WrestleMania is more than just “The Grandaddy of Them All” or “The Showcase of the Immortals” for SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
It is the culmination of everything she worked hard to get to.
Flair, whose real name is Ashley Fliehr, is the daughter of WWE legend Ric Flair, but since arriving on the WWE scene, she has been able to make a name for herself in the women’s division. She won the SmackDown Women’s Championship for a seventh time in 2022 upon her return from a seven-month hiatus from television and next month will look to defend her title against Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 39.
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Wrestling superstar Charlotte Flair attends the 2018 Fan Expo Canada at Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Aug. 30, 2018 in Toronto. (Che Rosales/Getty Images)
Flair, who made history at WrestleMania 35 for being a part of the first women’s match to main event the premium live event, explained to Fox News Digital what makes the event so special with less than two weeks to go before her latest appearance.
“The short answer, for me, would be it’s a pop-culture extravaganza. To me, it’s everything,” she said. “Watching my dad retire in Orlando and then now knowing that I’m walking that same mile, continuing that legacy. WrestleMania is where the biggest stories, the biggest stars, the most important stories are lining up.
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WWE superstar Charlotte Flair approaches the ring during event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Rob Tringali /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
“I look at it like sports. The two best teams are playing each other. You might not watch wrestling, but everyone’s tuning into WrestleMania. That’s how big it is. That’s how important it is to me.”
Flair said she keeps the memory of her brother alive in her mind as she enters each WrestleMania she participates in. Reid Flair died in March 2013 of a drug overdose.
“My brother passed away right before WrestleMania where it was going to be the first time he was ever going to see me wrestle,” she said. “So every WrestleMania, that’s all I think about. It’s like, man, my brother is gonna see me wrestle for the first time. My brother’s gonna see me – and he never did. That enters my mind every WrestleMania.”
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Rhea Ripley reacts after winning the WWE Royal Rumble at the Alamodome on Jan. 28, 2023 in San Antonio. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Flair and Ripley will meet for the championship at the event. Ripley won the Royal Rumble back in January and challenged Flair for the title. Ripley has been on a tear over the last year or so as she joined Judgment Day as a stablemate and completely tore through the women’s division on her way to her shot at a title.
“Timing is everything,” Flair told Fox News Digital. “Rhea is on the path that she was always supposed to be. And I feel like everything she’s been through leading up to where she is now is what got her to where she is now. And that’s so important to embrace it.”
Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair walks onstage during pre-race ceremonies prior to during the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)
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Flair said she was looking forward to this second match at WrestleMania. Previously, at WrestleMania 36, Flair defeated Ripley via submission to win the NXT Women’s Championship.
“To me, it’s everything.”
“Pressure. Expectation. Delivering. Wanting it to be as good as I know it can be. Not overthinking it. Right now, I’m so calm trying to save all my emotions for next week,” Flair said when asked what her mindset was liking to the event getting closer. “Knowing that we get to have a redo for WrestleMania 36, which was awesome, knowing that somehow our paths lined up again like this is meant to be.
“It’s just two women, two titans going, I mean, when you look at us physically, it’s I think the word is imposing. Like when you see us, it just know we’re going to beat the crap out of each other. Literally. I just know it’s going to be hard hitting. It’s going to be aggressive and I just can’t wait for every second of it.”
Charlotte Flair enters the arena during the Smackdown Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, April 2, 2022. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)
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WrestleMania 39 will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on April 1 and 2.
