10 Fascinating WWE Backstage Facts About Charlotte Flair

9. The Insane Story Of Her 2022 Women's Title Win

Charlotte Flair Rhea Ripley
WWE.com

Charlotte Flair’s December 2022 return to television felt like bait for those that have often felt she carries a golden ticket for title shots around everywhere she goes.

After months off television, ‘The Queen’ returned to challenge and beat Ronda Rousey in an impromptu SmackDown Women’s Championship Match after ‘The Baddest Woman On The Planet’ had just endured a war with Raquel Rodriguez. 

Per Ronda, this was her call entirely. Writing in her autobiography Our Fight, she said;

"I found Charlotte as she was getting ready to rehearse and informed her that she would be walking out of the arena with the title. She didn’t have her gear, she pointed out, but she could send someone to make the two-and a-half-hour roundtrip drive to her house to get it."

Adding that it was make or break for her in the company at the time, Rousey added;

 “Do it,” I said.It wasn’t an ask; it was a demand. [Paul] Heyman knew me well enough to read between the lines and relay to creative the part that I had left unsaid: that if I didn’t get my way this time, I was going to walk."

The whole thing took just 41 seconds, making it Flair's quickest title win of the 14 she's amassed. 

 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett