10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Charlotte Flair

3. Family In-Fighting

Charlotte Flair
WWE

A lot to unpack here, and much of it has to do with a series of disputed personal conflicts between Flair, her ex-husband Riki Johnson, Father Ric and - on more than one occasion - the police.

Arrests were made in 2008 when fights broke out between the three, but an already unpleasant story got uglier as more explanations came out in the aftermath. In a WWE-promoted co-autobiography with Ric in 2018, Flair spoke of the trauma she experienced in the marriage, noting that Johnson was physically and psychologically abusive, and had lost jobs due to drug use.

Johnson sued over the remarks, and with a lawsuit brought an allegation that the future multi-time Women's Champion was “the aggressor in a physical and verbal tirade...directed at the responding police officers, as well as disparaging and racist comments being directed at the Afro-American community in Chapel Hill.” Johnson's evidence of the above claim didn't surface, but WWE claimed the remarks were "meritless" and all's gone quiet with the case since.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 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 over 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 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana 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