by Ric Flair
A few weeks later, Tom and I officially went our separate ways. I shook his hand and said, “Thank you for giving me my life back. Thank you for being there for me when my brother died and for teaching me so much about wrestling.” I felt like I had lost my best friend, but distance and recognizing that I wasn’t happy with things—and being strong enough to end it—were the best things I had ever done.
I had to rid myself of the mind-set that someone else or someone else’s perceptions of me would make me happy. I had to make myself happy first. If this was really my dream, I had to focus on myself. It was time for me to focus on me.
I moved out that morning. That night, I was in a tag team match with Bayley against Emma and Dana Brooke.
About a week later, I heard from Hunter. He wanted to check in to see how I was doing. He offered to help in any way he could.
He found out that my dad put his Hall of Fame ring on Reider’s finger during his funeral services. A couple of months later, he sent my dad another Hall of Fame ring. He’s always been there for me and my family. And it’s not just us.
So many times, I’ve seen him go out of his way to help people. It’s not for the cameras or a promotional appearance or a business function. For all the times people have asked him for help, I’ve seen even more instances when he’s not asked; Hunter senses that someone might be going through something, or he sees that something has happened professionally or personally, and he reaches out.
Sometimes things happen when you least expect it. One of my favorite classes at the Performance Center was Terry Taylor’s class. I learned so much about crowd psychology and the way to build a story. I was reviewing notes from that day’s class when I received the news: the time had come—I was being called up to the main roster!
I didn’t know all the details. I knew I’d be debuting on Raw in Atlanta, Georgia, and that I’d find out more when I got there. There were a lot of questions. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wouldn’t be going to Raw alone.
After a lifetime of being backstage with my dad at wrestling shows and backstage at Raw over the last fourteen years, I was still nervous. I wasn’t there as a guest. Now I was making my WWE debut.
The idea was that Becky, Sasha, and I would debut together in a segment opposing Team Bella, which consisted of WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and Alicia Fox. Becky and I were aligned with Paige as “good guys.” We became known as Team PCB. Sasha joined Naomi and Tamina to make up Team B.A.D.
I was a bit concerned that I’d debut as a “good guy,” because my character was created to be the supervillain. The NXT fans cheered for me because they had seen me develop and they respected me, which meant so much, but they didn’t love the Charlotte character. I wasn’t sure the WWE audience would find her appealing either.
My main concern was not debuting individually. I had dropped the NXT title in the Fatal 4-Way five months prior. Then Sasha and I had the great match at NXT San Jose. I became a “good guy” for that program with her, but after that, I felt I had lost momentum.
The idea for this debut sounded exciting. Being moments away from making my entrance, I was reminded that someone was missing: it was Bayley.
I felt for Bayley. The Four Horsewomen did it together; I felt that she should have been with us. I knew she was going to lead NXT and continue to evolve, but I wanted her to be a part of that night too.
My heart raced as I watched the segment from the monitor. Stephanie McMahon led the way on the microphone and introduced us one by one. I really felt like I had finally made it!
Once my music hit and I walked to the ring, I was overcome with the energy and electricity of the moment. I felt that the audience was ready for it, and so was I.
As the crowd chanted, “This is awesome!” Team Bella was surrounded. The battle lines were drawn. All the anxiety of making my debut and the self-doubt took its toll. This moment was proof that it was happening at the right time.
After more than a nine-minute debut segment on Monday Night Raw, the women from NXT emerged from a furious exchange in the ring and put the famous Team Bella into our respective submission moves.
The revolution made its way to WWE and kicked the door down. It was our time.3
In front of the cameras, we challenged Team Bella’s glamorous triumvirate. Coming into WWE as rookies and developing a rapport with everyone, well, that was a different matter.
Before I debuted, someone called to tell me that I was being talked about negatively in the locker room. Forewarned is forearmed. I realized I had an uphill climb ahead.
After I debuted, a few people on the roster told me that my reputation in the locker room wasn’t the best (no surprise). I figured, That’s the way it goes when you’re new. You have to give people time. In this profession, some people feel that new talent coming in is a threat to their position on the roster. Other performers are excited to have the opportunity to work with new people.
I knew that to people who didn’t know me, sometimes I may have come across as a bit of a snob because I was quiet. That’s because away from the cameras, I’m a shy person. I was also from a different roster of women. I knew that I just needed the opportunity to show my work ethic and let people see that I was a team player. Of course, I wanted to be in the title picture—who doesn’t? But I wasn’t going to be selfish or high maintenance. I just needed some time.
The women of NXT were given the platform to display their talents in a prominent way. The WWE Divas fought for those opportunities, but they weren’t there. On an episode of Raw, there was a tag match that featured Paige and Emma versus the Bellas. The match ended in thirty seconds. The hashtag #GiveDivasAChance became the top-trended hashtag on social media for several days. That’s what they dealt with every week. It was natural that there was some tension in the beginning.
