September 17, 2025 • 36 mins
Charlotte Flair joins us for an open conversation about carving her own path in WWE while growing up as the daughter of Ric Flair. She shares her journey from volleyball to wrestling, the hardships she faced early in life, and the moment she realized wrestling was where she belonged. Charlotte reflects on life on the road, building a fanbase, and the motivation that drives her both in and out of the ring. From her iconic robes to advice from her father, finding her own identity, and overcoming injuries, this interview offers a rare and authentic look at Charlotte Flair’s life beyond the spotlight.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi, guys, welcome back to Post Friend High. Today we
are joined by Ashley Flair. She is a WWE star
also known as Charlotte Flair, and she is the daughter
of Rick Flair, who is a WWE legend. I am
so excited for you to listen to today's episode. To
be totally honest, I knew very little about WWE going
into today's run and then sit down conversation with Ashley,
(00:28):
but I have to say I was so excited to
be able to chat with her, learn all about the
world of WWE, and just learn about her in general.
She is such an interesting person. She's so kind, and
her energy is seriously contagious. I think you guys are
going to be so inspired and motivated coming out of
this conversation. Ashley and I also both share a traumatic injury.
(00:51):
She tore her ACL last year. I've toured my ACL twice,
so it was nice to be able to connect a
bit on that during our run and then also during
this down chat. But anyways, I hope you guys are
excited to get to know Ashley or Charlotte, whatever name
you want to call her. And without further ado, let's
get into today's episode.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Ashley Elizabeth Flair. Welcome to Post run High.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Hi, thank you. I'm a little sweaty.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I'm sweaty too, So we just ran a mile through Dumbo.
We have a lot to unpack here. Before we started talking,
I was like, I need to we need to unpack
WWE and.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
All the things that gore.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, we need a little wrestling one on one, but
first let's start here. Because publicly, well, you go by
both Ashley and Charlotte, but your stage name is Charlotte Flair.
Stage name Charlotte Flair or the Queen, and you grew
up in North Carolina. Yes, so that's where we're getting
the Charlotte from. Were there any other names in the
running before you chose Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I pitched a few names.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
I pitched Elizabeth read I loved to miss Elizabeth, and
then my little brother's name was real but they were like, no,
your dad's from Charlotte. W name me Charlotte because my
dad is Rick Flair in the wrestling world, he was
like one of the greatest of all times. So it
was Rick Flair from Charlotte, North Carolina. So when I started,
it was like, oh, Charlotte, my name of Charlotte and
that was.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
The jokes on them.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, And what is the importance within the world of
wrestling and WWE of having a stage name, Like why
why go buy Charlotte and not Ashley because I love
the name.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
No, I mean I could have gone by Ashley Flair,
to be honest.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
It's just at that time, I don't think it was
as common, and I think probably being Rick's kid, it
was like, oh, we're going to give her like a
stage name, like, not be Ashley Flair, because I when
I first started, I wasn't Charlotte Flair.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I was just Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
They didn't attach my last name till like four or
five years later or five years later. I didn't become
I did not become Charlotte Flair until like I grew
into it.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Your dad was like, don't give her that laugh name.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
And my dad had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
It was just like I don't want to say burden,
but it was like a lot of pressure being his kid,
and then could I handle that pressure? And then you know,
coming like it's one thing people kind of knowing that
you're his kid, but then like, oh, Charlotte Flair, like yeah,
that's his kid.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
So a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
After I started, that's when I started to come out
to as Charlotte Flair.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
It's pretty wild your life and growing up with Rick
as your dad and growing up in that kind of
world of but.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
It really wasn't.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I think everyone thinks it was, like I mean, he
had like bleached blonde hair and wore robes and went
wu But like, I really wasn't like I went to
shows with.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Friends or with teammates, but like I really.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Wasn't around the wrestling world or I wasn't really exposed
like to really much anything like played sports.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Was very much a homebody.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
So like I think people think my life was like
super extravagant or wild growing up, but it was very like,
very normal other than like my dad's a professional wrestler.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
When everyone at.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
School was like, what's your dad do? Oh he's a doctor,
he's a lawyer. My dad's a wrestler. That was like
the only difference.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Talk to us then a little bit more like paint
the picture of your childhood, Like what was Ashley like
growing up?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Where exactly did you grow up?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I I took a jazz tap in ballet class I
think from like third grade to middle school and gymnastics.
Gymnastics where I spent like twenty four hours a week competitively.
Until middle school. My little brother and I were inseparable.
(04:47):
I always remember every summer driving in my Grandmammy's car
in the back seat making a tent to Panama City
because my grandmother had a beach house on Mexico Beach.
We went to the same school together from t K
until high school. Read transferred first to public school and
then I transferred after him. He transferred for wrestling. I
(05:08):
transferred for volleyball. Grew up with the same kids, grew
up in the same house. It was very like normal.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
We went to my dad's shows when we could, went
to Disney every year when w CW had a Disney show.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
After I graduated high school and like, things kind of
started to fall apart when my dad and my mom separated.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
But I had that like great childhood.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, it sounds like a quintessential like North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
There are like very much things that were going on.
I just don't think I was as aware of them
until I was older and I was like, oh yeah,
that probably wasn't normal or right or all. My mom
went through this and my dad went through this. But like,
for the most part, I was so involved in gymnastics.
I mean I really was training competitively, like you had
(06:04):
to hit a certain amount of numbers or hours a week,
probably fourth grade until middle school, which was a very
you know, impressionable years. So I spent a lot of
time on my gymnastics team, in my gymnastics coach. So
I just wasn't aware of like probably things and that's
probably good until like college I was like, oh, yeah,
(06:26):
that wasn't that's not right.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, what was going on that wasn't right?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Like no, like my dad's lifestyle being on the road
so much, and like my mom struggling with that, Yeah,
because what is that?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Like, like how often was your dad home? Like what
is the schedule?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I mean he was more home for Reed and I
than he was home for my older brother and sister,
my half brother and my half sister. How much older
My sister's fifty My older brother I think is forty five.
I'm thirty nine. No, so my brother's seven. My older
brother's seven years older than me, So yeah, late forties.
My sister's fifty and my dad was home a lot
(07:04):
more for me. But my dad just lived a very
fast paced life, and I think that was hard on
my mom, probably more like I just wasn't aware of
growing up and my dad was a great dad. My
mom was a great mom, but it definitely took a
toll on my mom. And like things that would come
(07:25):
out in the news or things that happened in wrestling,
like I just wasn't aware, Like I kind of remember flashbacks,
but it's probably better that I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Aware, definitely, And I could imagine now that you are living,
you know, that similar fast paced life to what your
dad lived when you were growing up.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Like, and what I mean by fast paces, yeah, that
we're always on the road, right, just like I mean
we traveling circus.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Right, literally traveling circus. We talked about this before we started.
