WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton went to battle with Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 41 and came out on top. Despite the women's war of words prior to the match, where they both reportedly went off-script and Stratton attacked Flair's personal life, referring to her failed marriages, it was actually "The Queen" who inspired Stratton to get in the ring in the first place. The champion has spoke about her admiration for Flair before, and on a recent episode of "The Rich Eisen Show," Stratton said it was her mother who first noticed Flair and pushed her daughter toward WWE.
"I saw wrestling on my TV screen and I was with my family and my mom was actually the person that was pushing me to do this," Stratton said. "She saw Charlotte Flair and she immediately was like, 'You could totally do something like that. That's right up your alley. You can do all the things that she's doing.' I was like, 'Yeah, okay. Whatever, mom.' And then eventually I guess like a year and a half, two years later... I kind of saw it on Instagram and it was starting to gain a lot of popularity and I saw it and I was like 'I'm going to give this a go.'"
Stratton said she found her nearest wrestling school, one operated by Mr. Kennedy, and she signed up and took classes. She explained her mom knew Greg Gagne and reached out to him, and he watched her take her first bump and started coaching her. Stratton credits Gagne with helping her get her WWE tryout.
Stratton pinned Flair clean during her WrestleMania debut, but the match wasn't something the champion ever expected to happen. Stratton explained on the "Rich Eisen Show" that she didn't expect to walk into WrestleMania holding the championship, which she won a few months prior to "The Showcase of the Immortals."Between being in her first-ever main roster title reign and working with Flair at her first-ever WrestleMania, she said there was a lot of pressure.
"I felt like I couldn't relax and enjoy Mania," she said. "I felt like, 'This has to be perfect. I have to perform the best I've ever performed before.' It all worked out in the end and I'm super grateful for everything that happened that week. I learned so much. And I'm still the champion, which is crazy."
Stratton also told the hosts that she thankfully didn't actually chip a tooth during their match. She explained there was just blood in her mouth.
"Everyone thinks it was Chippy Time, but it was not Chippy Time," she laughed.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The RichEisen Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
