The daughter of two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee Ric Flair, expectations for Charlotte were high. Given her athletic background, not to mention her pedigree, those expectations were warranted. As the year began, though, fans had yet to see anything out of the tall blonde that they had not seen out of any number of former Diva hopefuls. She was fundamentally sound between the ropes but her ring work was limited, at best, to the most basic of moves and holds. Then, she advanced to the finals of the NXT Womens Championship tournament and found herself pitted against one of the most respected in-ring workers on the Divas roster, third-generation Diva Natalya. There were plenty of reasons to doubt Charlotte, to question her readiness to reign over the NXT Divas roster. She quieted her doubters by delivering an outstanding wrestling match, going 16 minutes with the former Divas champion. In the end, she overcame Natalyas ability to counter and reverse any and all holds, not to mention her submission-based offense, to score the pinfall win following Natural Selection. Since that night, Charlotte has gotten better with every passing match. She successfully retained her title against Bayley at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way, beat former BFF teammate Sasha Banks at the most recent Takeover: R Evolution special and knocked her off in two subsequent rematches as well. As 2015, it appears as though Charlotte has not only lived up to expectations, she has blown them out of the water. As the NXT Womens champion, she has plenty of unfinished business left to accomplish. With that said, it remains to be seen if the coming 12 months will see the second-generation Diva makes the jump to the main roster and, if so, how she translates to an entirely different audience.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