Fifty two weeks a year, fifty two weeks a year,
no breaks, Like, there aren't many professional sports out there
like that that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Don't have MF season.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So what is it like having to be always on
And what does like a week in the life look
like for you?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I have my routine, I have my trainer now because
I tore my knee. I have rehab as well, so
I have the same time with my trainer every week,
rehab every week, wrestling practice that I still do just
because we went from having a lot more live shows
that aren't televised to less live shows, which gives you
a little, you know, more of a life. I do
(08:36):
miss the live shows that we do have them sometimes,
and that's what I do in between our shows.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
So I always fly out Thursday.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I'll fly to whatever city we're in, work this TV Friday,
and then fly home Saturday, unless we have shows, or
unless we're overseas and unless I'm on Monday Night Raw,
which you could be, or unless you have a big
PLI which is our pay per views like we just
had at MetLife Stadium for Summer Slam where one of
the tag titles with Alex this past Saturday. It just
(09:04):
really varies week to week. I almost like don't even
feel like I work. I mean, I literally perform for
a living two audiences of all ages. Obviously the kids
are the best part, but the fans are the heartbeat
and then traveling the world getting to see them and
whether it's doing pr signings now being on Netflix, we
(09:25):
have opportunities to kind of show the person behind the character,
and we do documentary style interviews to I mean, but
when I feel most alive is when that bell rings
and I'm performing for whether it's MetLife Stadium or Barkley's tonight.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
It's the best part of what we do.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Like I'm like very grateful and blessed, Like I can't
wake up and be like, oh, I have to go
to work today.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, and it's you know, you're you're doing a job
that you're made for and like meant to be doing.
And we talked about this a little bit on the run,
but it's like you never knew you were going to
get into rest in WWE, right, Like imagine telling your
collegiate volleyball self that you were going to go on
and following your dad's footsteps.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Absolutely no, I was scared of my own shadow, right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Not. So, like, let's kind of explain to us, like
how did it all come to be? Like how do
you go from college volley ballplayer for a couple of
years to then getting a PR degree, right, yeah, and
then ending up But WWE Superstar, Okay, so that's coming
for Rick's title?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Come on, Yeah, that's coming from my dad's record. I
got a volleyball scholarship. I went the freshman I went
and played freshman year halfway through sophomore year. And then
when I talk about struggles, when my mom and dad
separated and my dad left my mom, my brother went
to boarding school to Blair, and I went to college
at the same time, and I just really struggled, and
(10:51):
I ended up quitting my scholarship for no reason and
moving to Chapel Hill, finished at NC State, got a degree,
and then when I moved back to Charlotte afterwards, I
just was like completely clueless, Like I had no idea
what I wanted to do in life.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Like I loved communications, but like.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
I don't know what I was gonna do it, Like
what am I gonna be Samantha on Sex and the
City like a good pr job and.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Don't get me started on Sex and the City.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
I can't believe they cancel. I was so devastated.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Okay, at that time though, after college, my little brother
was trying to get into WWE, but he was struggling
a really bad drug addiction. So when he when I
went to college and he transferred into Blair for amateur wrestling,
but it was a boarding school.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
He was just.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Exposed to a faster pace than he was in Charlotte.
And then he already had started to do drugs, so
that just continued to get worse and worse. So we
were both in Charlotte at the same time, and my
parents were trying to get into WWE because he wanted
to be just like my dad, Like Reid's dream from
a little boy was like I'm going to be the
next greatest thing. I'm gonna be Rick Flair, like he
(12:03):
idolized my dad and they were best friends. So when
I got when I graduated and moved back to Charlotte,
I my dad used to own gold gyms in North
Carolina growing up, but they had all closed. So I
went to one of the trainers that worked at one
(12:23):
of the golds and he had opened a private training
studio in this area called Valentine, so I remembered him.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I showed up at a studio and I.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Was like, hey, I just took my ACE training tests
and I passed, and I'm looking for a job and
he was like, oh, absolutely, like young college girl, blonde.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Like come on, He's like, you're gonna get so we're
gonna get so many more and.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
He's like, let's go.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I was.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Like, I had had trainers my whole life, but I like,
I wouldn't have hired myself like now, like I.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Was great and very like, let's go, but like I
would have trusted you honestly.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
But yeah, knowing that Rick.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Was your daughter of a life coachy.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Hey No, But like the training that I do now
is so much more specific. I was just very basic,
like fundamental training.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
But I fell in love with my clients.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
And at the same time, Reid was living with me,
and I had gotten him a job at the other
studio of the there's two studios, one in Valentine, one
in South Park, and I got read a job at
the other one. He was also living with me off
and on, but he had failed multiple WWE drug tests.
So I think about two or three years after college,
(13:43):
the Four Horsemen Hall of Fame induction, which was a
group that my dad was in in the eighties and nineties.
I don't know early too, I don't know the dates,
but just a famous group were being inducted into the
Hall of Fame in April twenty and two, and I
was even though training loved my clients making like what
(14:06):
I thought, like, oh my god, I'm making money, like
I you know, I had bought my first car, which
was a Honda Fit and all these different things. I
was still in a very lost, not good place, and
obviously Reid wasn't either. So but Reed and I went
with my dad and we were at dinner with one
of the producers after the Hall of Fame induction in Miami,
(14:26):
and the producer was like, why aren't you doing this?
But it was really my dad and the producer trying
to get like read kind of like riled up, like
why are you asking my sister? Like why aren't you
asking me? But at the time, Reid was like, oh,
you can do this, you can do this, you can
do this. And I was like, well, I don't look
like Tristratus, I don't look like Stacey Keebler.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I don't look like Tory Wilson.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Like when I thought of Michelle McCool, like when I
thought of the divas growing up, like I just saw
these like absolutely beautiful women, like I knew I could
athletically do it, but like I didn't view myself as
a diva or like eye Candy or however, the women. However,
the women were perceived, but something in me was like, well.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I'm not doing anything here. I'm lost.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Maybe if I say yes to this, I could help
Read get into WWE. So mind you like, I'm scared
of my own shadow, a shell of myself, have no
idea like what I'm about to do, very nervous. Had
the phone call a week later with Triple H, my boss,
and he was like, listen, our developmental system is changing
(15:34):
over from.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
FCW to NXT. I'm taking over.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
But like, because I'm giving you this opportunity doesn't mean
I'm going to give Read an opportunity. And I was like, yeah,
I know, like this is like I don't know, like
it's sure whatever, Like uh huh in the back of
my mind. I literally reported to an XT three months later,
and I was like, Okay, Read's gonna meet me.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
This is gonna be great.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
So I get there, I fall in love with it,
and I'm like, oh man, I have felt like I
never belonged anywhere my whole life, and then when I
started wrestling, I was like, oh, like I really belong here.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Then eight months.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Later, redied of a Haroin overdose, and I never got
to see him before, and he never got to see
me wrestle. So my career is just dedicated to him
because I wouldn't have done it had I like not
started because of him, Like that was all for him,
Like everything from the producer asking me to.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Like I didn't like, excuse.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Me, like give a shit about wrestling, like love, like
my dad was Rick Flair, like cool, take my friends,
the wrestlers are hot, like whatever. So when re died,
I just like put his death in a drawer and
turned out to like be the most decorated woman of
all time. I don't know, it's just very great, full
(17:00):
and blessed. I would I never went a million years,
would have pictured myself here.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Do you feel like having a brother that went through
that and then you know, passed away from it?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Did it?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
How is it driven you in your career?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I started wrestling and then.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
I reported in July, and then he kept asking me
to come home to see him a Thanksgiving and Christmas,
like come home to see me, come home to see me,
come home to see me. And I was like so
wrapped up in this new life and having fun and
wanting to get better.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
And just like.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Ultimately I spent so many years trying to save read
after college or like trying to get him on the
right path, when like, in reality, he saved mine because
he had this dream and when I didn't go home
to see him and then he ended up dying. I
just think that like that guilt and that burden, and
(17:56):
like did because I didn't go home to see him,
did it not like give him that boost that he needed?
