Flair soaks in the little moments as she preps for bout
Eventful year helps WWE star gain new perspective
Sometimes the best prowrestling matches happen between former allies and friends — think Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H, or Sasha Banks vs. Bayley. But sometimes two competitors who have never met before can create their own kind of magic.
That’s what Charlotte Flair is hoping she can find when she faces Asuka at WrestleMania 34 today in New Orleans.
Flair, the Smackdown women’s champion, and the Japanese superstar have never faced each other in a match before this week, but Flair told the Sentinel she hopes that brings a different kind of energy to WWE’s showcase event.
“I’ve watched [Asuka] so much that I don’t worry about our style coming together,” Flair said. “It might make the match a little rougher — and that can sometimes be a good thing, because it won’t look as choreographed. It’s not supposed to be a graceful dance; it’s supposed to be a fight. There’s a realism to that.”
This is the first time two women have wrestled a one-on-one match at WrestleMania since 2007 – and there are two such matches, with Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax as the other. Add in a battle royal and the heralded debut of MMA superstar Ronda Rousey and it’s a big night for women in WWE.
“We’ve talked about the women’s revolution for a long time, and the importance of that is definitely showing this year,” Flair said.
The WWE put a scare into wrestling fans last week when the promotion said Flair would miss some shows after oral surgery, but Flair said she was feeling fine by late last week, when she did a full round of media interviews.
“It was a minor procedure and I didn’t take it seriously,” Flair said. “I thought, ‘It’s going to be fine! I can work out the next day!’ But the surgeon said that wasn’t happening, and the next day my mouth was so swollen that they kept me off TV.”
Flair has had an emotional and eventful year outside the ring. Last August her father, Hall of Famer “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, was hospitalized for a month after a bowel obstruction caused kidney failure and other maladies. At one point, Ric’s family was told he might not make it through the ordeal, but Charlotte said she kept the faith throughout.
“I couldn’t picture losing him. I never took my mind there,” said Charlotte, whose real name is Ashley Fliehr. “It still makes me sad sometimes when he says, ‘You’re going to be in the Hall of Fame one day and I hope I’m still around to be there,’ the reality of that. But now that he’s the happiest he’s ever been in his life, things seem different. He doesn’t miss a beat.”
After her father’s issues, Charlotte made the decision to move from Orlando to her birthplace of Charlotte, N.C., at least temporarily, to be closer to her siblings and the rest of her family.
She said during her time back in the Queen City, she has learned to treasure the little moments, like watching her niece reach the highest level of the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic Program.
“She’s such a stud,” Flair said of her niece. “It feels really good to be here right now.”
She’s also making the most of her free time, at home and on the road. Recent pop-culture finds include the Paulo Coelho book “The Alchemist”; the Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo; and the ABC drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” which she said she is rewatching on Netflix. She’s currently on season 8, which aired in 2011-12.
“It’s so good!” she said. “People are starting to die, though, and I’m still not sure how I feel about that.”
Orlando, because of the WWE Performance Center and the locally operated NXT brand, will always be a special place for Flair.
“[Orlando] makes me feel safe and comfortable,” Flair said. “I didn’t start my career, or really my life, before I came to Florida. There’s a level of security being closer to the [Performance Center] where I can train. Going to Charlotte was less about being home than being near family. Orlando is still home.”