Charlotte Flair was devastated when she injured her knee last year, but it’s ended up being a “mixed blessing.”
In a match against Asuka on WWE SmackDown in December 2023, Charlotte suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus. It’s now been 10 months since Charlotte last wrestled. She underwent surgery this January to repair the injury.
While being interviewed on the Forever Young Podcast, Charlotte joked that she thought her life was over when the injury happened. But, while it’s been a challenge, the injury has also provided Charlotte a moment to take some time off and figure out how she can improve for the long run.
“When it first happened, I thought my life was over [laughs]. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, a perfect storm.’ Like, my husband [Andrade] had just come back to the company — or was on his way back, I knew he was going to be debuting soon. From the moment I was taken out, I just have kept telling myself that I’m going to come back the best version of the Queen when I do come back,” Charlotte said.
“You never like to be sidelined due to an injury, but then again, I’m not sure if I would have ever sidelined myself had it not been for the injury. So it’s been a challenge, but a challenge I know that’s going to make me better in the long run. Because I’ve had the opportunity over these — I think it’s been like nine, eight months now — to go back and see things that I would have done over, what can I do over, look at the landscape of the division, try to figure out where I can add character layers when I come back. And I think the biggest struggle for me mentally is I’ve never not been able to rely on my athleticism. Where I might not be the best on the mic or a certain look, I’ve always been so proud of how physical I am. And not having that feel 100 percent has been an adjustment for me. Where before I know the girls respected me for being tough and, you know, not being injured. And when this happened I was like, ‘[gasps] I can be injured.’ So it really — it’s been a mixed blessing. For me, it feels very vulnerable, but I know that in the long run it’s going to be better for me.”
When asked how far away she is from returning, Charlotte played coy and wouldn’t answer.
“Oh, I can’t give that up,” she responded. “I still have to wait for people to be surprised.”
Charlotte’s husband Andrade is currently on the SmackDown roster and feuding with Carmelo Hayes. Charlotte told the Forever Young Podcast that Andrade is doing “really well” on the road.
Charlotte Flair has posted a response on social media after Perez mentioned the multi-time Women’s Champion in her promo on Tuesday’s WWE NXT.
In a segment to set up her title defense against Thea Hail at this year’s WWE NXT Great American Bash TV special, Perez noted that she was not competing with anyone in the current NXT locker room, but rather competing with those in the history books.
Perez said that Flair had her first televised match 13 years ago, and went on to become a 14-time Women’s Champion in WWE.
Flair responded:
You almost had it right. It’s been 11. But thank you! I really do have the best fans.
Keep doing your thing. We will meet in the ring one day—I’m sure of it.
#WWENXT
Flair is currently out of action after suffering a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus in a match against Asuka on the December 8, 2023 episode of WWE SmackDown.
You almost had it right. It’s been 11. But thank you! I really do have the best fans. 🫶🏻
– Regarding the AEW rating, which is a huge story, my front page story goes through it in depth and I talked a lot about it, as well as news of the week, Willie Mays, WWE, Fantastica Mania, SummerSlam, Who Killed WCW?, and more with Garrett Gonzales on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio. Bryan and I will be back Sunday night.
WWE sets gate record at Clash at the Castle, as well as a look at other metrics
Running down the news of the show
The Drew McIntyre angle
A look at the next two PPVs
What the other metrics tell us about the interest level for Clash
Why the Cung Le lawsuit that was thought to be settled hasn’t been ratified
What worried the Judge
What worries the lawyers on both sides
The real world and real life issues regarding the settlement
Update on Forbidden Door, All In and the Owen Hart tournament
Kevin Kelly talks suing AEW
The G1 Climax tournament
Key news notes on the tournament
Review of TripleMania in Tijuana
A look at this week’s episode of Who Killed WCW
The most detailed look at the ratings this past week for all the shows, quarters, competition and placings
CMLL Anniversary show note
Mistico anniversary week notes
Former WWE star now agent for AAA
Update on Giulia, Marigold and WWE
Notes on the death of one of Argentina’s top stars from the heyday
Shocker rehab notes
More on the shooting involving Shannon Ritch
Life of James Castle
TNA PPV rundown
AEW’s new Triller deal
Details on the Shane McMahon story going around
Attendance advances for all the upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Streaming numbers for the week
International ratings
Update on McGregor vs. Chandler
Thoughts on Jake Paul’s next fight
New Wyatt Sicks news
Injury updates
Timeline of Hulk Hogan coming to WWF from AWA
– A lot of people have talked about the Kendrick Lamar concert on Wednesday and AEW numbers. Like all things, it was a factor. The concert was the largest musical audience in the history of Amazon. What that means with viewers, well, that information hasn’t been released.
