Charlotte Flair Explains Her 2022 WWE Absence

Charlotte Flair missed seven months of action from WWE in 2022, and now the SmackDown Women’s Champion has explained exactly why.

Flair had a stellar start to 2022 that included her picking up a win and retaining her SmackDown Women’s Title at WrestleMania 38. One month later at WrestleMania Backlash Ronda Rousey was able to make The Queen say “I Quit” to win that title and send Flair off for seven months.

Charlotte Flair got her revenge on Rousey when she unexpectedly returned on the final SmackDown of 2022 and defeated The Baddest Woman On The Planet to capture championship gold once again.

Flair had planned to marry AEW star Andrade El Idolo during this time but that short spell away grew to missing over half a year from the ring. Speaking to the New York Post, Flair explained that she had no choice but to take care of some dental issues that have plagued her for years and were exacerbated when she had teeth knocked out during a match in 2018:

“I had to. I didn’t have a choice but to take care of these [dental] issues.”

It is noted that Flair could have possibly returned at SummerSlam but with one more procedure to get through, she chose to stay clear of the WWE ring until her comeback in December.

Charlotte Flair also noted that her time away allowed her and her new husband to have some time to themselves without any wrestling or schedule worries:

“Usually I’m thinking, even if I do go to the beach while I’m working I could go for a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, but I’m thinking, ‘what am I doing on TV Friday, where are my live events?’ ” she said. “To completely be disconnected and in the moment was so nice and getting that one-on-one time with Manny [Andrade] that I never have had before, it was priceless.”