Like did his addiction get worse? And like I have
blamed myself all these years for that and also like.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Taking his dream.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
But at the same time, I think Reid's addiction really
got worse and stemmed from the fact that, like he
felt that he had to live up to the expectation
of being Ric Flair's son and what that meant and
what that looked like, and thinking that he had, you know,
to be the man, and he was also doing independent
(18:37):
shows and being compared to my dad, and like I'm
compared every single day as a female, but like I
can imagine being Ric Flair's son, Like, yes, I have
my own struggles and what that looks like being a woman,
but and I've overcome him, and I don't won't want
to say it's like harder or less hard but like
(18:58):
generational wrestlers, it's very hard to live up to the
expectations of your parents. But like my dad is considered,
if not one of, if not the greatest, one of
the greatest of all time, and read like I think
his drug addiction just that's how he coped being his son.
So I turned my career into like I wish I
(19:21):
could take the pain that Reid felt, whether it was
being made fun of or not living up to the
fans expectations or whatever he struggled with. I just took
that and like ran with it.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
It is so true.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
It's it's one thing to be compared as as a woman,
and it's a whole other ballgame to be compared as
a man. You hear that sometimes with you know, even
professional football players that have sons that you know want
to be as great as their dads. But you yeah,
and it's not saying they can't be, but the pressure
can absolutely be debilitating.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And that's just horrible.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
And I think it was for him.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
What was it about wrestling that clicked for you? Like,
what do you think it was that you were like,
I love this? Was it the performative aspect. Was it
the physical sport?
Speaker 4 (20:12):
It was a physical sport Noxuse I was like I
had no charisma, no acting background, but what I was
good at was sports. Like I'd played so many different sports,
team sports, individual sports. So when I got there, that
was my edge amongst the females that like, even though
(20:33):
they had different backgrounds or whether they were models or
independent wrestlers or it just helped. Like it gave me
that edge, especially that competitive edge definitely.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I feel like the gymnast part of it is
really interesting too, because it's like as a gymnast, it's
one of those sports where you have to work so
hard for so many hours a day a week. The discipline,
the discipline, Yeah, like that translates into a sport like wrestling.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
And I think, yeah, like when I become a mom
one day, hope, like my kids will definitely, even if
they're not going to be like gymnasts, just be in
some kind of tumbling gymnastics class when they're young, because
it really does teach you, you know, body awareness and
that discipline.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, and it's pretty cool to be able to be
able to do a flip yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Like
what were those hands a handspring of that handspring, I'm like,
I always can do a handstand.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, I always wish I did.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Like dance classes, video games, you're going to be in
tumbling class.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Yeah. Literally.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Let's talk about the performative performative aspect though of WWE, Like,
can you unpack it to me a little bit? And
at what point did you go from like wrestling matches
to like, okay, now you're actually on TV quote unquote performance.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
So that's the that's the other thing.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Just because someone's athletic doesn't mean they're going to be good.
Like I was athletic, but I really had to figure
out a character or like kind of figure out how
to lisit some kind of emotional response and that took
a lot of the years.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
But the thing about WWE is it's like.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Fifty percent a professional d one sport and then fifty
percent like a Hollywood studio backlot and imagine that always
colliding and everything from beginning to end is performative. But
it's all storyline based fifty two weeks a year. So
(22:28):
whether you're fighting for a title or a non title,
or a backstage fighter in the ring or a promo
whatever that looks like it is all storyline based. Now, Obviously,
some of the best stories over the years is when
real life and storyline kind of blend in and you
don't know what's real or not, and that does happen,
(22:51):
but that's like the beauty of what we do, and
that's been professional wrestling since day one and that'll never change.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
So it's kind of like reality TV in a way. Yes, yes,
because it's like a yeah, it's a fusion of.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Real life meets what the best characters have, the authenticity
of something from themselves that they put in their character.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
A couple questions here.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
The first is like Charlotte Flair when she started out,
how did she differ.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Than the Charlotte Flair now?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
And I look back, what was your first storyline that
you were like, Okay, this is Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
So when I won the Divas Championship from Nikki Bella,
I wasn't ready like the title owned me.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
I didn't own the title. Like you don't want.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
It to be about the title. You want it to
be about you. It's about the person holding it. So
I didn't think I got to that until I became
the inaugural Raw Women's champion at WrestleMania thirty two at
and T Stadium and I retired the Divas Championship. One
of my opponents but also peer, sent me a picture
(24:01):
of the AT and T Stadium and it was myself, her,
Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch and we were front and
center of AT and T Stadium.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Triple H was on one side.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Roman Reigns was on the other, Shane McMahon undertaker. But
it was like, I was like, oh my god, this
is like really silly fan art, Like why are they
putting us front and center of the stadium? Oh no,
my face was front and center of the stadium. And
that's when like, really it was like You're like, that's me,
that's me, I'm front. So but since then, like and
(24:34):
I think athletes go through this, I've my confidence has
wavered up and down. But that was like, my okay,
I'm getting this. But did I grow like other moments
past then, for sure, Like twenty nineteen faced Ronda in
La had an incredible moment WrestleMania thirty five, first ever
main event MetLife Stadium, actually first ever women's main event
(24:59):
for WrestleMania. Things have happened in my career, but like
that was probably the first moment where I was like,
oh yeah, I'm that girl, like where I felt confident.
But it's like coming, it comes and goes.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
When did you first start realizing like you had an
audience of people that was supporting you.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
My job was to be hated really, so I definitely
had that. But I will say, and do they tell
you that, the fans, the producers.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Oh yeah, because you're either a good guy or bad guy.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Oh okay, yeah, so I've been a bad guy most
of my career. But when I got injured, the amount
of like support and following that from the fans that
I've had all these years, and like what they sent
me and the pictures and just the reminders every day,
Like it is really a very special.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Fandom that we have.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Like I really think we have the most passionate fan
base out of any like sport or big movie promotion
in the world. Like, first of all, our audience is global,
and they really I don't know, I've never.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Seen a more passionate fan base. Like it's one thing
to like.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Love the New York Knicks, but I feel like our
fans are just like on a whole different level.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
What's the wildest way You've seen a fan show up
for you, Like, do you have a fun fan story?
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Well, I get like little peacock dolls all the time
at the airports because the fans know I love peacocks.
So I've had peacock stuffed animals. I've had paintings done
of my brother and I of him as an angel
and me and my wrestling gear, like yeah, this is
the poems written.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Was it hard for you when you first started out
being on TV?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Yes, well, because when I first started, I was like,
why does everyone care what I look like? Like when
I played sports, like no one like that's not a thing.
And I think I struggled most with that, With the
transition from dealing with criticism of beauty and like aesthetics
(27:08):
and clothes to like, wait, I'm just a good athlete,
Like why do you care what I look like? I
struggled with that.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I mean that's the hardest and I think I still struggle,
I mean not as much, but.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Like, yeah, I mean you're beautiful, and everybody like that
looks that you know that. But the hardest thing about
being a woman is people will find every single thing
like to comment.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Oh, like oh my gosh, she looks like your dad.
Well it's my dad. Yeah, Like who am I supposed
to look like his partner?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Like I'm just so confused here.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah no, But I really struggled with that because I
wasn't like around I just wasn't around that world grow
like growing up or modeling or acting or like anything
like that. So when like, oh, she's not diva enough
or she's never gonna make the main roster because she's
not diva, Like.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
What does that even mean?
