Charlotte Flair Recalls Not Being Allowed To Use Her Father's Traits In WWE NXT
Ten-time WWE Women's Champion, Charlotte Flair, recently took the time to speak with Metro.co.uk about the genesis of her pro wrestling career and the guidelines she was given to follow when starting out in NXT. Charlotte says that higher-ups in both NXT and WWE didn't want her to 'Wooo!' or use any character traits that her dad, the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, inspired.
"When I first started, I wasn't allowed to 'wooo', do the figure four, nothing was supposed to be associated with my dad. And then at NXT Takeover against Natalya [in 2014], I won the NXT Women's Championship," Charlotte said. "That day, I debuted my music which had his music in it, and I 'wooo'd' for the first time. It just happened organically because my dad was at ringside but it was never something I set out to do? It wasn't wanting to continue the legacy, it just happened."
Charlotte commented on the fact that her father is an outspoken man with countless achievements throughout his career. However, Charlotte is ready for the fans to put the focus on her talent now.
"How do you ignore the fact that your father is Ric Flair? My dad is a very opinionated man, which everybody knows," Charlotte said. "For me, I just want [my own] story. I have many stories, but I want ones people are going to sink their teeth into and take me to that next level again. I'm a storyteller."
Charlotte says that she's always had the mindset that she can be just as good or better than men at athletics or in life. She admits that she was nervous at first when beginning her journey with NXT but eventually convinced herself that she was good enough to take the main event spot from the top male talent.
"Even though I wasn't in the company growing up, I was never was raised to think that I couldn't do anything a man could do," Charlotte explained. "So even though I didn't know what my future held when I started in NXT, and I didn't have any experience, and I was scared of my own shadow, when I started to pick the business up, I never went, 'I can't do what he can do. Why aren't we main-eventing NXT? Why aren't we main-eventing on the main roster?' My mentality was, 'Well, I'm that good. I should deserve it just like the men.' When that happened and I walked out, there was no difference in presentation or athletic ability."