– In today’s Observer and on Wednesday’s show when we talked about the Triller deal for AEW historical PPVs and how that would affect or come about because of how media rights negotiations would be going, we’re told they are different situations. AEW PPV shows from the past have always been available through Bleacher Report, but were not marketed well. Since AEW has added many other places carrying the PPVs, including Triller, they are marketing the old shows on Triller. It’s not giving away rights while in negotiations that could include archival content. The reality is those rights can still be part of negotiations since none of that would go into effect until 2025 anyway.
– More on the story of Indianapolis bidding for major WWE events. Some expect the deal to be announced as soon as Monday if possible but this story in the Indianapolis Business Journal indicates the deal isn’t officially finalized yet. Based on a number of WWE sources, this story is accurate.
– The idea of a major fourth NBA package that TNT would get appears to be dead. TNT getting the NBA isn’t 100% dead, but that news makes it less likely.
– Teila Tuli, who lost to Gerard Gordeau in the first-ever UFC PPV fight in 1993, passed away yesterday at the age of 56. Tuli famously got his tooth knocked out by a kick from Gordeau in immediately and the fight was stopped at :28. The 400 pound former Japanese sumo star from Hawaii, who trained for pro wrestling under Tatsumi Fujinami, never fought again. He changed his name to Taylor Wily and became an actor, with a role in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall and was a regular on Hawaii Five-O as Kamekona Tupola and also played the same role as his Five-O character on several episodes of Magnum P.I. and MacGyver.
– UFC debuts in Saudi Arabia with no women’s fights tomorrow.
Noon Eastern on ESPN
Xiao Long (136) vs Chang Ho Lee (136)
Magomed Gadzhlyasulov (205) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (205)
Kyung Ho Kang (136) vs. Muin Gafurv (136)
Rinat Fakhretdinov (170.5) vs. Nicolas Dalby (171)
Muhammad Naimov (145.5) vs. Felipe Lima (145.5)
Nasrat Haqparast (156) vs. Jared Gordon (156)
ABC at 3 p.m. Eastern
Johnny Walker (206) vs. Volkhan Oezdemir (206)
Shara Magomedov (185.5) vs. Antonio Trocoli (185.5)
Kelvin Gastelum (184.5) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (184)
Sergei Pavlovich (260) vs. Alexander Volkov (258)
Robert Whittaker (186) vs . Ikram Aliskerov (184)
– Fantastica Mania is tonight in Mexico City with Mistico vs. Hiromu Takahashi on top. Mercedes Mone will be at ringside watching the Stephanie Vaquer vs Catalina match for the New Japan Strong women’s title. Three guesses who is winning that one.
– Reader Neil Trama noted to us that the ad for last night’s AEW show in Allentown, PA, listed photos of Kris Statlander, Jay White and Bryan Danielson the largest as well as Pac, Daniel Garcia, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale, Malakai Black and Penta. The only one who wrestled on the show from that list was Black.
– Arena Coliseo in Mexico City tomorrow has the Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hechicero dream match plus Mistico & Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Volador Jr., along with Rocky Romero vs. Angel de Oro.
– Monday in Puebla has Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Romero & Ishimori, Hiromu Takahashi vs. Templario, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Virus and Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Neon for the Mexican national middleweight title.
– CMLL announced the first week of Leyenda de Plata on 7/12 with Volador Jr., Mascara Dorada, Flip Gordon, Angel de Oro, Brillante Jr., Futuro, Villano III Jr., and Stigma.