Speaker 3 (27:54):
What is that even?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Like?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
I really like actually I struggled with that probably ninety
percent of my But social media wasn't as big growing
up as it is today.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
So it's just that transition.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
What's the best piece of advice that your dad gave
to you when you were getting into this world?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Oh, just know who you are when you like so
we call it gorilla or the curtain the minute your
music hits and you walk out. If you don't believe
in yourself, the fans are going to eat you up.
I'll never forget that. Oh, and always dress for the
job you want.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
What if that look like?
Speaker 4 (28:25):
In so I have these like ridiculous peacock feather Robesky,
which I'll be working forever to afford them, because I
like a new one every show.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
How much does a peacock robe cost?
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Usually around fifteen grand?
Speaker 4 (28:37):
Well, I but I believe like the more you invest
in yourself, the more you invest in your character, the
fans invest in you, and like.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It's just part of like.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
The Charlotte flair, like the elaborate robes and the feathers,
it just makes that character larger than life. Like then
they didn't start. I think, like my first robe was
probably like four grand. But as like I've evolved and
the characters evolved in my page, I'm looking at an outfit.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Oh my god, who's making these for you?
Speaker 3 (29:10):
So that's the thing.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
I started using designers and they don't realize that, like I.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Have to pay for these. These aren't production. This is
my money, but it's worth every penny.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Do you have like a whole closet full of just
your robes?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
I do, and I've only sold one in ten years.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Like do you always have them kind of in production?
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Well, I try to have a new one every big
pay per view.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
So we probably will start production this week for if
I'm gonna wrestle in Paris, or we have a couple
of big shows coming up. If not, they're just on
rotation for TVs. But they take about like three to
four weeks. But it's the stoning that takes so long.
And then like, if I want the feathers to be
a certain color, they had to die of the feathers.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Where did the peacock love come from?
Speaker 4 (29:56):
The peacock love came from? So my dad alway had feathers,
but they were boo chicken feathers. But there's like a
there is a Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine that has all
of my dad's robes like this and all the colors.
It's so they call him the peacock of wrestling. So
I was like, oh, I love peacock feathers. I love
(30:18):
what peacocks stand for. So why don't I just use
the peacock feathers as part of like my like I
still use the chicken feathers, but as like the back.
And then also there is an image of China where
she has peacock feathers in the back, but mine isn't
really a tribute to her, even though she has done
it before. Mine is like the pro wrestling magazine called
(30:40):
him the peacock and I was like, oh, I should
do the peacock feathers.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
How do you separate Charlotte from Ashley because I love Ashley.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Oh, it's easy.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Charlotte is so put together glam makeup outfits. If you
saw me at home, you're like, girl, brush your hair
like stylist. So my stylist also does my makeup and hair.
He does a lot of things. He's like trifecta, trifecta.
He's like, that's lucky. Have you brushed your hair today? Like, dude,
(31:13):
I'm off today. I'm not over the camera. I'm just
like much more laid back.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
It's kind of fun to have like a show name
because it really does allow you to be on when
you're on at work and then just turn off.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
Well like so when I'm not at like at TV,
I'm like, oh, I feel the sexiest and like a
baggy's design or T shirt and like big baggy jeans.
But then at TV it's like you could see me
in like a crystal corset and it's just well, also
me the Beyonce of wrestling.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
You are the Beyonce.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Also, it's nice to have the separation too.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Because I feel like with your industry, like there's probably
a little bit of pressure to always feel like you
have to like look a certain way and present yourself
a certain way.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Because I've done this for this is my tenth year,
I'm just now or the fans are just now getting
to enjoy the separation between who I am and the character.
And this summer, I've partnered with someone who I came
up in the business with. Her name is Alexa Bliss,
(32:19):
and she has been able to bring out who She
has been able to humanize my character in a way
that I never thought was possible.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
So I went from being like the number one.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
Hated female in the wrestling industry just like four months
ago to like, oh, she's not so bad due to
like just kind of I felt like Charlotte always had
to be perfect because of the pressure of being Rick's kid,
being the fourteen time women's champion, always in the title picture.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
To like it was exhausting.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
What makes somebody the most hated.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Just being that good?
Speaker 4 (32:55):
You don't feel sorry for the Yankees, Like when Alabama loses,
they still go back and they're still Alabama. That's like,
but that pressure just just eats at you. And like
being a woman in a male dominated industry and always
at the top.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Where are you currently at in life? Like, what are
you currently working on?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Excited about? I'm in my soft girl era. Okay, I
love that.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
I don't even know what that means, but that's what
I keep my fans keep saying, like, oh, you're in your.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Self girl era.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
No.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I had a really hard twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
I went through a divorce, my knee injury, and then
came back to work and my return wasn't what I
thought it was going to be. But like things have
kind of shifted, and I'm just I've been traveling between.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
My shows, living more.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
I'm working on a project with a restaurant owner and
creating like my own spice, so I'm excited for that.
And in wrestling, I just won the tag titles with
I say Lexi, with Alexa Bliss, but with Lexi, and
she's had me to la a lot. I'm just like,
I don't know what's next, but I guess, like, even
(34:09):
for life and wrestling, I didn't expect to be where
I am right now, Like I didn't have on my
BEINGO card, tagging with Lexi and winning the tag Championships
because it's it's such a departure from what I have
stood for and what I've done on ww television. And
then obviously like I wasn't planning for twenty twenty four
(34:30):
to go the way it did, and I don't know,
it's like, oh, the best things are unexpected.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
So just seeing where life goes really quickly. We have
to call this out because we talked about it a
little bit on the run for me ACL twice. You
just tore your ACL about a year ago? How did
you tear your ACL wrestling in a match? A match
in a match wow in Washington, d C. On Live
TV on Live TV.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
Oh, and I still finished the match because I was
like I didn't know how to stop or give up.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Did you know in the moment you tore it?
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Well, I was like why can I not walk?
Speaker 4 (35:02):
So I just kept going and then like I think, actually,
I know I made things a lot worse because I
didn't stop, so like I landed on my neck at
one point and how to get a neck X ray?
Speaker 3 (35:12):
And then landed on my face Like it just it
was a.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Train wreck to watch, Like if you go back and
see how many times I just kept but I finished.
Ugh still lost, but yeah, but it all happened for
a reason, Like I needed to reset, restart, make like
other choices in my life, and.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Sometimes what you're holding on to isn't good for you.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
And like I think my knee made me slow down,
reset and so like as much as it sucks to
have any injury, I'm like, oh, I'm grateful for it
because it put me on a different trajectory for life.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
I mean, it's one of the hardest injuries to go through,
and like rehabs to go through, it's so like humbling
in the way that it atrophies the muscle and you
have to I hate it ice machine. I remember that
was like my least favorite part of it. But it
really does teach you so much and everything happens for
a reason.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Well, thank you so much for you. Okay's feady for
our run, I know, so good. Good luck in your
match today.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
You I appreciate you. We have a rematch.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
I know this airs later, but Lexie and I are
tag Tag Team Champions, so we will be wrestling the
team that lost their titles to us, which will be
was which was Roxanne, Perez and Raquel. So we'll be
facing them again tonight, and you just face them on Saturday,
and we just face them on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Oh wow, I know quick. Yeah, it's a quick turnaround. Yeah,
it's you know, fifty two weeks a year. Go go go.
