Charlotte Flair is having fun, even without being in the WWE Women's Championship picture

USA Today

11-07-2025

For the first time in her career, Charlotte Flair is having fun.
That's not to say there weren't fun moments. After all, she is a 14-time WWE Women's Champion – 16-time if you count the two NXT Women's Championships – a former Women's Tag Team Champion, and the only woman to win the Royal Rumble twice. Plus, she's one of five women to ever main event WrestleMania.
But all those accolades came with immense pressure. How can it not with the Flair last name?
It's weighed on her ever since she first stepped in a WWE ring in 2013. The burden of having to be better than the best, all while dealing with constant criticism anytime she found success. It could break anybody in the same shoes. It almost happened to her.
'I always feel – no matter what the segment is – the pressure to be perfect and kind of letting that perfectionism of the Queen character not unravel,' Flair told USA TODAY Sports.
Now, Flair's shoulders seem lighter. The pressure that has followed every step of her career has come off. For the first time, we're seeing a different side of Flair in WWE. One that's more authentic, vulnerable and far from the jet-flying, limousine-riding, high-profile character that's been in the main event scene for the past decade.
And she's loving every part of it.
'She's kind of goofy,' Flair said of herself.
Teaming with Alexa Bliss
Of course, Flair is still chasing gold – just not the one she's sought for the majority of her career. After losing to Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 41, she's now in the tag team scene, teaming up with fellow veteran Alexa Bliss to form an unusual pairing. But despite the contrasting styles, the two have worked, and they'll go for the Women's Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way tag team bout at Evolution on Sunday, July 13.
Bliss deserves credit for bringing out 'a softer side' of Flair, she said. The two have had their careers intertwined ever since they were both part of Triple H's WrestleMania 30 entrance in 2014.
Flair has high respect for Bliss personally and professionally in seeing how her career has evolved, from being 'Twisted Bliss' to 'the Goddess' to working with Bray Wyatt, and returning to WWE in January as a mother. Flair is part of the legendary Four Horsewomen group alongside Bayley, Becky Lynch and Mercedes Mone that led the women's revolution in the 2010s, and she said to her, Bliss 'was the fifth horsewoman.'
'Don't tell her this, but I adore her,' Flair said.
With all the layers to Bliss' character, Flair is eager to see how that will affect her.
'I think trying to blend the two will just add layers to the queen that we've seen so stoic for so many years,' she said. 'Pushing myself to get outside of my comfort zone of what the queen is and what does that look like? Is it the mad queen? Is it the killer queen? Is it the unraveled queen? Is it best friends with Lexi and being a twisted queen?'
Whatever direction it goes, it will be something that could very well be close to who Flair really is. For so long, all WWE fans have known is the queen, the daughter of Ric Flair.
But ever since she returned in January from her devastating knee injury, Flair has been more vulnerable than she ever has been. She peeled back the curtain – and we've learned she is far different than what the WWE universe sees.
The day Flair spoke to USA TODAY Sports, she released an article in The Player's Tribune, 'How Am I Going to Be Charlotte Flair Today?' She wrote it under her actual name, Ashley Fliehr.
In the piece, Flair admitted she isn't an overtly confident person. She gets rattled just like any other human who consistently feels the pressure. Now, she can show that unguarded version of herself on television. Flair isn't at the top of the women's division, and she does actually lose, so there isn't as much of a need to be this very prestigious person. When Charlotte Flair is on screen, Ashley Fliehr can show up too.
A career on her own terms
One thing that has troubled her is the pressure of being a woman in wrestling, where it feels like there's a clock on how long a career can last before it expires – willingly or not. At age 39, she's at a point where it's rare for women talent to continue a career.
However, she's enjoying where her career is and where it is headed. She doesn't know what's happening next in her career, but she knows one thing: she wants to play out her career, not age out of it. And she has no plans of stopping the joyous ride anytime soon.
'Taking that minute in that moment and realizing I don't know what the future looks like, but that it's definitely going to be on my terms,' Flair said. 'When you love what you do, you never want to think that there's an expiration date.
'I won't go down without a fight,' she said.
Besides, she still has some other goals on her mind. Even though Flair has no problems not being in the main event picture, beating her dad's record of world title reigns still lingers in the back of her head. John Cena did already break it with his 17th reign, but Flair would want to best her father.
But that's a topic for another time. Right now, the most important thing for Flair is finding layers for her character and what it develops into. She could become a tag team champion soon or not. She could end up never winning another title.
And that's no problem when you're having fun.
'How do I push myself as a performer to take what I've done to the next step, and whether that means winning gold or not winning gold? I'm okay with that,' Flair said. 'I just want to challenge myself, because I do love this.'