then the tide of fan support could turn in her favor after this Becky feud.
We’ve already seen seeds of this with her acting over the past few weeks, but it won’t come together until she’s done wrestling against WWE’s most beloved Lass Kicker.