Latest On Charlotte Flair's "Expected" WWE Return

Fightful Select is reporting that several behind the scenes at WWE expect Charlotte Flair to return "sooner [rather] than later". The multi-time champion has been out since suffering numerous injuries during a match with Asuka on the 8 December 2023 episode of SmackDown - Flair suffered a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus. She's been on the injured list ever since, but is expected to launch a high profile comeback soon.

The website's sources didn't give a definitive timeline for Charlotte's return. That's important to say straight off the bat. However, there are talks that Flair will play a major part in events at February's Royal Rumble before WWE heads to WrestleMania 41 in April. On that, Fightful say they "haven't heard solid plans".

It's possible but not 100%, basically.

This wasn't part of Fightful's write up, but countless fans on social apps are already pitching Charlotte as a possible opponent for new Women's Champ and ex-Money In The Bank winner Tiffany Stratton. 'Tiffy' traded her briefcase for gold by pulling the wool over Nia Jax's eyes on the first three hour SmackDown this past Friday. It's worth noting that Stratton received a massive pop from the live crowd. That's been happening a ton over recent weeks, so it makes sense to believe she'll play a babyface role as champion.

Ideally, that'd cast Charlotte as a heel rival to the crown. By her own admission, Flair is more comfortable when playing the villainous 'Queen'. She's always maintained that it suits her silver spoon story better than playing a sympathetic role on television. Of course, this is all just editorialising and conjecture. It remains to be seen what Triple H will choose to do with her once she's back.

WWE Knew Flair Would Miss All Of 2024

One thing Triple H pretty much knew for sure was that he couldn't lean on Charlotte in 2024. Fightful reports that WWE chiefs knew Flair would miss the entire year due to the severity of her injuries. That was a blow, because she's always been a big part of the women's division, but it was something management thought would be the case once doctors reports came back.

As aforementioned, Charlotte's last match came on the 8 December 2023 edition of SmackDown. You'd need to go all the way back to Survivor Series in November of that year to find her latest PLE bout. There, Flair teamed with Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair and Shotzi to vanquish Damage CTRL members Bayley, IYO SKY, Asuka and Kairi Sane.

Naturally, the sudden return of one CM Punk scooped the headlines later that night. Not many were talking about the women's WarGames match. For Charlotte's last hot topic PLE match, one would need to stretch all the way back to WrestleMania 39 in April 2023. She dropped the then-SmackDown Women's Title to Rhea Ripley that weekend.

All going well, it shouldn't be too long until fans get to see Flair wrestle again. Since her injury, fresh faces like Stratton have come into their own as featured stars, so it'll be fun to find out where Charlotte factors in now the landscape has changed.