Injured WWE Star "Ahead Of Schedule" For In-Ring Return

This injured WWE star's recovery is going well.

by Andrew Pollard
Charlotte Flair
WWE

Having suffered a major knee injury on the 8 December 2023 edition of WWE SmackDown, Charlotte Flair is fully expected to have a lengthy absence from in-ring action. While that will indeed still be the case, the Queen is already ahead of schedule as she continues on the road to recovery.

As picked up on by Fightful, Flair addressed her recovery during an appearance on CNBC's Power Lunch:

"I'm six weeks out [of surgery on] Thursday. I'm ahead of schedule, and every day, all I can think about is returning back to the ring, especially with all the excitement with Raw going to Netflix, WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. All I can think about is getting back and winning that number 15."

Of course, the "number 15" reference is a possible 15th championship for Charlotte.

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Where that knee injury is concerned, it occured in a match against Asuka and resulted in Flair tearing her ACL, MCL, and meniscus. At the time, it was reported that the second-generation star is expected to miss nine months of action, with an October 2024 suggested as a realistic timeframe for Charlotte to be back in the ring.

While Charlotte Flair is classed as a SmackDown talent, it could well be that she'll wind up on Raw as and when she's cleared to return. In the time since Charlotte's injury, her real-life husband Andrade has returned to WWE and is nowadays on the Raw roster. Still, a lot can happen between now and then.

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All of us here at WhatCulture Wrestling wish Charlotte the best in her continued rehab and recovery.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.