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Alrighty, thanks for listening to Post Run High. If today's
episode moved you, please share it with a friend and
make sure you subscribe if you don't already.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
I'll see you guys next week.
Hi, guys, welcome back to Post Friend High. Today we
are joined by Ashley Flair. She is a WWE star
also known as Charlotte Flair, and she is the daughter
of Rick Flair, who is a WWE legend. I am
so excited for you to listen to today's episode. To
be totally honest, I knew very little about WWE going
into today's run and then sit down conversation with Ashley,
(00:28):
but I have to say I was so excited to
be able to chat with her, learn all about the
world of WWE, and just learn about her in general.
She is such an interesting person. She's so kind, and
her energy is seriously contagious. I think you guys are
going to be so inspired and motivated coming out of
this conversation. Ashley and I also both share a traumatic injury.
(00:51):
She tore her ACL last year. I've toured my ACL twice,
so it was nice to be able to connect a
bit on that during our run and then also during
this down chat. But anyways, I hope you guys are
excited to get to know Ashley or Charlotte, whatever name
you want to call her. And without further ado, let's
get into today's episode.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Ashley Elizabeth Flair. Welcome to Post run High.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Hi, thank you. I'm a little sweaty.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I'm sweaty too, So we just ran a mile through Dumbo.
We have a lot to unpack here. Before we started talking,
I was like, I need to we need to unpack
WWE and.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
All the things that gore.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, we need a little wrestling one on one, but
first let's start here. Because publicly, well, you go by
both Ashley and Charlotte, but your stage name is Charlotte Flair.
Stage name Charlotte Flair or the Queen, and you grew
up in North Carolina. Yes, so that's where we're getting
the Charlotte from. Were there any other names in the
running before you chose Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I pitched a few names.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
I pitched Elizabeth read I loved to miss Elizabeth, and
then my little brother's name was real but they were like, no,
your dad's from Charlotte. W name me Charlotte because my
dad is Rick Flair in the wrestling world, he was
like one of the greatest of all times. So it
was Rick Flair from Charlotte, North Carolina. So when I started,
it was like, oh, Charlotte, my name of Charlotte and
that was.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
The jokes on them.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, And what is the importance within the world of
wrestling and WWE of having a stage name, Like why
why go buy Charlotte and not Ashley because I love
the name.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
No, I mean I could have gone by Ashley Flair,
to be honest.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
It's just at that time, I don't think it was
as common, and I think probably being Rick's kid, it
was like, oh, we're going to give her like a
stage name, like, not be Ashley Flair, because I when
I first started, I wasn't Charlotte Flair.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I was just Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
They didn't attach my last name till like four or
five years later or five years later. I didn't become
I did not become Charlotte Flair until like I grew
into it.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Your dad was like, don't give her that laugh name.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
And my dad had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
It was just like I don't want to say burden,
but it was like a lot of pressure being his kid,
and then could I handle that pressure? And then you know,
coming like it's one thing people kind of knowing that
you're his kid, but then like, oh, Charlotte Flair, like yeah,
that's his kid.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
So a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
After I started, that's when I started to come out
to as Charlotte Flair.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
It's pretty wild your life and growing up with Rick
as your dad and growing up in that kind of
world of but.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
It really wasn't.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I think everyone thinks it was, like I mean, he
had like bleached blonde hair and wore robes and went
wu But like, I really wasn't like I went to
shows with.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Friends or with teammates, but like I really.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Wasn't around the wrestling world or I wasn't really exposed
like to really much anything like played sports.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Was very much a homebody.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
So like I think people think my life was like
super extravagant or wild growing up, but it was very like,
very normal other than like my dad's a professional wrestler.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
When everyone at.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
School was like, what's your dad do? Oh he's a doctor,
he's a lawyer. My dad's a wrestler. That was like
the only difference.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Talk to us then a little bit more like paint
the picture of your childhood, Like what was Ashley like
growing up?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Where exactly did you grow up?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I I took a jazz tap in ballet class I
think from like third grade to middle school and gymnastics.
Gymnastics where I spent like twenty four hours a week competitively.
Until middle school. My little brother and I were inseparable.
(04:47):
I always remember every summer driving in my Grandmammy's car
in the back seat making a tent to Panama City
because my grandmother had a beach house on Mexico Beach.
We went to the same school together from t K
until high school. Read transferred first to public school and
then I transferred after him. He transferred for wrestling. I
(05:08):
transferred for volleyball. Grew up with the same kids, grew
up in the same house. It was very like normal.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
We went to my dad's shows when we could, went
to Disney every year when w CW had a Disney show.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
After I graduated high school and like, things kind of
started to fall apart when my dad and my mom separated.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
But I had that like great childhood.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, it sounds like a quintessential like North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
There are like very much things that were going on.
I just don't think I was as aware of them
until I was older and I was like, oh yeah,
that probably wasn't normal or right or all. My mom
went through this and my dad went through this. But like,
for the most part, I was so involved in gymnastics.
I mean I really was training competitively, like you had
(06:04):
to hit a certain amount of numbers or hours a week,
probably fourth grade until middle school, which was a very
you know, impressionable years. So I spent a lot of
time on my gymnastics team, in my gymnastics coach. So
I just wasn't aware of like probably things and that's
probably good until like college I was like, oh, yeah,
(06:26):
that wasn't that's not right.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, what was going on that wasn't right?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Like no, like my dad's lifestyle being on the road
so much, and like my mom struggling with that, Yeah,
because what is that?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Like, like how often was your dad home? Like what
is the schedule?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I mean he was more home for Reed and I
than he was home for my older brother and sister,
my half brother and my half sister. How much older
My sister's fifty My older brother I think is forty five.
I'm thirty nine. No, so my brother's seven. My older
brother's seven years older than me, So yeah, late forties.
My sister's fifty and my dad was home a lot
(07:04):
more for me. But my dad just lived a very
fast paced life, and I think that was hard on
my mom, probably more like I just wasn't aware of
growing up and my dad was a great dad. My
mom was a great mom, but it definitely took a
toll on my mom. And like things that would come
(07:25):
out in the news or things that happened in wrestling,
like I just wasn't aware, Like I kind of remember flashbacks,
but it's probably better that I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Aware, definitely, And I could imagine now that you are living,
you know, that similar fast paced life to what your
dad lived when you were growing up.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Like, and what I mean by fast paces, yeah, that
we're always on the road, right, just like I mean
we traveling circus.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Right, literally traveling circus. We talked about this before we started.
Fifty two weeks a year, fifty two weeks a year,
no breaks, Like, there aren't many professional sports out there
like that that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Don't have MF season.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So what is it like having to be always on
And what does like a week in the life look
like for you?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I have my routine, I have my trainer now because
I tore my knee. I have rehab as well, so
I have the same time with my trainer every week,
rehab every week, wrestling practice that I still do just
because we went from having a lot more live shows
that aren't televised to less live shows, which gives you
a little, you know, more of a life. I do
(08:36):
miss the live shows that we do have them sometimes,
and that's what I do in between our shows.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
So I always fly out Thursday.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I'll fly to whatever city we're in, work this TV Friday,
and then fly home Saturday, unless we have shows, or
unless we're overseas and unless I'm on Monday Night Raw,
which you could be, or unless you have a big
PLI which is our pay per views like we just
had at MetLife Stadium for Summer Slam where one of
the tag titles with Alex this past Saturday. It just
(09:04):
really varies week to week. I almost like don't even
feel like I work. I mean, I literally perform for
a living two audiences of all ages. Obviously the kids
are the best part, but the fans are the heartbeat
and then traveling the world getting to see them and
whether it's doing pr signings now being on Netflix, we
(09:25):
have opportunities to kind of show the person behind the character,
and we do documentary style interviews to I mean, but
when I feel most alive is when that bell rings
and I'm performing for whether it's MetLife Stadium or Barkley's tonight.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
It's the best part of what we do.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Like I'm like very grateful and blessed, Like I can't
wake up and be like, oh, I have to go
to work today.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, and it's you know, you're you're doing a job
that you're made for and like meant to be doing.
