Ric Flair Agrees With Corey Graves' Criticism Of Charlotte's WWE Booking
Recently Corey Graves opined about Charlotte's booking and also stated that she's going through the motions in the ring. Her father Ric Flair discussed Graves' comments when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"I am not happy with the way they are doing it; I guess she's been put in that role. Number one, I need to be left out of the equation because she has surpassed me in talent," admitted Flair. "She's never gonna be around for 40 years which is why I'm still a household name. I think they look at it and say, 'Well, she's like her dad. She'll do anything we want her to do because she's a pro.'
"I don't think she'll ever be bored with her storylines and not participate at its fullest. That part is wrong on Corey's part. But as far as her being the best athlete in the company, a Hall of Famer already, and being the biggest star of the women's division, he's spot on."
He then talked about how she did back to back jobs for talent on TV recently and no one else of her stature would do that.
"She's made her own way and she's made it by going through such a rigorous and demanding schedule because of my last name. It's not like she walks through a door and inherits a company. She has to walk in the door and be Ric Flair's daughter. She had to work twice as hard and be twice as good. She has to be that much better and she never takes it for granted," said Flair who then talked about her recent travel schedule. Charlotte did a Raw in Nashville then a March of Dimes event in New York on Tuesday. She then flew to California for a Snickers commercial before heading home and then to Jacksonville for SmackDown.
"She wouldn't have it any other way. What happens is sometimes they'll leave her off of something and she'll go, 'Hey dad, why did they leave me off?' I tell her just to have a day off. That's how she's geared and she wants to be the best every damn minute."
Flair mentioned that Andrade, who she really loves, has geared her down a bit but if you want to be the best you never stop trying. He says Charlotte is the only other one in the family who will ever understand the drive to want to be the best.
"[WWE] is the greatest company in the world to work for and the greatest people, but what makes them so special is that they won't ask anything of you that they won't do themselves," Flair said before extolling the work ethic of Vince McMahon and his staff. "Hunter and Stephanie ? they barely have any time together at all. They bust their ass. When Stephanie's not on the road, she's in the office with a hundred other responsibilities. Then you've got Hunter at Raw, NXT and SmackDown. Then they're home for a day.
"That's what makes it special there. You can't get mad at them because that's what they do to themselves."
Andrade has received high praise with Chavo Guerrero even mentioning him in the same breath as Eddie Guerrero. Flair talked about Andrade's abilities what makes him so special in the ring.
"He has the same vision of her that she has for herself," Flair said of Andrade before agreeing to a comparison between Eddie and Andrade. "What Andrade brings is the ability to do anything Rey Mysterio can do except he's 50 pounds heavier. He's a phenomenal athlete with a phenomenal look ? even with the cut in his eyebrow ? I tell him all the time to tell people you got in a knife fight.
"He's got a gift and the little girl with him [Zelina Vega] has come so far and fulfilled a dream. She's wanted to be in the spotlight for so long and Wendy and I have known her for a while. She's doing a phenomenal job of managing him and her interviews are great. I can't see anything holding him back."
Flair has been involved in a couple of WWE storylines this past year with his 70th birthday celebration and then Team Flair going up against Team Hogan. He was asked what his goals are for the coming year.
"I want health and happiness for everybody. I wanna work for the WWE for the rest of my life and I wanna see my daughter continue to have the greatest career in the history of the Women's Division," stated Flair.
"I've seen Wendy's kids grow up just like they're my own. We've got two in college, one in Georgia and one at Auburn, and I say 'we' because I'm part of the family. We've got one headed out now? she's been accepted at six schools and we've got one more that's gonna be in high school all by herself next year. But all is good with her because she's driving a brand new BMW."
Don't forget to do your Christmas shopping at RicFlairShop.com. Including Ric Flair Christmas sweaters, t-shirts, leggings, wallets and more! Woooooo! Flair's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In the full interview Flair discusses the status of his trademark issues with WWE, pro wrestlers controlling their brand, how he's holding up physically, Tully Blanchard's work in AEW with Shawn Spears, feuding with Hulk Hogan going into WWE Crown Jewel, Batista going into the WWE Hall of Fame, Roman Reigns' leukemia promo, Corey Graves' criticisms of Charlotte's WWE booking, comparisons between Andrade and Eddie Guerrero and more.
You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.