– The Collision main event of Kazuchika Okada vs. Ultimo Guerrero was a total mess according to multiple people who saw it. Guerrero, who lost his mask ten years ago to Atlantis in a very famous match, found out that AEW had promoted him with a mask. He hadn’t brought one. So they had to scramble to find one and ended up with one that kept falling off during the match. We were told it was very lucky this didn’t air live. (thanks to The Cubs Fan)
– Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT
Private Party vs. Komander & Metalik
Shingo Takagi vs. AR Fox
Rey Fenix vs. Turbo Floyd
Serena Deeb vs. Willow Nightingale in the Owen Hart Cup tournament
– PFL is tonight on ESPN at 9 p.m. Eastern with matches in the lightweight and light heavyweight tournaments
Antonio Carlos Jr. vs. Alex Polizzi (light heavyweight)
Doviet Yagshimuradov vs. Simon Biyong (light heavyweight)
Rob Wilkinson vs. Josh Silveira (light heavyweight)
Patricky Pitbull Freire vs. Bruno Miranda (lightweight)
Impa Kasanganay vs. Jakob Nedoh (light heavyweight)
Clay Collard vs. Mads Burnell (lightweight)
– The start of the G-1 Climax qualifier tournament is tomorrow morning US time from Fukushima with Callum Newman vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Chase Owens
– Matt Riddle is scheduled to face El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. in the main event of AAA’s TV taping tomorrow at Juan de la Barrera Gym. Riddle suffered a concussion last week and we haven’t heard anything about him in a few days.
– Nic Nemeth makes his first defense of the AAA Mega title tomorrow, but in Puerto Rico against Eddie “Primo” Colon, not in AAA.
– People were raving about the Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson 2/3 fall match that aired on ROH television last night. Also heard good things about the Mark Briscoe ROH title defense against Fletcher that was taped last night in Allentown, PA presumably for this coming Thursday’s show.
– Charlotte Flair has started rehabbing her knee and she’s ahead of schedule as far as her quad strength in the knee she had surgery on.
– Bellator on MAX tomorrow at Noon Eastern time from Dublin:
Darragh Kelly (155.7) vs. Mathas Poiron (155.1)
Norbert Novenyl (185.8) vs. Dalton Rosta (185.1)
Sinead Kavanagh (146.0) vs. Arlene Blencowe (145.4)
Paul Hughes (155.7) vs. Bobby King (156.0)
Jason Jackson (169.9) vs. Ramazan Kuramegomedov (169.8) for the welterweight title
Rosta appeared on many episodes of Dynamite a few years back when they were doing the Dan Lambert angle.
– Roman Dolidze replaces Carlos Ulberg to face Anthony Smith on the 6/29 UFC 303 PPV from Las Vegas. Dolidze’s name was expected but it wasn’t officially announced until today.
– MLW is doing a Minoru Suzuki Meet and Greet before the 7/12 show at the St. Petersburg Coliseum at 6 pm.
– Insane Wrestling Revolution from last night in Monroe, MI: Ace Austin b Zeeko, Dub Club b Alienated Youth, Mila Moore b Kayla Kassidy, Silas Young b Jake Something, Buckeye Sam b ?, Jason Hotch b Madman Fulton to keep the US title Death Threat Army b Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel, Thom Latimer & Sam Beale b Eh Team Special Forces, Monsters of Destruction over Fear & Loathing Saint brothers and Gold Standard, Rhino b Steve Maclin to keep IWR title. Next show is the Insane Rumble on 8/1 with Danhausen announced.
Charlotte Flair has landed a role in an upcoming horror film.
Flair has been cast in the film “You Lose, You Die,” which is currently in preproduction. The movie was written by Carlos “Spiff TV” Suarez, who will also make his directorial debut.
The film follows a “sociopathic tech expert” named Mr. Fantastik (played by Freddie Rodriguez) who runs a popular game show on the dark web along with Ms. Perfect (played by Flair) and Mr. Creep (Anthony Alvarez). The game show involves prisoners competing in challenges with the stipulation that if they lose, they die.
Flair made her film debut in 2017’s Psych: The Movie as Heather Rockrear. She also appeared as herself in an episode of Punky Brewster in 2021.