And we talked about this a little bit on the run,
but it's like you never knew you were going to
get into rest in WWE, right, Like imagine telling your
collegiate volleyball self that you were going to go on
and following your dad's footsteps.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Absolutely no, I was scared of my own shadow, right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Not. So, like, let's kind of explain to us, like
how did it all come to be? Like how do
you go from college volley ballplayer for a couple of
years to then getting a PR degree, right, yeah, and
then ending up But WWE Superstar, Okay, so that's coming
for Rick's title?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Come on, Yeah, that's coming from my dad's record. I
got a volleyball scholarship. I went the freshman I went
and played freshman year halfway through sophomore year. And then
when I talk about struggles, when my mom and dad
separated and my dad left my mom, my brother went
to boarding school to Blair, and I went to college
at the same time, and I just really struggled, and
(10:51):
I ended up quitting my scholarship for no reason and
moving to Chapel Hill, finished at NC State, got a degree,
and then when I moved back to Charlotte afterwards, I
just was like completely clueless, Like I had no idea
what I wanted to do in life.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Like I loved communications, but like.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
I don't know what I was gonna do it, Like
what am I gonna be Samantha on Sex and the
City like a good pr job and.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Don't get me started on Sex and the City.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
I can't believe they cancel. I was so devastated.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Okay, at that time though, after college, my little brother
was trying to get into WWE, but he was struggling
a really bad drug addiction. So when he when I
went to college and he transferred into Blair for amateur wrestling,
but it was a boarding school.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
He was just.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Exposed to a faster pace than he was in Charlotte.
And then he already had started to do drugs, so
that just continued to get worse and worse. So we
were both in Charlotte at the same time, and my
parents were trying to get into WWE because he wanted
to be just like my dad, Like Reid's dream from
a little boy was like I'm going to be the
next greatest thing. I'm gonna be Rick Flair, like he
(12:03):
idolized my dad and they were best friends. So when
I got when I graduated and moved back to Charlotte,
I my dad used to own gold gyms in North
Carolina growing up, but they had all closed. So I
went to one of the trainers that worked at one
(12:23):
of the golds and he had opened a private training
studio in this area called Valentine, so I remembered him.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I showed up at a studio and I.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Was like, hey, I just took my ACE training tests
and I passed, and I'm looking for a job and
he was like, oh, absolutely, like young college girl, blonde.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Like come on, He's like, you're gonna get so we're
gonna get so many more and.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
He's like, let's go.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I was.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Like, I had had trainers my whole life, but I like,
I wouldn't have hired myself like now, like I.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Was great and very like, let's go, but like I
would have trusted you honestly.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
But yeah, knowing that Rick.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Was your daughter of a life coachy.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Hey No, But like the training that I do now
is so much more specific. I was just very basic,
like fundamental training.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
But I fell in love with my clients.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
And at the same time, Reid was living with me,
and I had gotten him a job at the other
studio of the there's two studios, one in Valentine, one
in South Park, and I got read a job at
the other one. He was also living with me off
and on, but he had failed multiple WWE drug tests.
So I think about two or three years after college,
(13:43):
the Four Horsemen Hall of Fame induction, which was a
group that my dad was in in the eighties and nineties.
I don't know early too, I don't know the dates,
but just a famous group were being inducted into the
Hall of Fame in April twenty and two, and I
was even though training loved my clients making like what
(14:06):
I thought, like, oh my god, I'm making money, like
I you know, I had bought my first car, which
was a Honda Fit and all these different things. I
was still in a very lost, not good place, and
obviously Reid wasn't either. So but Reed and I went
with my dad and we were at dinner with one
of the producers after the Hall of Fame induction in Miami,
(14:26):
and the producer was like, why aren't you doing this?
But it was really my dad and the producer trying
to get like read kind of like riled up, like
why are you asking my sister? Like why aren't you
asking me? But at the time, Reid was like, oh,
you can do this, you can do this, you can
do this. And I was like, well, I don't look
like Tristratus, I don't look like Stacey Keebler.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I don't look like Tory Wilson.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Like when I thought of Michelle McCool, like when I
thought of the divas growing up, like I just saw
these like absolutely beautiful women, like I knew I could
athletically do it, but like I didn't view myself as
a diva or like eye Candy or however, the women. However,
the women were perceived, but something in me was like, well.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I'm not doing anything here. I'm lost.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Maybe if I say yes to this, I could help
Read get into WWE. So mind you like, I'm scared
of my own shadow, a shell of myself, have no
idea like what I'm about to do, very nervous. Had
the phone call a week later with Triple H, my boss,
and he was like, listen, our developmental system is changing
(15:34):
over from.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
FCW to NXT. I'm taking over.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
But like, because I'm giving you this opportunity doesn't mean
I'm going to give Read an opportunity. And I was like, yeah,
I know, like this is like I don't know, like
it's sure whatever, Like uh huh in the back of
my mind. I literally reported to an XT three months later,
and I was like, Okay, Read's gonna meet me.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
This is gonna be great.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
So I get there, I fall in love with it,
and I'm like, oh man, I have felt like I
never belonged anywhere my whole life, and then when I
started wrestling, I was like, oh, like I really belong here.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Then eight months.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Later, redied of a Haroin overdose, and I never got
to see him before, and he never got to see
me wrestle. So my career is just dedicated to him
because I wouldn't have done it had I like not
started because of him, Like that was all for him,
Like everything from the producer asking me to.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Like I didn't like, excuse.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Me, like give a shit about wrestling, like love, like
my dad was Rick Flair, like cool, take my friends,
the wrestlers are hot, like whatever. So when re died,
I just like put his death in a drawer and
turned out to like be the most decorated woman of
all time. I don't know, it's just very great, full
(17:00):
and blessed. I would I never went a million years,
would have pictured myself here.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Do you feel like having a brother that went through
that and then you know, passed away from it?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Did it?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
How is it driven you in your career?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I started wrestling and then.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
I reported in July, and then he kept asking me
to come home to see him a Thanksgiving and Christmas,
like come home to see me, come home to see me,
come home to see me. And I was like so
wrapped up in this new life and having fun and
wanting to get better.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
And just like.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Ultimately I spent so many years trying to save read
after college or like trying to get him on the
right path, when like, in reality, he saved mine because
he had this dream and when I didn't go home
to see him and then he ended up dying. I
just think that like that guilt and that burden, and
(17:56):
like did because I didn't go home to see him,
did it not like give him that boost that he needed?