I learned that because I was Ric Flair’s daughter, it wasn’t easy to reverse preconceived notions about me in the locker room. As the daughter of the Nature Boy, it was even harder dealing with criticism from the fans in the ring.
Another adjustment was the travel schedule. There was a real comfort level in the structure and regimen of the Performance Center. The WWE main roster was a whole different beast. I took for granted that, until NXT traveled out of Florida for events, we were in our own beds every night. We didn’t have to work on Sundays, plus we had two weeks off for Christmas, and other holidays too.
I didn’t know enough to value being developmental talent and having NXT pay for tour buses, hotel rooms, and catered food.
On the main roster, you sink or swim. WWE is a machine that runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You either move with it or it moves without you.
My itinerary was something like this:
• Fly out Friday morning
• Land at the airport
• Rent a car
• Find a gym
• Find a grocery store
• Pray that grocery store is a Whole Foods
• Make it to the arena by call time
• Work the event
• Drive to the next town
• Check into the hotel
• Wake up
• Work out
• Work the event
• Fly home Wednesday
• Repeat
That didn’t include promotional appearances, photo and video shoots backstage at the venue, and press interviews.
For Raw and SmackDown, call time is 1:00 p.m. You’re in a different city every night. We also finished up working in NXT. It was a grind, but there was something about it I loved.
For me, dieting was the hardest part because I was such a strict eater in NXT. I maintained that but learned to live a little!
What I was most thankful for during this time was that Becky was my travel partner. We navigated the main roster as well as the highways and byways of the United States together. We trained together and worked on honing our skills. Becky was the Thelma to my Louise. Getting
used to the schedule was the most difficult part of the debut. And we didn’t want to just debut; we wanted to make a difference.
In front of the cameras, I adjusted to being a part of Team PCB. We had singles, tag team, and six-person matches against variations of Team Bella and Team B.A.D. members. I didn’t feel that I could lead a match the way I did in NXT. I didn’t have Coach Sara and Norman Smiley. I knew the producers, but I had to start over to build that rapport and level of trust.
I felt a little out of place because Paige was a huge star with a great fan following. Becky came into her own as a hero. The fans adored her quirky wit, natural charm, and steampunk edge. Both women were phenomenal in the ring. I was Ric Flair’s daughter who called herself genetically superior. That’s so arrogant! I knew the company saw the bigger picture. I just felt out of place.
The way things progressed on TV, I emerged as the challenger to Nikki’s Divas Championship.
Nikki was great from the moment we started working together. The members of Team Bella, as performers, debuted in WWE when the company was removed from competitive matches that Trish Stratus and Lita had, but before the company went to a PG rating, so the Divas were doing more provocative things on WWE programming. They only had a couple of minutes in the ring. The matches were not competitive. What the company had envisioned for female talent was different.
The women on the main roster wanted to go into that ring when the bell rang just like we did! All of a sudden, there were three NXT girls who were thrust into the spotlight. While they fought for opportunities to show what they could do in the ring, Nikki evolved into a top villain.
Until about a week before Night of Champions, I wasn’t sure who would be the new Divas Champion.
Before the pay-per-view, I had a title match on Raw against Nikki. The Bellas performed their classic Twin Magic—where one Bella rolls out of the ring and the other rolls inside it. In the story line, I thought I pinned Nikki when I pinned Brie. The crowd went wild when they thought I was the new champion and Nikki wouldn’t become the longest-reigning Divas Champion in WWE history. The story continued …
To make people detest Nikki even more, Stephanie McMahon announced that I couldn’t win the title by pinning someone who wasn’t the champion, and when Brie Bella touched me, it was considered outside interference. I won by disqualification, but I didn’t win the championship.
Stephanie announced that my rematch was set for that Sunday’s Night of Champions pay-per-view.
The day of the event, Becky drove us to the building. I wasn’t sure how things were going to go.
Preparing for my first WWE championship match on a pay-per-view created an emotional day. Two of the most important people who believed in me and who were part of my journey to WWE weren’t there.
I thought of my brother. I wondered if he could see me wrestle. My mom told me that she and Reider watched one of my first FCW matches online before he went to Japan. I don’t count that. I wanted him there with me. I’m here because of him.
I was reminded of Dusty, who passed away three months before. I wondered what he’d say to me on the phone, me calling from the hotel in Houston and him speaking from his office at the Performance Center.
I didn’t know who my character was. Why would the company choose me? Becky thrived in PCB and became the ultimate hero. Sasha had come off her two biggest matches thus far in NXT: dropping the title to Bayley in an all-time classic at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn that August; followed by her Women’s Iron Man Match with Bayley. Becky and Sasha had a ton of momentum. I felt like I was just Charlotte, Ric Flair’s athletic, blond daughter. I didn’t have any equity as a character.
When I won the Divas title, I didn’t feel ready. I remember standing in the ring with it, proud of the moment and what it meant to me personally. I pointed up at Reider. As a talent, I didn’t feel like a star. I didn’t exude confidence.
