For much of her in-ring career, wrestling fans knew Charlotte Flair as "The Queen," a highly confident and thriving multi-time world champion, prominently featured on WWE TV. Behind the scenes, though, lies Ashley Fliehr, a woman with insecurities just like any human being.During an interview with "Sports Illustrated," Charlotte explained the major differences between her on-screen WWE persona and her real-life self, which she once tried to conceal from the public. "I wanted to create this untouchable woman that, for me, I got to pretend to be," she said. "I'm not as confident as Charlotte in my real life. So when I got to be Charlotte, I could have that like armor. Not having it all together, being vulnerable, not winning all the time. I was hiding when I was going through all those things, but rising from them is what made me better. And bringing that to Charlotte when I thought she had to be like just the best all the time. The individual losses of whether it was losing Mania or in my personal life has just made Charlotte better."Since returning to WWE programming in early 2025, Charlotte has incorporated elements of her true self into her public appearances. On one occasion, Flaircandidly spoke about the feeling of embarrassment that arose following her divorce from former WWE star Andrade. More recently, Charlotte opened up about the guilt of being a second-generation wrestler that haunted her in her early wrestling days.Through her partnership with Alexa Bliss, fans have also gotten to see Charlotte work alongside, rather than against, someone else in the ring. Together, Charlotte and Bliss captured WWE Women's Tag Team Championships at SummerSlam 2025, with a 100-day reign following for them.
"In my eyes when people kept saying that Charlotte Flair, 'She's just a champion,' to me, I'm thinking, yeah, I'm the 14-time women's champion. I redefined an entire generation, and you're telling me that's not enough?" Charlotte continued. "Even though that's all I have thought about every second, every minute, every day was being the best and that's not enough? And now where I am now knowing that I have this unmatched resume, but understanding people just couldn't connect to me because I was holding so much back. So whether that was opening up about being divorced or being embarrassed or being compared to my father or being insecure of whether it's what I look like or how old I am, because unfortunately men seem to get better and women seem to get older."Last month, Charlotte celebrated her 40th birthday. Also in the same month, she and Bliss vied for the Women's Tag Team Championships once more, this time in a fatal-four-way match at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas. There, WWE Hall of Famer Brie Bella and a returning Paige secured the win after the latter blocked a Twisted Bliss, then drove the former "Goddess" into the mat with the Rampaige.Charlotte, the daughter of Hall of Famer Ric Flair, made the jump from personal training to professional wrestling by joining WWE in 2012. Across the next decade, she'd enjoy 14 reigns as a world champion in the company, the latest of which ended at the hands of Rhea Ripley in April 2023. Hopes for a 15th have been put on hold as Charlotte remains in the tag team spotlight alongside Bliss instead.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Sports Illustrated" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