“I’m excited to embark on this new journey as Executive Producer and star of You Lose You Die and help bring such a talented artist like Carlos ‘Spiff TV’ Suarez’s vision to life,” Rodriguez said to Deadline. “I was humbled by the outpouring of love and support after working with Robert Rodriguez on Planet Terror and Scott Derrickson on VHS 85, so the decision to dive back into the elevated horror genre comes with a deep level of respect for its rabid and loyal fan base.”
Flair suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus during a match against Asuka in December. She had surgery in January and, at the time, it was expected she would miss about nine months.
After a fallout in their friendship, things are better now between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.
That fallout included Lynch and Charlotte getting into a legitimate backstage confrontation after a title swap segment on SmackDown in October 2021. They haven’t wrestled one-on-one since November of that year, but Lynch and Charlotte worked together again as teammates at Survivor Series this past November.
During an appearance on the Cheap Heat podcast to promote her upcoming memoir, Lynch said she “absolutely” addressed her friendship with Charlotte in the book and wrote about the ups and downs they’ve had.
Lynch responded when asked how things are between the two now and how it was working with Charlotte in WWE again:
I think, good. And look, I think in writing this book, at no point, and certainly did not intend to in any way be disparaging against her, and I don’t think I have. I think I’m fair in trying to give her perspective and things. Because I don’t think it’s fair to completely bury somebody in a book, especially in a world that is so subjective, because they don’t have the opportunity to defend themselves. So I talk about our fallouts, but I at least tried to paint it from her perspective as well as from my own.
And working together, yeah, it was easy because I think the undercurrent of all of it, fallouts and all, is love. You get more upset by somebody hurting you if you’ve loved them – or you do love them – than from somebody that you had no relationship with at all. And that is the thing with Charlotte. We were best friends. We were like sisters. Then we fell out, wrestling came between us, then we came back together, then there was the notorious fallout with the titles. But I think throughout all of that, if she ever needed anything, I’d be there for her. And I think if I ever needed anything, she’d be there for me. And I think that trumps all. I think life is too short to hold these animosities for too long. And I think if you hold them too long, they weigh down on you.
There’s just no point in that. We’ve lost some people in the last year, in the last few years, and it just reminds you how precious this life is and how special this thing that we’re doing is. We can have those disagreements. We can have those conflicts and rivalries, and we can not always see eye to eye in business, and that’s what makes business better when people feel like it’s real, but at the end of the day, you got to remind yourself what’s important.
Lynch said her facing Charlotte again is something WWE can always go back to and it will always be good. With it having been so long since Lynch and Charlotte have wrestled each other, Lynch thinks fans would be excited to see what would happen.
Lynch recently named Charlotte and Bianca Belair as her two in-ring soulmates (the opponents she could wrestle and work with forever).
Charlotte tore her ACL, MCL, and meniscus on SmackDown in December 2023. She then underwent knee surgery this January. When Charlotte suffered the injury, WWE stated that she would be out of action for nine months.
Lynch’s memoir, “Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl,” is being released next Tuesday (March 26). Not long after that, Lynch will challenge Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania 40.
Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair are two people who Becky Lynch could wrestle over and over.
During a book signing for Premiere Collectibles, Lynch was asked who her in-ring soulmates are, meaning opponents she could wrestle and work with forever. Lynch responded by naming Charlotte and Belair. Lynch also mentioned that she’s enjoyed working with Nia Jax lately.
The very cool thing about that is I think there’s several. You know, I think Charlotte and I obviously have an undeniable chemistry and an undeniable history. And I think no matter how many times myself and Charlotte have wrestled, I think people are always going to want to see more. And another is Bianca Belair. She’s fabulous. I love stepping in the ring with her. Every time we do, I feel like there’s a little bit of magic that happens.
And so, there’s a couple. There’s a couple. I’ve loved beating the bejesus out of Nia Jax also. I’ve loved it. I’ve loved it. I loved leg-dropping her through an announce table on Monday Night Raw, that was fun.
