Charlotte Flair is reflecting on the criticism that got under her skin the most during her early years in WWE, with fans comparing her appearance directly to her father’s.
Speaking with O’Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson on the No Contest Wrestling Podcast, Flair was asked about the unique challenge of being a woman coming into sports entertainment from a pure sports background while also carrying the Flair name. She said the most cutting criticism was not about her in-ring work but about how she looked.
“It doesn’t bother me anymore. But what really bothered me early in my career was like, why does she look like Ric Flair in a wig? And I’d be like, who am I supposed to look like? Am I supposed to look like Dusty?”
Flair explained that her athletic upbringing did not prepare her for the appearance-based scrutiny that came with being a WWE performer. She grew up as a gymnast and an all-star cheerleader before playing volleyball at Appalachian State.
“I played sports, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and becoming polished and branding and the looks, whatever it is. But coming from sports, I never thought about what I looked like, or beauty or muscles or things like that. So when people were criticizing me for looking like my dad, I really kind of struggled with it a little bit. No, I did struggle with it. But now, no. I was just like, who do you want me to look like?”
Jefferson pointed out that much of the criticism Flair faced in those years felt like a moving target, with fans always seeming to find a reason to hold her to a different standard.
“For some reason people held you to this really weird standard,” Jefferson said. “She couldn’t just be an excellent wrestler. She couldn’t just be really good at what she does. There was always had to be a reason. It was because she was someone’s daughter.”
Flair said she still has a chip on her shoulder about her career path, and that she sees her father’s longevity and authenticity as something she is still working toward for herself.
“I think it’s still personal. I don’t know if it ever went away. Have you met me? I still think I’ve got that chip on my shoulder.”
“My dad’s Ric Flair, like still he is, but what I admire, and jealousy and envy is not the right word, but because my dad is so authentic and true to who he is and doesn’t give a beep, like he still translates to today. He’s timeless, whether it’s pop culture, whether it’s sports, whether it’s wrestling. I just admire that about him. It’s taken me nine, 10 years to let my walls down and kind of be like who I am in my real life, to Charlotte, where I thought Charlotte needed to be like the ice queen.”
Flair was also candid that being constantly labeled as Ric Flair’s daughter is not something she resents, even if some fans and media use it dismissively.
“I can’t be in competition with my dad, because there’ll never be another Ric Flair. But I think that I have done a good job of taking his legacy and creating my own. I’m still Ric Flair’s daughter. He’s not Charlotte’s dad. He might be Charlotte’s dad to kids that don’t know who he is now… You don’t have no idea how much that means to me, but I don’t think it is a negative that I’m still Ric Flair’s daughter, because I’m like, damn, to be that timeless is incredible. And I think one day I will be that timeless when I’m done with my career.”
Looking back, Flair said she regrets not owning the Ric Flair’s daughter side of her character more during her early main roster run in 2015 with her father as her manager.
“I should have been a better performer to where I should have owned it more. I should have never catered to wanting their approval when what really would have made me dominant has been like, y’all wish she was me. I was born with a silver spoon. What’s she gonna do about it? Had I had that energy instead of being like, I’m sorry for being Ric’s daughter, but I work really hard. Like I had that energy instead of the other energy, the f-u energy. I really wish in those earlier years, had I been like, man, what if I just come out there and been like, yep, I didn’t have to do a damn thing. Actually, I asked for the title. I demand it.”
Flair also recalled how far some fan assumptions went, pointing to her WrestleMania 35 entrance as an example. She said fans and media were genuinely asking whether she had personally demanded the elaborate staging.
“WrestleMania 35, I had so many questions in interviews like, hey, how cool is it that you know you demanded a helicopter for your entrance? I love that people think that I had that kind of power. But actually, I should just roll with it. Yeah, I did a helicopter.”
Jefferson also pushed back on what he described as a common talking point online.
“I would get into fights on Twitter all the time. It would annoy me when people would say things like, oh, well, she’s only where she’s at because of her dad.”
Flair responded with a reminder of how pro wrestling is supposed to function.
“Where did we learn? But where did people forget? In order to have your favorite good guy, you have to have the bad guy you hate.”
Charlotte Flair teams with Alexa Bliss in the Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal Four-Way match on Night One of WrestleMania 42 this Saturday, April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
WrestleMania 42 Full Card
Night One — Saturday, April 18
- Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton
- Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan
- Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal Four-Way: Lash Legend and Nia Jax (c) vs. The Bella Twins vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria
- Women’s Intercontinental Championship: AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch
- Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
- Six-Man Tag: IShowSpeed, Logan Paul, and Austin Theory vs. LA Knight and The Usos (ESPN first hour)
- Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre in an Unsanctioned Match (ESPN first hour)
Night Two — Sunday, April 19
- World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns
- WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
- United States Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams
- Demon Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio
- Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Penta (c) vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. Rusev vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rey Mysterio (ESPN first hour)
- Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar (ESPN first hour)
John Cena hosts WrestleMania 42. The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony takes place Friday, April 17.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit the No Contest Wrestling Podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
