Jim Ross thinks WWE has more to get out of Charlotte Flair, and the subject came up while he was working through a bigger question about wrestlers who carry famous last names.
The conversation on Grilling JR started with the widely circulated quote from Triple H on WWE Unreal, where WWE’s Chief Content Officer said the challenge for Bron Breakker is not to become “just the next Steiner,” pointing to how The Rock outgrew Rocky Johnson and Roman Reigns outgrew Sika. Ross had no argument with any of it.
“I agree. I agree. It’s not a copycat league, so to speak. You want some origin things that are original,” Ross said. “The originality of your character is important as hell, and how you develop that, and how you brought it along over time, and it gives the audience something new to celebrate and to look at. So yeah, I think that’s the way to do it. You got to keep reinventing until you get this s*it down, and that’s a lot easier said than done.”
Host Conrad Thompson then put the other side to him, contrasting Rocky Maivia abandoning the family framing to become The Rock with Charlotte Flair leaning into hers, from the modified figure four to the strut, the robe and the “woo.”
Ross said there is no formula for which way to go.
“Really, it’s on how it feels. How does it capture you? How does it feel? And if you don’t feel it, it’s not going to work,” Ross said. “You got to feel what you’re selling and what you’re developing. You got to feel it yourself, and that’s the whole wrestling business. You got to feel the personality traits of individuals. It’s important to be able to feel that and make it work for you.”
From there he turned to Flair directly, and made clear his issue is not with her.
“Charlotte’s probably been underbooked, in my opinion,” Ross said. “Largely, she’s very over, but I just think that they could probably do a little bit more with her, quite frankly.”
His advice for her, and anyone else in the same position, was to commit fully and make sure the company is behind it.
“You gotta live the life, man. You gotta go all in, and if you go all in, sometimes good things happen, and they happen more often than not,” Ross said. “But you got to go all in, and you got to get the company that’s going to be behind you.”
Ross said the answer usually announces itself.
“Most of the time, you’ll feel what you’re searching for,” Ross said. “I think that’s what Charlotte’s got to do now, and anybody else that we’re talking about. It’s just important to feel where you are in your progression, and if you do that and you get the right feeling, then you’re onto something.”
Flair, a 14-time women’s champion, is currently in a SmackDown program with Jade Cargill and The Baddies. She interfered in Cargill’s qualifying match on the July 17 episode, handing Cargill a spot in the SummerSlam ladder match by disqualification, and now faces Nia Jax on Friday’s SmackDown with a place in that match on the line. The five-woman ladder match will crown an interim WWE Women’s Champion while Rhea Ripley recovers from a torn meniscus. Flair meets Jade in a match at SummerSlam.
