Why Charlotte's WWE debut was underrated
As many of you, who watch NXT and watched Raw on Monday, might know that Charlotte made her debut in a singles match on the main roster. She was on TV for barely five minutes, but she did make them count. Some of you may think that this was a waste of Charlotte’s talent as she lost in a typically short Divas match on Raw. But the crux of the matter lies in whether the audience chose to ignore the match that was going on.
Before Natalya made her entrance, there was a short video production for Charlotte which was a very brief introduction to the casual fans of her background in NXT and who she is, by that I mean emphasize that she is Ric Flair’s daughter.
What might have stood out for the hardcore audience is when the 28-year-old said “It’s not about my father, it’s about me”. This statement made sure that she wants to carve her own niche in the WWE. Who doesn’t? She has done exactly that in NXT. Her in-ring skills have improved drastically and her presence and charisma garners a lot of attention.
Getting the desired reaction
The constant ‘woo’ chants that she was exclaimed got the crowd following her into a chorus. The chest chop that is synonymous with the wrestling move set of her iconic father also got the crowd riled up to do another round of the ‘woo’ chants. All in all, being the daughter of Ric Flair helped her to have the curiosity and attention of the live audience.
But her debut amounted to more than that. Even if she lost, she controlled most of that brief match. The outcome of the match in this case doesn’t really matter
Natalya is the arguably the best technical wrestler in the Divas Division. Her match with Charlotte on NXT was one of the best matches of the entire duration of this year. It certainly was. The match had Bret Hart and Ric Flair at ringside and Charlotte won the match following a brilliant display of strength and skill by both women.
A feud with Paige
Such a match was expected in the realm of NXT. NXT has a better divas division than the main roster or rather they have more opportunity and more screen time to showcase their talent than the divas on the main roster do. Paige, after her arrival from NXT has had many short matches.
She has been able to stand out. What has been missing is a good rivalry. Her feud with AJ didn’t exactly set the stage on fire whereas a feud between Charlotte and the 22-year-old should be explored into. It’ll be interesting.
Both of them seem like they’ll have decent in-ring chemistry. Another fact is that they have been the two divas to come out of NXT with a strong screen presence. Charlotte is not as skilled and accomplished a wrestler as Paige, but she has shown some major improvement this year and does some great work when she’s in the ring with a good wrestler.
Takeaways
Charlotte’s arrival will make the divas division much more competitive. She has a certain arrogance in her, which will sit well with the Paige’s ‘don’t care’ attitude. While Paige is an anti-diva and has a badass vibe, Charlotte is apt to be a villain.
Her presence on Raw commanded all of that, even if it was brief. The way she told the referee ‘ I heard you the first time’ when he asked her to calm her offence down or the way she was giving a shout out to Tyson or trash talking to Natalya, displayed her ‘flair’ for drama.
It doesn’t look like she’s going to be a regular on Raw yet. It was just a special move or a cameo for the Slammy Awards. Maybe the management feels that making this moves might get more audiences to watch NXT.
They might have just gotten a few more people to tune into NXT.