Charlotte. Photo from WWE.com
One may think that Charlotte’s wrestling influence came from his father, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
But that isn’t the case, as the former WWE Women’s Champion shared that she drew a lot of inspiration from her peers, specifically the group “Four Horsewomen.”
“I learned from the other Four Horsewomen,” she told INQUIRER. “For me, I took pieces from the three of them because they made me more passionate about what we do. I took pieces from Becky (Lynch), I took pieces of Bayley, I took pieces of Sasha (Banks), and that’s kind of how I learned and who I wanted to be.”
Charlotte, alongside Banks, Lynch, and Bayley, came up the ranks and developed a bond with each other off-screen, branding themselves as the “Four Horsewomen,” a homage to the elder Flair’s influential faction back in the 1980s. All four women became primetime players in the women’s division of the developmental ranks before Charlotte, Banks, and Lynch were all called up to the main roster.
“I didn’t have any wrestling experience prior to NXT. I’m NXT homegrown,” said Charlotte. “I grew up playing volleyball, and this is what they wanted to be their whole lives. I could honestly say that I took pieces from them.”
That’s why it’s such a great honor for Charlotte to face off against Banks and Lynch for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 32 in front of a capacity crowd inside the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
“Believe it or not, a year exactly to the day before Mania, we were doing that three-way match in front of 30 people. So everyone was asking how nervous was I before the match. Honestly, I wasn’t nervous being in the ring with them just because that’s who I trained with and grew up with in the business,” she said. “It was more of just what it was going to be like walking down that ramp. It’s that moment that you dream about over and over. It wasn’t the match or the outcome, it was just wanting to live in the moment because it may never happen again.”
Charlotte also has benefitted from having her father stand by her side for the better part of the year in her foray to the main roster.
Flair, the 16-time world champion, was a fountain of wisdom to his daughter that it allowed her to come to her own as she established herself as a main proponent in the WWE’s women’s division.
And Charlotte would not deny that she learned a lot from her legendary father, saying that the biggest lesson he taught was “to always be confident even when you’re not confident. Don’t let them know that you’re not. And always go there thinking you’re the best.”
With the WWE entering a new era, the women are also partaking in the revolution, being featured prominently more than it has ever been in the company. And Charlotte is one of those leading the charge, something which just leaves her at loss for words.
“You really can’t sum that up in one word. Right now, we have so many amazing talent in the better part of our division, and to be able to represent us as a whole means a lot. It’s a new era and we all look forward working together,” she said.
Charlotte hopes to continue the trend she and her fellow “Four Horsewomen” started in NXT: breaking barriers and making history.
“I want to main event a pay-per-view,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the brand split because more girls are going up and that’s exciting for them. But main eventing a pay-per-view is the number one focus. Hopefully, we’ll get to do that one day.”