WWE: Ric Flair is right about Charlotte Flair but is wrong about the issue

Charlotte Flair has been written off television after a recent WWE NXT Women’s Title reign.

Even though she’s only been wrestling since 2012, Charlotte Flair is already the most decorated woman in WWE history with 12 championship reigns. Nobody can deny that inside the ring, she is one of the best wrestlers in the world and has done an excellent job of working major programs, including Bayley’s first babyface rise on the main roster and Becky Lynch’s journey to becoming “The Man” in the company.

In 2020, WWE tried to get more eyes on NXT by having Charlotte win the Royal Rumble, challenge Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36, and carry the prestigious NXT Women’s Title with her on, technically, all three brands.

Unfortunately, fans didn’t take well to this. WWE booked her title reign in a way that didn’t elevate the talented wrestlers in NXT’s Women’s Division, nor did it help anyone on Raw and SmackDown. Many of these criticisms of the company (not Charlotte herself) were fair and have existed for years due to Charlotte’s long list of title victories, but there were also countless comments that went overboard and devolved into personal attacks against Charlotte. Those will stand out far more and are inexcusable.

Ric Flair recently spoke with the Wrestling Inc Daily podcast and had some strong words for fans who say they are tired of seeing Charlotte on their screens.

Here’s the quote, via WrestlingInc.com’s Ross Kelly:

"“Hey, somebody else come along and see what you got. To all the people I’m holding back, have at it. I’m serious – if I were her then I would say that. I would say, ‘Stick it.’ I’m so mad about that – one mark after another, ‘We’re tired of seeing her.’ Good, watch her on TV in another event. She’s a millionaire – she can do what she wants to do. And she’s a millionaire because of the company; there you go.”"

He also said that out of the list of names fans say Charlotte is holding back, he doesn’t believe any of them can “stick a moonsault every night” or have a great match “every time out”. He finally implied that there’s nobody else on the entire roster who can do those things.

It’s understandable for Ric Flair to want to come to his daughter’s defense, especially when it’s hard for anyone to hear criticism of their family member. Even constructive criticism can seem malicious, but it gets even more complicated when many of the “marks” Flair is referring to are speaking in bad faith or seem more vocal on Twitter.

The reality is that Ric could have made these points without slamming other women on the roster, and therein lies the problem. Everybody with any shred of honesty and wrestling knowledge understands how great Charlotte Flair is. And for the most part, people understand that Charlotte wants to uplift others. She says it herself; she’s trying to build others into stars when she’s in the title picture.

So while defending Charlotte, Ric needs to also understand that fans want to see other wrestlers get the chances that Charlotte’s had. Remember, Charlotte wasn’t always one of the best wrestlers around. The problem isn’t Charlotte or that other women aren’t good enough, the problem is WWE’s booking.

Hopefully, we all can remember that in this discourse, because these bad-faith attacks and arguments grow tiring and don’t even help the women people are trying to support anyway. I’d like to see that change when Charlotte returns from her wrestling break, healthy and refreshed.