The main event of Raw this Monday saw Lynch defeat Jax in a Last Woman Standing match. It wrapped up Lynch’s feud with Jax on the road to WrestleMania 40. At WrestleMania, Lynch is challenging Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship.
Belair was Lynch’s opponent at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. She defeated Lynch to win the Raw Women’s Championship.
Lynch and Charlotte have a long history together as both friends and rivals.
Lynch’s memoir, “Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl,” is set to be released next Tuesday (March 26).
Charlotte Flair says she’s ahead of schedule in her recovery.
Flair appeared on CNBC ‘Power Lunch’ on Monday to discuss her recent success in a stock market competition. During the discussion, she was also asked about her recovery from knee surgery.
Flair said:
I’m six weeks out Thursday. I’m ahead of schedule and every day all I can think about is returning back to the ring, especially with all the excitement of The Rock, going to Netflix, WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, all I can think about is getting back and winning that number 15.
Flair suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus in a match against Asuka on December 8. In early January, Flair confirmed that she underwent surgery in Birmingham, Alabama. She is expected to be out of action for nine months.
She continued:
Netflix has 250 million subscribers, so it’s only going to make WWE’s content more popular and WWE has always been revolutionary in whether it’s Raw, SmackDown, or pay-per-view schedule.
And the Rock coming back, bringing more eyes to the product. I think sports entertainment is on a rise right now and it’s just getting more and more popular every year. I think Netflix is going to be huge for everyone involved within the WWE from talent to creative to everyone who works with the programming.
WWE star Charlotte Flair has undergone surgery for the knee injury that she suffered near the end of 2023.
Charlotte suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus while facing Asuka on the December 8 episode of SmackDown. It’s expected that the injury will keep Charlotte out of action for nine months.
On Thursday night, Charlotte posted a message on social media to her family, friends, and fans. Charlotte confirmed that she underwent surgery in Birmingham, Alabama. She thanked everyone who has supported her during her injury.
Charlotte wrote that the injury was a huge blow to her emotionally, but she’s trying to stay positive. Charlotte promised to work as hard as possible over the next nine months so she can come back as the best version of herself that we’ve ever seen.
Charlotte also reflected on the year that she had in 2023, writing that it was the first time in her career that she felt comfortable in her own boots as a babyface. Charlotte thanked the SmackDown locker room and said she’ll be rooting for them from the sidelines while out injured.
Her full message can be read below:
Family, Friends & Fans,
THANK YOU for all the positive, beautiful messages & flowers. I feel supported in every way. It has taken me a few days and many MANY tears to wrap my head around everything. I happen to be an expert in overthinking and this is the first time I’ve ever been truly scared. Scared of the unknown but also feeling like I’m losing what I’m most proud of and that’s being an athlete. I don’t like showing physical weakness and this has left me feeling exposed. A process I know I will grow from but a very new one to me. This was a huge blow to me mentally and obviously physically going into 2024. 2023 was a rollercoaster and I am trying to stay positive and maybe this was the only way to stop, refocus, rebuild & eventually conquer again.
I can’t thank this year’s Smackdown locker-room enough. I enjoyed every second and will be rooting from the sidelines.
I have been a bad guy for most of my career but this year was different for me. I CHERISHED every hug, high-five and fist pump this year at live events and for the first time in my career felt comfortable in my own boots being the good guy. I learned so much as a performer and plan on starting right where I left off.
I promise I am going to work 24/7 over the next nine months to come back the best version of the Queen you’ve ever seen.
‘Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.’
Climbing my own mountain will be my greatest test yet.
Thank you for all the love
Here is to 2024.
Love,
Ashley
Aka Charlotte
After her injury, Charlotte showed up at a CMLL Arena Mexico show on December 22 to support her husband Andrade El Idolo. Andrade’s AEW contract expired at the end of 2023. He’s expected to be on his way back to WWE.
It was confirmed in December that Charlotte signed a new WWE contract several months ago. The deal was said to be for a huge money increase.
Though a knee injury is keeping her out of action for the next several months, WWE star Charlotte Flair was in attendance at Arena Mexico on Friday to support her husband Andrade El Idolo.
