10 Times WWE Used Real Life Misery For Storyline Gains
4. A Flair Family Tragedy
"Your little baby brother, he didn’t have much fight in him, did he?"
It doesn’t sound any better, nearly half a decade on. Why does WWE do this? It never looks good at the time, it doesn’t add any more spice to a feud and it doesn’t do anything for business. Having heels make light of the dead does nothing more than confirm the fears of wrestling fans and the assumptions of those that don’t care for the art form; WWE is trash.
Paige and Charlotte were feuding over the WWE Divas Championship when Paige delivered the line, referencing Charlotte’s late brother, Reid. The youngest of the Flair children, Reid had died in 2013 after overdosing on a mixture of heroin and prescription drugs, just 25 years old. It is a tragedy that the Flair family has to live with for the rest of its days.
WWE referencing the tragedy is bad enough, but doing so without discussing it with Charlotte and Ric first? Unconscionable. The move didn’t do anything for anybody, quite the opposite, creating tangible discomfort and ensuring that what could have been a generation-defining feud would always be remembered for distasteful reasons.