Sasha was angry that she was not in the match with Nikki and that she was not leaving Night of Champions as the Divas Champion. At that point, Sasha was so good, she didn’t need the championship. I needed it to elevate my persona. I felt that Sasha didn’t understand that. Instead, she believed that the only reason I was in the match was because I was Ric Flair’s daughter.
I didn’t understand how she couldn’t see that winning the championship elevated my character. Then we could have the high-quality matches we were known for, and she would win the title in grand fashion.
Nikki was a star. When Nikki Bella walked through that curtain, she owned the camera. If I was going to pick up where the longest-reigning Divas Champion in history left off, I needed that level of confidence to walk through the curtain.
I learned a great deal from Nikki, especially about the importance of presentation and the overall picture. By the time our rematch happened at Hell in a Cell, we had a strong working relationship. I felt like I had earned her respect. It was a good feeling.
The importance of my character really hit me when my music played in Atlanta for my match against Paige at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. I was the “good guy,” and she was the villain.
The arena that had roared for me when I debuted there four months before was now resonating with boos. Just walking to the ring felt like an uphill battle. I kept second-guessing myself. What was right? What was wrong? The one thing I took away from that night was that the audience had a response. I had to go with it.4
After two months together, Team PCB splintered.
About a week before the TLC pay-per-view, I got news that put me in a state of shock: the company was pairing me with my dad full-time!5
My mind started racing. I didn’t think of it as, Oh, great! I get to work with my dad. I thought, Oh no! I’m working with my dad? I thought the title was supposed to help me develop! How am I supposed to make a name for myself? How can I match his skills on the microphone? How can I compete with his legacy?
I had just started my WWE career. Was I going to have less TV time? Would I have less time on the microphone? It was another pivotal moment for me.
The company felt that pairing us together would help the audience relate to me as a “good guy.” Fans would embrace the father-daughter relationship. But that didn’t happen.
It was sink or swim. I wanted to rise to the challenge and see what obnoxious, arrogant, and despicable places I could take my character.
I was disappointed that someone like Sasha made posts on social media about being held back, implying that I had my position because of my dad. It was similar to what happened after I became the NXT Women’s Champion. Her anger about the company’s decision was projected onto me.
I turned the negativity into something I could use on the air. I transformed what people said about me into material and created the type of villain I wanted to be.
Going into December, my character started to enjoy taking shortcuts. Since I’m recognized as the daughter of the Dirtiest Player in the Game, this was a natural progression for my character.
My on-air friendship with Becky hung by a thread. During a match, I “faked” a leg injury. My dad distracted Becky, and I picked up the win. The crowd was disgusted. It was wonderful!
During Raw’s first episode of 2016, Becky and I solidified my villainy. In the match, when Becky let her guard down, I took advantage with a chop or right-hand strike. Of course, my dad did his part and hooked Becky’s leg when she came off the ropes.
When Becky rolled me up and held my tights for the victory, I got a taste of my own medicine, and I didn’t like it. I assaulted her from behind. I hit Becky with my spear, and the boos bounced off the rafters.
At the Royal Rumble, there was a surprise. Sasha returned to WWE programming. To commemorate the occasion, the idea was for her to attack me after the match. Who would be my opponent at WrestleMania?
Sasha and Becky competed in a number-one contender’s match. The first match ended with a double pin. No winner. The rematch ended when I interfered in the match. That meant the only
way this could be settled was in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania.
While Becky and I pummeled each other in front of audiences, away from the ring, we were attached at the hip.
From traveling in PCB to our series of matches with one another, I learned to have fun while traveling with my partner in crime. I think the hardest part of this job is dealing with the travel. Finding someone you are compatible with on the road makes all the difference. We followed the same routine, and it worked. We always promised each other if one of us changed, we would call the other out and make sure she came back to earth.
Becky taught me so much as a friend and as a wrestler. I say it all the time, but she is that good a person. The run we had on live events in single matches turned out to be some of my favorite performances. We were finally getting into a rhythm, and everything was clicking. Having the opportunity to work with Becky those months leading up to WrestleMania dramatically impacted my development as a performer.
The work my dad and I did together really took off. It reached a point where the fans booed us when my music hit—when I wasn’t even in sight!
Every Monday and Tuesday morning, he’d ordered room service for me in the hotel: a six-egg-white omelet with vegetables. If Becky was riding with us, he ordered one for her one too. My dad knows I like to train and get sleep. He never tried to change my schedule. I think he wished I would relax more, but my mother told me he could never sit still either.
My dad and I had some laughs too. In a match one night, there was a point where he was supposed to take off the turnbuckle pad. The match was due to end when I drove my opponent into it. I hit my head on the post before that point. Instead of taking off the pad, he walked around the ring and checked on me. I said, “Why are you here? What are you doing? You have to take off the turnbuckle pad!”6
During my match with Paige in Germany, I looked at my dad at ringside. He had a huge smile on his face. And he was wooooing at random. He just loved being in my corner. He couldn’t have been prouder or been having more fun.