Charlotte Flair Trying To “Rattle” Tiffany Stratton

Charlotte Flair has been putting Tiffany Stratton to the test.

At WrestleMania 41, Tiffany Stratton will defend her Women’s Championship against the Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair. However, the athletic contest in the ring is the last thing anyone is talking about.

On April 4, Flair and Stratton went toe-to-toe in a promo segment on SmackDown that went off the rails in spectacular fashion.

Flair appeared to lose control as the crowd turned on her and wouldn’t let her speak, and the two women began trading very personal, unscripted insults. According to one report, the segment was described as a “wreck” backstage and there was heat on both women.

Reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer looked to add more context to the situation and explain why the segment fell apart.

Meltzer began by reiterating that there had been issues between the two women for weeks, and these came to the fore during the pre-recorded side-by-side interview.

Flair and Stratton have had backstage issues for a few weeks. The feeling was in the dual camera segment a few weeks back, that Flair steamrolled her and made her look bad.

The report cited one figure who said Flair was looking to test and rattle her inexperienced opponent as has been the case in the industry for decades.

One person in the company said, “Charlotte has been trying to rattle Tiffany. Standard stuff. Cena does it. Randy does it. Young talent coming up, you put a little heat on them as a test to get them to either sink or swim.

Another person put the blame for the segment’s collapse on Flair who they believe essentially gave up.

Another person said, “Once Charlotte let the fans get to her, that’s where it all fell apart. She gave up and said the line, `Tiffany, you can have the last word,’ because she was done with the fans at that point.”

Charlotte Flair Responds To Fan Criticism

After largely steering clear of the issue, Charlotte Flair finally addressed the segment with Tiffany Stratton, writing that she’d been “blindsided by personal trauma.” She went on to take a shot at the crowd, saying she should never have called them smart.

For her part, Stratton said she thinks she surprised Flair by standing up for herself. The Women’s Champion added that it’s live television and the stakes are high, and no matter what happened fans are now more excited to see their match at WrestleMania.

No matter what may or may not have gone on, there have reportedly been no changes to plans for their match at WrestleMania.