The WWE fandom recently learned that Roman Reigns is allegedly stepping away from the company for a good chunk of the summer and upcoming house shows, and now another major star is out indefinitely. The wrestling organization confirmed that Charlotte Flair is out indefinitely following her “I Quit” match with Ronda Rousey, but it’s likely not a cause for concern.
Charlotte Flair’s status update came via the WWE’s in-house program, The Bump. A clip of the news surfaced on the WWE’s social media and noted that the brand’s megastar would be away from SmackDown and other shows for an undisclosed amount of time. The video reveals the extent of Flair’s injuries, though, as mentioned, it doesn’t appear that there’s anything to be worried about.
BREAKING: As announced on @WWETheBump, due to the injury suffered during the "I Quit" Match at #WMBacklash, @MsCharlotteWWE is out of action INDEFINITELY. pic.twitter.com/ix5tBGsr7SMay 11, 2022
It’s possible that Charlotte Flair really did fracture her radius in her match with Ronda Rousey at WWE Backlash, but F4Wonline.com reported not long after the pay-per-view that this is a “kayfabe injury.” That is to say that the injury is a fictional excuse for Flair to take time away from television in order to marry her fiancé and AEW superstar Andrade El Idolo.
Andrade El Idolo and Charlotte Flair were on the outs during her much-reported backstage issues with Becky Lynch and others, but they reconciled and announced their engagement in January. Flair later confirmed that they planned to marry in Mexico in the summer. Summer isn’t quite here yet if we’re speaking in terms of the official start date, but with about a month to go, it’s feasible that she meant sometime within the late May to early June time frame.
Charlotte Flair dropping the women’s title to Ronda Rousey gives the WWE a big-name champion to hold the belt in the meantime, while Flair can go off and take some deserved time to enjoy her marriage and honeymoon if that's her reason for stepping away. As one of the top women in WWE, it’s only fair that she gets some time to celebrate a special occasion.
The downside of this news is that the WWE now has another big name out of commission for the summer season. On the one hand, Roman Reigns' absence and Flair's break might allow the company to play around and give some former top talent a chance at big matches and title shots. Of course, we can only guarantee that much could happen with the SmackDown women’s title, as Reigns hasn’t dropped either of his titles at the moment.
Another thing that the WWE might worry about is its ticket sales throughout the next few months, knowing it’s missing at least two of the brand’s biggest superstars. Perhaps that’s why Ronda Rousey has the title belt, to at least provide some occasional big-name draw to shows where she’ll appear. She definitely has some appeal with fans, but it’s fair to say that the Women’s Division won’t feel quite the same without Charlotte Flair in the mix.
Charlotte Flair might be off television for a while, but fans can revisit her biggest moments with a Peacock Premium subscription. It’ll be interesting to see who might surface to challenge Rousey’s belt in Flair’s absence, especially given how many stars like Alexa Bliss are waiting (perhaps impatiently) on their next big title shot.
