In front of the camera, WWE superstar Charlotte Flair portrays a character who's supposed to be full of confidence and unwavering courage. Behind the camera, however, Flair, whose real name is Ashley Fliehr, goes through struggles and heartbreaks just like all of her fans watching at home.
Recently, The Players Tribune shared an article written by Flair in which she opens up about a lot of the feelings she experiences outside of the ring that fans aren't always aware of. Specifically, she went into detail about a TV segment from an episode of "SmackDown" back in April when fellow WWE superstar Tiffany Stratton poked fun at how Flair has been divorced three times in her lifetime.
"I think in those times when people have seen me appear rattled by the booing, those are just the times when I’ve felt like — at least for a moment — the boos aren’t for Charlotte. They’re for Ashley.
They’re for me. They’re because of the way I look. Or because of the energy I’m giving off as a woman. Or because of real trauma I’ve gone through in real life. So when it got mentioned in Chicago that I have an “0–3 record at marriages” … yeah, it rocked me legit. I’m not too proud to tell you that. I don’t need everyone thinking I’m playing 5-D chess all of the time.
My reaction to that line was as genuine as it gets. Because — and maybe this makes me naive — in my head?? Charlotte hasn’t been divorced. So I wasn’t expecting it to come up in that promo….. and then all of a sudden I had an entire arena cheering as I got mocked for something that was (and frankly still is) devastating to me."
WWE superstar Charlotte Flair feels like she hasn't "even peaked yet"
Flair has been at the top of the WWE women's division for more than a decade now, and at the age of 39, some might assume her time as a dominant force in pro wrestling is coming to an end. That's not how she thinks, though.
In fact, Flair believes she hasn't even shown the world what she's fully capable of doing on the WWE stage.
"In a cocky way. Straight up. 'I’m just now getting good,' as in: To me, I haven’t even peaked yet. Maybe it’s because I started late … I don’t know. But for all I’ve managed to accomplish in this business, I’ve had to learn it on the fly a lot more than people think.
And there are so many moments I’ll look back on — great moments — where I’ll think to myself: 'Jeez … If I had known then what I know now? I would have done this, this, and this so differently.' In my head, there are all these aspects of my career that could have been even better."
It's pretty crazy to think that someone like Flair, who is already one of the most accomplished superstars in WWE history, believes that she can achieve even more than she already has.
In a few days at WWE's premium live event, Evolution, she'll actually have the opportunity to accomplish something she never has before when she teams up with Alexa Bliss in a fatal four-way tag team match to battle for the WWE Women's Tag Team titles.
Flair has been a WWE Women's Tag Team champion in her career before, but it wasn't with Bliss as her partner. Many will be watching to see if the duo can capture the gold, and even if they don't win, at the very least, one can assume Flair will be making sure to put on a show during their attempt.