Charlotte Flair Is Seemingly Satisfied and Optimistic Despite Losing to Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 39: “I May Have Lost Tonight but…”

Earlier this year, Rhea Ripley lasted for a little over an hour and a minute to win the Women’s Royal Rumble. Entering at number one, the Aussie impressed everyone as she eliminated all her opponents, thus paving a path towards WrestleMania. She, however, still had to choose her opponent at the SoFi Stadium. ‘The Eradicator’ could have either chosen Bianca Belair, the RAW Women’s Champion, or Charlotte Flair, who held the Blue Brand gold.

Ripley challenged The Queen. The decision to challenge the 14x world champion may have turned some heads, but it was not based on recent events. In fact, The Judgement Day member and Flair have been at loggerheads since WrestleMania 36. In a reversal, Ripley, then the NXT Women’s Champion, had challenged Flair after the latter’s Royal Rumble win. Ripley had kept her belt as the wager and eventually lost it to the experienced campaigner.

Three years later, she avenged her loss at “The Grandest Stage of Them All” as she stripped “The Nature Girl” of her SmackDown belt. Meanwhile, Flair sounded optimistic and had a three-word message for her opponent after the loss.

Charlotte Flair says the championship is in good hands

Ric Flair’s daughter showed why she’s called The Queen as she exhibited a large heart after a hard-fought loss. The 36-year-old took to Twitter to leave a special three-word message for the new champion.

Stating that she’s proud of The Nightmare, Charlotte said, “I may have lost tonight, but I know in my heart the championship is in good hands.”

Apart from being a solid gesture, it also highlighted the real-life camaraderie between the two stars. Despite their differences of opinion as gimmicks, both Charlotte and Rhea Ripley have lauded each other on a few occasions.

In a recent episode of A&E Network’s Biography: WWE Legends, Rhea Ripley recounted the similarity in their frames and said it was one of the reasons she could connect with the former SmackDown champion. “She was the one that I gravitated towards… because of the bigger frame,” the 26-year-old said.

Read More: “I Thought Charlotte Flair Died”: Fans Fearful as Charlotte Flair Gets Busted Open After Taking a Nasty Bump at WrestleMania 39 Against Rhea Ripley

Similarly, Charlotte had praised Ripley’s tenacity and mental strength ahead of their April 1 clash.

Is Charlotte Flair taking a break from WWE?

After a near eight-month hiatus, Charlotte Flair returned to SmackDown on December 30, 2022, and made light work of her match against Ronda Rousey to win the belt. While she held onto it for three months, without much resistance, she dropped it to Ripley at WrestleMania.

This could mean two things. Either Charlotte is taking a break, or the WWE wants a younger champion. Considering the second, the RAW belt lies with 33-year-old Bianca Belair. WWE has allowed 41-year-old Asuka to challenge Belair for the title. So, age might not be an issue. If not, could Charlotte take another hiatus from the Stamford-based promotion?

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Do let us know what you think might happen in the next few weeks?