Charlotte Flair Makes Firm Statement On WWE Retirement: “It’s Unfortunate”
The day Charlotte Flair hangs up her wrestling boots will be monumental.
In her last several interviews, she has voluntarily or inadvertently ended up discussing her decade-long run in the business.
Since starting her professional wrestling career in 2013, the second-generation superstar has been a WWE loyalist. While Flair made multiple appearances in WCW, they did not involve her competing.
Charlotte Flair’s transition into a sports entertainer and subsequent rise have been meteoric, considering she never initially aimed to become a wrestler.
She got into the sport only to support her younger brother, Reid Flair, who tragically passed away in 2013. In fact, Flair did not wrestle until she was in her mid-20s.
Charlotte Flair turned 40 on April 5. She is one of the most decorated superstars in the Stamford promotion, having won the WWE Women’s Championship 14 times, 7 times more than her closest competitor, Becky Lynch.
Charlotte Flair Not Thinking About Retirement
Charlotte Flair was a guest recently on Casuals with Katie Nolan, when she was asked if she had started thinking about retirement since she had turned 40.
Flair called the assessment unfortunate and claimed that she was not going to let pressure bottle her down.
It’s unfortunate that those sentences happen because I feel like in my industry, men don’t reach their prime until 40. Because I started late, I didn’t win my first title until I was 30. Where the girls now, which is awesome, a lot of people are in their younger 20s. But I graduated, had my awkward 20s of not knowing what to do, and then wrestling came later in life.
But saying that the men don’t hit their prime till 40, why am I not hitting my prime now? I realize that I think it would be easier for people to label me in that box, but I’m not going to let anyone put me in that box.
I hope women in any profession who are about to turn 40 don’t think that that is a slowdown or an endgame. But if anything – this is whatever industry that you’re in and in sport like Lindsey Vonn did – it’s whatever you are capable of and are willing to do, put in the time. I’m very fortunate. I started out on top.
It might seem like my career is longer, but I just have had the opportunity to be at the top of the game. I’m not gonna say sorry anymore for winning, I’m not gonna age out of my career, I’m gonna quit when I want to quit. I’m gonna lace it up when I want to lace it up.
I do feel like if nobody knew how old I was, and you saw me out in the ring, you wouldn’t look at me with the group of girls and be like, ‘Oh, she’s been here for 10 years, and she’s 40.’ It’s just unfortunate because that’s how society is, and it’s changing slowly, but like 40 has had such a stigma around it, for women not men. What is it? Men get better, women get older? Yeah, no, I’m only getting better.
So what does that make? But I feel like if we don’t let that dialogue sit back there, it’s like no, here’s the thing. It’s new territory. It was new territory when I debuted in 2015, and it’s new territory now. So, I hope I am part of the progress of changing that. [H/T: Fightful]
Also read: Charlotte Flair Gave Incredible Life Advice To Current WWE Champion