Like did his addiction get worse? And like I have
blamed myself all these years for that and also like.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Taking his dream.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
But at the same time, I think Reid's addiction really
got worse and stemmed from the fact that, like he
felt that he had to live up to the expectation
of being Ric Flair's son and what that meant and
what that looked like, and thinking that he had, you know,
to be the man, and he was also doing independent
(18:37):
shows and being compared to my dad, and like I'm
compared every single day as a female, but like I
can imagine being Ric Flair's son, Like, yes, I have
my own struggles and what that looks like being a woman,
but and I've overcome him, and I don't won't want
to say it's like harder or less hard but like
(18:58):
generational wrestlers, it's very hard to live up to the
expectations of your parents. But like my dad is considered,
if not one of, if not the greatest, one of
the greatest of all time, and read like I think
his drug addiction just that's how he coped being his son.
So I turned my career into like I wish I
(19:21):
could take the pain that Reid felt, whether it was
being made fun of or not living up to the
fans expectations or whatever he struggled with. I just took
that and like ran with it.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
It is so true.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
It's it's one thing to be compared as as a woman,
and it's a whole other ballgame to be compared as
a man. You hear that sometimes with you know, even
professional football players that have sons that you know want
to be as great as their dads. But you yeah,
and it's not saying they can't be, but the pressure
can absolutely be debilitating.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And that's just horrible.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
And I think it was for him.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
What was it about wrestling that clicked for you? Like,
what do you think it was that you were like,
I love this? Was it the performative aspect. Was it
the physical sport?
Speaker 4 (20:12):
It was a physical sport Noxuse I was like I
had no charisma, no acting background, but what I was
good at was sports. Like I'd played so many different sports,
team sports, individual sports. So when I got there, that
was my edge amongst the females that like, even though
(20:33):
they had different backgrounds or whether they were models or
independent wrestlers or it just helped. Like it gave me
that edge, especially that competitive edge definitely.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I feel like the gymnast part of it is
really interesting too, because it's like as a gymnast, it's
one of those sports where you have to work so
hard for so many hours a day a week. The discipline,
the discipline, Yeah, like that translates into a sport like wrestling.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
And I think, yeah, like when I become a mom
one day, hope, like my kids will definitely, even if
they're not going to be like gymnasts, just be in
some kind of tumbling gymnastics class when they're young, because
it really does teach you, you know, body awareness and
that discipline.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, and it's pretty cool to be able to be
able to do a flip yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Like
what were those hands a handspring of that handspring, I'm like,
I always can do a handstand.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, I always wish I did.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Like dance classes, video games, you're going to be in
tumbling class.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Yeah. Literally.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Let's talk about the performative performative aspect though of WWE, Like,
can you unpack it to me a little bit? And
at what point did you go from like wrestling matches
to like, okay, now you're actually on TV quote unquote performance.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
So that's the that's the other thing.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Just because someone's athletic doesn't mean they're going to be good.
Like I was athletic, but I really had to figure
out a character or like kind of figure out how
to lisit some kind of emotional response and that took
a lot of the years.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
But the thing about WWE is it's like.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Fifty percent a professional d one sport and then fifty
percent like a Hollywood studio backlot and imagine that always
colliding and everything from beginning to end is performative. But
it's all storyline based fifty two weeks a year. So
(22:28):
whether you're fighting for a title or a non title,
or a backstage fighter in the ring or a promo
whatever that looks like it is all storyline based. Now, Obviously,
some of the best stories over the years is when
real life and storyline kind of blend in and you
don't know what's real or not, and that does happen,
(22:51):
but that's like the beauty of what we do, and
that's been professional wrestling since day one and that'll never change.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
So it's kind of like reality TV in a way. Yes, yes,
because it's like a yeah, it's a fusion of.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Real life meets what the best characters have, the authenticity
of something from themselves that they put in their character.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
A couple questions here.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
The first is like Charlotte Flair when she started out,
how did she differ.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Than the Charlotte Flair now?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
And I look back, what was your first storyline that
you were like, Okay, this is Charlotte.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
So when I won the Divas Championship from Nikki Bella,
I wasn't ready like the title owned me.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
I didn't own the title. Like you don't want.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
It to be about the title. You want it to
be about you. It's about the person holding it. So
I didn't think I got to that until I became
the inaugural Raw Women's champion at WrestleMania thirty two at
and T Stadium and I retired the Divas Championship. One
of my opponents but also peer, sent me a picture
(24:01):
of the AT and T Stadium and it was myself, her,
Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch and we were front and
center of AT and T Stadium.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Triple H was on one side.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Roman Reigns was on the other, Shane McMahon undertaker. But
it was like, I was like, oh my god, this
is like really silly fan art, Like why are they
putting us front and center of the stadium? Oh no,
my face was front and center of the stadium. And
that's when like, really it was like You're like, that's me,
that's me, I'm front. So but since then, like and
(24:34):
I think athletes go through this, I've my confidence has
wavered up and down. But that was like, my okay,
I'm getting this. But did I grow like other moments
past then, for sure, Like twenty nineteen faced Ronda in
La had an incredible moment WrestleMania thirty five, first ever
main event MetLife Stadium, actually first ever women's main event
(24:59):
for WrestleMania. Things have happened in my career, but like
that was probably the first moment where I was like,
oh yeah, I'm that girl, like where I felt confident.
But it's like coming, it comes and goes.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
When did you first start realizing like you had an
audience of people that was supporting you.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
My job was to be hated really, so I definitely
had that. But I will say, and do they tell
you that, the fans, the producers.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Oh yeah, because you're either a good guy or bad guy.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Oh okay, yeah, so I've been a bad guy most
of my career. But when I got injured, the amount
of like support and following that from the fans that
I've had all these years, and like what they sent
me and the pictures and just the reminders every day,
Like it is really a very special.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Fandom that we have.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Like I really think we have the most passionate fan
base out of any like sport or big movie promotion
in the world. Like, first of all, our audience is global,
and they really I don't know, I've never.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Seen a more passionate fan base. Like it's one thing
to like.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Love the New York Knicks, but I feel like our
fans are just like on a whole different level.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
What's the wildest way You've seen a fan show up
for you, Like, do you have a fun fan story?
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Well, I get like little peacock dolls all the time
at the airports because the fans know I love peacocks.
So I've had peacock stuffed animals. I've had paintings done
of my brother and I of him as an angel
and me and my wrestling gear, like yeah, this is
the poems written.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Was it hard for you when you first started out
being on TV?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Yes, well, because when I first started, I was like,
why does everyone care what I look like? Like when
I played sports, like no one like that's not a thing.
And I think I struggled most with that, With the
transition from dealing with criticism of beauty and like aesthetics
(27:08):
and clothes to like, wait, I'm just a good athlete,
Like why do you care what I look like? I
struggled with that.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I mean that's the hardest and I think I still struggle,
I mean not as much, but.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Like, yeah, I mean you're beautiful, and everybody like that
looks that you know that. But the hardest thing about
being a woman is people will find every single thing
like to comment.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Oh, like oh my gosh, she looks like your dad.
Well it's my dad. Yeah, Like who am I supposed
to look like his partner?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Like I'm just so confused here.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah no, But I really struggled with that because I
wasn't like around I just wasn't around that world grow
like growing up or modeling or acting or like anything
like that. So when like, oh, she's not diva enough
or she's never gonna make the main roster because she's
not diva, Like.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
What does that even mean?
