Charlotte Flair has opened up about the mental challenges she faced leading up to her severe knee injury in late 2023. The WWE star suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus during the December 8, 2023, episode of SmackDown, an injury that required surgery and sidelined her for more than a year. Speaking recently on Bloomberg Talks, Flair reflected on her headspace during that period.
Flair detailed the internal struggles she was dealing with at the time, noting that negative self-talk and anxiety about aging in wrestling played a significant role in her lack of focus.
“I definitely think when I hurt my knee — I tore my ACL — I don’t think I was in the right state of mind, meaning whether it was imposter syndrome, that dialogue [of] how we talk to ourselves, that inner self-talk,” Flair said. “I feel like I was in a very negative space and not opening up about it and the anxiety of being a woman that’s approaching 40, what that looks like, the demands. I want to be able to say, ‘I’m a woman and what I want more of is time.’ And all that pressure adding up, I feel like the reason I hurt my knee is because I wasn’t all there performing.”
The extended recovery period forced Flair to reevaluate her identity outside of the wrestling ring.
“And for someone who has — I always looked at myself as the iron woman, and when my knee took me out, I was like, all I viewed myself was as a professional wrestler,” Flair continued. “Like, that’s all I am. And that’s not all I am. And I do have a voice and maybe this is the start of something bigger for me. Like, I love being Charlotte, but taking Charlotte to the next level and making these conversations more accessible or not taboo for people in any kind of industry, I think is so important.”
Since returning from her injury, Flair has found success in a tag team with Alexa Bliss. Last Friday on SmackDown, the duo defeated Giulia and Kiana James to become the number one contenders for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, which are currently held by Nia Jax and Lash Legend.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Bloomberg Talks with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
