WWE’s SmackDown had fans talking on Friday night, and a lot of the episode’s drama reportedly happened offscreen even beyond what fans saw during the show. There’ are lots of speculative rumors surrounding Charlotte Flair after she reportedly went off-script in her latest segment, which resulted in some real-life drama with Becky Lynch. Considering all the rumors that have surfaced since that segment aired, it’s enough to make one wonder if Flair’s relationship with the WWE is currently more complicated than expected.
A planned segment on Friday’s SmackDown featured Charlotte Flair, the Raw Women’s Champion, trading titles with Becky Lynch, the SmackDown Women’s Champion, so that each would have the appropriate championship title ahead of their respective debuts. PWInsider reported that Flair voiced concerns about the segment making her character’s title reign look weak, but the WWE creative team kept their intended plans for the segment.
Which is apparently what led to Charlotte Flair reportedly going off-script and, as opposed to handing Becky Lynch her Raw Women’s Title as planned, dropping it to the mat in what could easily be considered disrespectful. The segment eventually got back on track, but an altercation reportedly occured backstage between Lynch and Flair after the show, and security guards allegedly escorted Flair from the building after the incident.
About an hour after the confrontation, Charlotte Flair’s fiancé Andrade, a former WWE vet who currently wrestles for AEW, sent a cryptic but completely transparent tweet criticizing his former company:
Fu… WWE !!!!!October 23, 2021
Andrade’s tweet is strange given its lack of clear context, but given the reported exchange with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, it’s logical to think the two would possibly be related. We can only speculate, of course, but given AEW's growing rivalry with WWE, this could also just be a random shot at his former employer entirely unrelated to the rumors.
Possibly adding to Charlotte Flair's frustration are reports that she doesn’t have the backing of the other WWE superstars, according to the Wade Keller Hotline. Keller spoke to someone (via Wrestlingheadlines.com) with knowledge of the situation who seemingly made it sound like Becky Lynch is the hero for confronting Flair.
One wrestler I talk to just said that the way, and I’m paraphrasing here to lighten up the language a bit because this wrestler that was not thrilled with Charlotte just said, the way Charlotte’s acting is gonna cause issues both with colleagues and with management. He really stressed how respected and well-liked Becky is universally in the locker room and that she was seen as a bit of a hero for it. Basically, the idea was Charlotte was being difficult and Becky wasn’t going to take it anymore. She wasn’t gonna have it anymore, and that’s what led to the confrontation.
Wade Keller went on to say that Charlotte Flair has the reputation of being difficult behind the scenes, and that some other women on the WWE roster don’t want to work with her. It’s worth noting that Flair had another real altercation with Nia Jax back in August, so this is potentially the second time in recent months something like this happened.
Charlotte Flair (daughter of the famous Ric Flair) is unquestionably one of the biggest women superstars in WWE, so one has to wonder what, if anything, the WWE will do further following this confrontation. Obviously, there likely won’t be a worry of a much more direct confrontation between Flair and Becky Lynch since they’re now officially on separate shows, but Flair and WWE could be reconsidering the nature of their relationship given what allegedly occurred on Friday. Flair reportedly has “years” left on her current contract, so provided that’s true, it may take some negotiating if either want to cut ties. So far, nothing written indicates either side wants that, but who knows what the coming days will bring.
WWE’s Monday Night Raw airs on USA on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET, and SmackDown on Fox on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET. This week may be a great time to watch to see if the WWE tries to play up the reported drama, or if the rumors will be ignored completely.
