WWE Cuts Tiffany Stratton's Divorce Comments From SmackDown Recaps (WWE News)
Tiffany Stratton's promo on Charlotte Flair was heavily edited post-WWE SmackDown.
Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair delivered a controversial face to face promo on the latest episode of SmackDown, and it has people talking. In-ring, announcer Wade Barrett (who was moderating the interview) looked on rather stunned as the WrestleMania 41 opponents traded personal barbs that didn't seem 100% scripted; especially towards the end of Stratton's spectacular rant about Flair's personal life.
WWE has responded by editing out some of the most cutting remarks from the exchange during SmackDown recaps on social media streams like X and YouTube.
Tiffany said that Charlotte might have a 4-3 win/loss record at 'Mania, but added that she's "0-3" in her personal life. That was a not-so-subtle nod towards the fact that Flair has been married three times and recently divorced fellow WWE star Andrade. Reacting, Charlotte fired back asking, "Is that why Kaiser is in my DMs?".
Raw star Ludwig Kaiser and Tiffany Stratton are in a real-life relationship.
Apparently, this was too much for WWE. Either that or they just didn't want to encourage some of the fallout or (worse) a pile on from fans on social media about Flair's private life. The recap clips did, however, include comments from Stratton about how Charlotte was "drinking in [her] daddy’s basement" aged 25 whilst she's walking into WrestleMania as Women's Champion.
Flair, the more seasoned of the pair as a performer, also visibly lost control of the live crowd throughout. She kept stopping to laugh nervously and acknowledge some of the boos or chants that Chicago fans belted out. It wasn't long before the segment went off the rails, but it does have people talking.
Charlotte Flair Recently Discussed Feeling Like She's A "Failure"
This fiery segment comes hot on the heels of Charlotte sitting down to discuss her personal life with Sherri Shepherd. During that interview, Flair said that she felt like she'd been "failing at [her] job" and "failing in [her] personal life" before launching a return to WWE to win February's 2025 women's Royal Rumble match.
The decorated champion also admitted that she knew people would draw comparisons between her divorce record and her father Ric's. That was an embarrassing thought for Charlotte, so she tried to keep details on her split from Andrade away from the media for as long as possible.
In fairness, and without editorialising too much, none of that personal stuff would be anybody else's business unless Flair or Andrade made it so. The most important thing is that they're both healthy and happy individually, and that they can move on with their lives.
It's unclear just how much of the exchange with Stratton was scripted or unscripted, but there were a few awkward moments. At one point, Charlotte seemed lost and didn't know how to pull things back as the live crowd 'ooh'd' and 'aah'd' at every one of Tiffany's comments.
This week's SmackDown was a newsworthy episode besides that. Kevin Owens divulged that he'll likely have to miss WrestleMania 41 due to a serious neck injury, and CM Punk told Paul Heyman he'll be in his corner (not with Roman Reigns) for the Triple Threat also involving Seth Rollins.