Debunking the myths behind the belief Charlotte Flair wasn't a worthy Royal Rumble winner (Opinion)
Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.
For me, its unforgivable that so many fans in the wrestling community seemed disappointed to see Charlotte Flair win the women’s 2020 Royal Rumble match.
While discussions after the event were dominated by talk about the return of Edge to the squared circle and Drew McIntyre’s victory in the men’s Rumble, there were also plenty of grumblings about Flair’s victory.
Some online even went as far as to fume and openly show their dislike for Flair and the fact she’d been given the nod to outlast the 29 other Superstars and bag her spot at WrestleMania.
From a personal perspective, I have a big issue with this. Granted, all fans are entitled to their own opinion – at the end of the day, you like what you like, and you hate what you hate, right? But a lot of the anti-Flair bias really has no solid foundation.
Let’s break down the issues:
It’s only because she’s Ric Flair’s daughter
I think, if we are all totally honest, we know this one has been done to death, and simply isn’t true.
While Ric Flair may have played a part in aiding Charlotte getting a foot in the door during her early developmental years, everything she has done and achieved since then has been off her own back.
Ric may be a favoured figure with the likes of WWE chiefs Vince McMahon and Triple H, but the WWE empire is vast, and worth billions of dollars. Realistically, are the likes of Vince and Triple H really daft enough to invest so much of his company’s output and resource in someone purely because they are a good friend of their dad? It’s very, very unlikely.
Charlotte wins all the time
This is yet another myth. Regardless of whether you think Charlotte has too many opportunities or too great a share of matches, it would seem that statistically, she fares less than well when it comes go going over.
In fact, according to Cagematch, Flair actually had a wretched year in 2019 and, if anything, was due a notable win. Their statistics reveal that the genetic freak actually lost more than 70% of the 139 matches she wrestled during that calendar year.
At a win percentage of barely 25%, 2019 was the worst year of her career. Last year produced a drop of 40% in her win rate compared to 2018.
Charlotte is overrated
Charlotte’s decorated Title history should be enough to knock a hole in that theory – she’s a 10-time world champion in addition to having won the Royal Rumble this year. She competed in the main event of WrestleMania as well as a number of ‘first’ for WWE, like the maiden Hell in a Cell and Money in the Bank matches.
However, if WWE’s own Titles and accolades aren’t enough, maybe the opinions of Charlotte’s detractors would be swayed somewhat by a closer look at wrestling critics, who have also acclaimed her efforts over the year.
In 2018 she was ranked Second in the Top 10 Female Wrestlers of the Year by Sports Illustrated, Ranked first in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated ‘Female 50’ in 2016, and heralded PWI’s Rookie of the Year (2014) and Woman of the Year (2016).
There's also the fact that - even if it is just in my view - she is phenomenal in the ring and on the microphone. She's athletically gifted, capable of amazing feats of strength, stamina and agility, and equally able to rile or delight those fans when delivering promos.
So, it seems that Charlotte Flair will be in a prominent position once again for the 2020 edition of WrestleMania, with her opponent rumored to be Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship – though this isn’t yet confirmed.
Fans who aren’t happy about her winning the Rumble to get that opportunity really don’t need to worry. Ripley, the title, WrestleMania, and indeed the foreseeable future are in very safe hands - Wooooooooo!