Speaker 3 (27:54):
What is that even?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Like?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
I really like actually I struggled with that probably ninety
percent of my But social media wasn't as big growing
up as it is today.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
So it's just that transition.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
What's the best piece of advice that your dad gave
to you when you were getting into this world?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Oh, just know who you are when you like so
we call it gorilla or the curtain the minute your
music hits and you walk out. If you don't believe
in yourself, the fans are going to eat you up.
I'll never forget that. Oh, and always dress for the
job you want.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
What if that look like?
Speaker 4 (28:25):
In so I have these like ridiculous peacock feather Robesky,
which I'll be working forever to afford them, because I
like a new one every show.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
How much does a peacock robe cost?
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Usually around fifteen grand?
Speaker 4 (28:37):
Well, I but I believe like the more you invest
in yourself, the more you invest in your character, the
fans invest in you, and like.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It's just part of like.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
The Charlotte flair, like the elaborate robes and the feathers,
it just makes that character larger than life. Like then
they didn't start. I think, like my first robe was
probably like four grand. But as like I've evolved and
the characters evolved in my page, I'm looking at an outfit.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Oh my god, who's making these for you?
Speaker 3 (29:10):
So that's the thing.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
I started using designers and they don't realize that, like I.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Have to pay for these. These aren't production. This is
my money, but it's worth every penny.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Do you have like a whole closet full of just
your robes?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
I do, and I've only sold one in ten years.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Like do you always have them kind of in production?
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Well, I try to have a new one every big
pay per view.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
So we probably will start production this week for if
I'm gonna wrestle in Paris, or we have a couple
of big shows coming up. If not, they're just on
rotation for TVs. But they take about like three to
four weeks. But it's the stoning that takes so long.
And then like, if I want the feathers to be
a certain color, they had to die of the feathers.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Where did the peacock love come from?
Speaker 4 (29:56):
The peacock love came from? So my dad alway had feathers,
but they were boo chicken feathers. But there's like a
there is a Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine that has all
of my dad's robes like this and all the colors.
It's so they call him the peacock of wrestling. So
I was like, oh, I love peacock feathers. I love
(30:18):
what peacocks stand for. So why don't I just use
the peacock feathers as part of like my like I
still use the chicken feathers, but as like the back.
And then also there is an image of China where
she has peacock feathers in the back, but mine isn't
really a tribute to her, even though she has done
it before. Mine is like the pro wrestling magazine called
(30:40):
him the peacock and I was like, oh, I should
do the peacock feathers.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
How do you separate Charlotte from Ashley because I love Ashley.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Oh, it's easy.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Charlotte is so put together glam makeup outfits. If you
saw me at home, you're like, girl, brush your hair
like stylist. So my stylist also does my makeup and hair.
He does a lot of things. He's like trifecta, trifecta.
He's like, that's lucky. Have you brushed your hair today? Like, dude,
(31:13):
I'm off today. I'm not over the camera. I'm just
like much more laid back.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
It's kind of fun to have like a show name
because it really does allow you to be on when
you're on at work and then just turn off.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
Well like so when I'm not at like at TV,
I'm like, oh, I feel the sexiest and like a
baggy's design or T shirt and like big baggy jeans.
But then at TV it's like you could see me
in like a crystal corset and it's just well, also
me the Beyonce of wrestling.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
You are the Beyonce.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Also, it's nice to have the separation too.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Because I feel like with your industry, like there's probably
a little bit of pressure to always feel like you
have to like look a certain way and present yourself
a certain way.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Because I've done this for this is my tenth year,
I'm just now or the fans are just now getting
to enjoy the separation between who I am and the character.
And this summer, I've partnered with someone who I came
up in the business with. Her name is Alexa Bliss,
(32:19):
and she has been able to bring out who She
has been able to humanize my character in a way
that I never thought was possible.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
So I went from being like the number one.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
Hated female in the wrestling industry just like four months
ago to like, oh, she's not so bad due to
like just kind of I felt like Charlotte always had
to be perfect because of the pressure of being Rick's kid,
being the fourteen time women's champion, always in the title picture.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
To like it was exhausting.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
What makes somebody the most hated.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Just being that good?
Speaker 4 (32:55):
You don't feel sorry for the Yankees, Like when Alabama loses,
they still go back and they're still Alabama. That's like,
but that pressure just just eats at you. And like
being a woman in a male dominated industry and always
at the top.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Where are you currently at in life? Like, what are
you currently working on?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Excited about? I'm in my soft girl era. Okay, I
love that.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
I don't even know what that means, but that's what
I keep my fans keep saying, like, oh, you're in your.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Self girl era.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
No.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I had a really hard twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
I went through a divorce, my knee injury, and then
came back to work and my return wasn't what I
thought it was going to be. But like things have
kind of shifted, and I'm just I've been traveling between.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
My shows, living more.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
I'm working on a project with a restaurant owner and
creating like my own spice, so I'm excited for that.
And in wrestling, I just won the tag titles with
I say Lexi, with Alexa Bliss, but with Lexi, and
she's had me to la a lot. I'm just like,
I don't know what's next, but I guess, like, even
(34:09):
for life and wrestling, I didn't expect to be where
I am right now, Like I didn't have on my
BEINGO card, tagging with Lexi and winning the tag Championships
because it's it's such a departure from what I have
stood for and what I've done on ww television. And
then obviously like I wasn't planning for twenty twenty four
(34:30):
to go the way it did, and I don't know,
it's like, oh, the best things are unexpected.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
So just seeing where life goes really quickly. We have
to call this out because we talked about it a
little bit on the run for me ACL twice. You
just tore your ACL about a year ago? How did
you tear your ACL wrestling in a match? A match
in a match wow in Washington, d C. On Live
TV on Live TV.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
Oh, and I still finished the match because I was
like I didn't know how to stop or give up.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Did you know in the moment you tore it?
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Well, I was like why can I not walk?
Speaker 4 (35:02):
So I just kept going and then like I think, actually,
I know I made things a lot worse because I
didn't stop, so like I landed on my neck at
one point and how to get a neck X ray?
Speaker 3 (35:12):
And then landed on my face Like it just it
was a.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Train wreck to watch, Like if you go back and
see how many times I just kept but I finished.
Ugh still lost, but yeah, but it all happened for
a reason, Like I needed to reset, restart, make like
other choices in my life, and.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Sometimes what you're holding on to isn't good for you.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
And like I think my knee made me slow down,
reset and so like as much as it sucks to
have any injury, I'm like, oh, I'm grateful for it
because it put me on a different trajectory for life.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
I mean, it's one of the hardest injuries to go through,
and like rehabs to go through, it's so like humbling
in the way that it atrophies the muscle and you
have to I hate it ice machine. I remember that
was like my least favorite part of it. But it
really does teach you so much and everything happens for
a reason.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Well, thank you so much for you. Okay's feady for
our run, I know, so good. Good luck in your
match today.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
You I appreciate you. We have a rematch.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
I know this airs later, but Lexie and I are
tag Tag Team Champions, so we will be wrestling the
team that lost their titles to us, which will be
was which was Roxanne, Perez and Raquel. So we'll be
facing them again tonight, and you just face them on Saturday,
and we just face them on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Oh wow, I know quick. Yeah, it's a quick turnaround. Yeah,
it's you know, fifty two weeks a year. Go go go.
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Alrighty, thanks for listening to Post Run High. If today's
episode moved you, please share it with a friend and
make sure you subscribe if you don't already.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
I'll see you guys next week.
Host
Kate Mackz
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