Charlotte Flair, daughter of the 16-time world champion and 2-time Hall of Famer Ric Flair, also known as The Queen, today has grown out of her Father’s shadow and is considered one of the best female wrestlers.
She is only the fourth women’s grand slam champion and has won WWE Raw women’s Championship 6 times, WWE smackdown women’s championship 7 times, NXT women’s Championship 2 times and WWE women’s tag team championship alongside Asuka.
But Charlotte is the only female wrestler to win a title no other female wrestler on the current roster has won i.e. the Divas Championship which was last held by Charlotte before it was retired in April of 2016.
Although Charlotte’s career achievements have been well known, her personal life has been more guarded than other WWE superstars. So here are 5 Secrets of Charlotte Flair that you most probably did not know.
Table of Contents
- The Queen’s Early Life:
- Almost Went To Prison:
- Death of Her Brother:
- Love Story With Andrade:
- Married And Divorced Twice Before Andrade:
The Queen’s Early Life:
Ashley Fliehr is the queen’s real name and before she ever stepped into the ring, she had made a name for herself as a dominant volleyball player in her high school and was one of the best volleyball player in all of North Carolina and had won two state championships in 2002 and 2004 and was named the conference 4A player of the year in 2004.
This is not all, Charlotte also did gymnastics, played basketball and was a high school cheerleader. All these skills that she accumulated in her youth would later help her to solidify her career in the WWE.
But what is more surprising about Charlotte’s early life is that she had graduated with a degree in Public relations from North Carolina State University and as like many other college grads she was unsure of what to do with her career and when she graduated in spring of 2008, she began working as a personal trainer as she wondered about what to do next?
Charlotte later said in an interview that she had “no direction” in life before she joined the NXT.
Almost Went To Prison:
This would come as a shocker to many, but the queen would have actually served jail time.
Back in September of 2008, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a fight broke out between the queen, her then boyfriend Riki Johnson and her father Ric Flair in the parking lot of their apartment complex.
When the police arrived they found Ric Flair bloodied and bruised.
Charlotte then resisted arrest by kicking at a police officer and the police then had to use a taser gun to arrest her.
Later, she was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
She then pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 45 days in jail, which was later reduced to supervised probation and a $200 fine.
Ric Flair however, declined to file any charges in the case.
Death of Her Brother:
As the daughter of Ric Flair, one would assume Charlotte Flair would have prepared her whole life to become a WWE Superstar but this is not the case as she explained in a interview that she did not see herself in the same way as the glamorous Divas like Melina and Trish Stratus and was usually intimidated by them while visiting Ric backstage.
But fate had some other plans, Charlotte’s younger brother Reid Flair always had a dream to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Reid and Charlotte were born only 2 years apart and were very close to each other.
Reid eventually became a professional wrestler who had appeared in WCW and wrestled 2 matches between 1998 and 2000. He also wrestled in promotions such as Big Time Wrestling, Northeast Wrestling, NWA Charlotte, and All Japan Pro Wrestling.
However, Reid had a very tough life, as he was arrested on several occasions and had issues with drug use. Unfortunately, on March 29, 2013, Reid was found dead in his hotel room bed at a Residence Inn in Charlotte, North Carolina. An autopsy later revealed that he had an overdose of heroin and prescription drugs in his system.
Reid’s death had a very deep impact on Charlotte and it is after his death that she decided to pursue a career in wrestling to fulfil her brother’s dream and joined WWE’s developmental territory at the time i.e. FCW.
She also has paid tribute to Reid several times during her WWE career and also has a tattoo dedicated to Reid, a large cross that has the years of his life 1988 to 2013 and “Reider” written across it.
Love Story With Andrade:
The story of Andrade and Charlotte Flair began when the two met during a WWE European tour in February 2019. It was the queen who made the first move according to her tweet in 2020. She had asked Karl Andresond to introduce her to Andrade.
After their formal introduction, the duo became friends and had their first date in WWE catering, of all places! Although Andrade was initially hesitant about going on a date with Charlotte as he was intimidated by the Queen’s aura and she was a much bigger star whereas Andrade was still making a name for himself, he later revealed in an interview.
But when the duo went on a date, all his fears were sidelined, as he found her a very nice person, a complete 180 degree from the character she portrays on WWE.
The couple for the first time appeared together at the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, making their relationship known to the public, despite Andrade’s desire to keep it a secret.
Charlotte even wanted to work with Andrade onscreen just like other wwe couples and said in an interview, “I’ve actually pitched that. I would be very much open to that. I’ve done a lot in my career, but nobody has seen me in an on-cam relationship, or in that light. I can come across cold on TV.”
However, this could not be turned into reality as Andrade had later left WWE for AEW in 2021.
The relationship however continued and a year later, after the pandemic had passed, the couple decided to marry on May 27, 2022, a lavish marriage that took place in Mexico at Andrade’s hometown in front of 160 people.
Andrade has also returned to WWE at the 2024 Royal Rumble and for the first time in years the couple is back together in the company, so maybe fans will get to see the two on-screen sometime in the near future.
Also Read: 5 Rhea Ripley’s Surprising Secrets that You Didn’t Knew!?
Married And Divorced Twice Before Andrade:
Charlotte seems to be challenging Ric in every aspect from world title reigns to the number of marriages. Ric has been married five times and Charlotte has married thrice till date.
She first married Riki Johnson in May of 2010, Yes the same Riki that had a fight with Ric Flair back in 2008 which left him bloodied, but the marriage lasted only a few years, as the couple was divorced in February of 2013.
In second Nature, a joint biography of her and her father released in late 2017, she revealed her marriage with Johnson was filled with verbal and physical abuse.
Charlotte revealed in a interview in September of 2017, “Riki was the hardest to write about and If you would have talked to me six months ago, I probably wouldn’t have gotten through the interview without crying.”
Riki however in october of 2018, sued Charlotte, Ric flair and the WWE for defamatory comments in the book, a suit which was later settled for an undisclosed amount.
Charlotte then met Kenneth Cameron, a british wrestler whose real name was Thomas Latimer in NXT and the couple married in 2013.
Cameron however was released from NXT, after being slapped with battery and intoxication charges. The couple had to then continue in a long distance relationship, as Charlotte was coming into her own in the NXT women’s division, while Cameron would tour the independent circuit and join the TNA roster under the new name Bram.
However on August 30 of 2015, local police in Gulfport, Florida would arrest Bram after a woman who claimed to be his girlfriend filed a domestic abuse complaint against him.
Bram was then charged with two felony charges i.e. domestic battery and false imprisonment. As a result TNA suspended Bram indefinitely.
The charges against Charlotte’s second husband were dropped in October 2015, but that same month, their marriage came to an end.
But as they say, third time’s the charm, so maybe this time the queen has found herself a soulmate in Andrade and so far the marriage has worked out great and the couple seems genuinely happy when they are around each other and I hope they continue to remain so in the future.