Charlotte sat in the front row for Andrade’s match in Mexico City on Friday night. She was seen arriving on crutches due to the torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus that she suffered on the December 8 episode of SmackDown.
#ViernesEspectacularCMLL | Visita especial para Andrade El Idolo! Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr está presente en la primera fila de La Catedral de la Lucha Libre.
Andrade, Espanto Jr. & Brillante Jr. defeated Volador Jr., Magnus & Magia Blanca at the CMLL event.
Volador says the people want to see him and Andrade in a hair match. Andrade said the people came to see him.
Volador challenges Andrade for a singles match next Friday. Andrade asks the crowd who beat Volador for his mask. Andrade accepts as long as it is a one fall match.
On December 15, Andrade returned to CMLL for the first time since 2015. Formerly known as La Sombra, Andrade became a star early in his career while wrestling for CMLL.
Andrade is facing Eddie Kingston in a Continental Classic Blue League match on AEW Collision tonight (December 23). Tonight’s Collision will determine which wrestlers advance to the Blue League Finals.
Charlotte is expected to be out of action for nine months due to her knee injury. The injury happened during a match between Charlotte and Asuka. Charlotte will be undergoing surgery to repair the injury.
Ric Flair is confident that his daughter Charlotte Flair will be able to come back strong from her injury.
Charlotte is facing an extended time out of action after suffering a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus. The injury happened during a match where Asuka defeated Charlotte on the December 8 episode of SmackDown. The following week, WWE announced that Charlotte is expected to be out of action for nine months.
While appearing on Casual Conversations with The Classic, Ric Flair said he’s told Charlotte that she’ll come back from this injury. Ric thinks it’ll be “the greatest storyline of all time.” Ric said Charlotte was stressed out by the injury because she hasn’t been hurt in a long time.
Ric also said he believes Charlotte is the best worker in the industry:
I’m telling you, and it’ll probably make her mad, she is the best worker in the business –man or woman. She can do stuff Rey Mysterio does. She’s 5 [foot] 11 and weighs 150 pounds. She is the best worker in the business — male or female.
She never politics, you know what I mean? In this horrible world of politics in the business, she don’t kiss anybody’s ass. She just gets better every day.
I told her, she’ll come back from this injury. It stressed her out because she hasn’t been hurt in a long time. But she’s so muscled up and I mean, she’ll come through the surgery and they’ll put some stem cells in her and she’ll come back and it’ll be the greatest storyline of all time. She and Bayley and IYO and all those guys and Asuka, I mean. And there are more people for her to still wrestle. She’s got so much going on for her.
Flair said he’s not knocking any of the other members of the women’s division, but he thinks Charlotte is the best.
Charlotte was feuding with Damage CTRL prior to suffering her knee injury.
Dave Meltzer confirmed this week that Charlotte signed a new WWE contract several months ago. Fightful reported that the contract is for a “huge money increase” and is “one of the highest-paid deals to a woman in WWE history.”
Dave Meltzer confirmed a Fightful Select report on Tuesday that Charlotte had agreed to a contract extension with WWE, noting that she had signed the contract several months ago.
According to Fightful, this deal was agreed upon before Dominik and Rey Mysterio re-signed with the company and was one of the first extensions since the TKO merger. They also said it was a “huge money increase” and “one of the highest-paid deals to a woman in WWE history”.
Flair recently suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus in a match that took place back on the December 8 edition of SmackDown and will require surgery. On last Friday’s episode of SmackDown, announcers said she would be out of action for nine months.
After taking time off following her loss at WrestleMania, Flair returned to action in June and has spent most of that time feuding with members of Damage CTRL. At Survivor Series WarGames last month, she teamed with Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Shotzi in a winning effort against Bayley, IYO SKY, Asuka, and Kairi Sane.
Charlotte Flair will be undergoing surgery for a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus shortly, which were the injuries suffered last week that were talked about on Smackdown this week. She’s listed as being out nine months.
WWE announced that Flair had suffered a knee injury on Friday’s SmackDown and provided the nine-month timetable, but did not specify the extent of the knee injuries suffered.
In addition to the knee injury, PWInsider reports that Flair is believed to have suffered a strained neck as well in the match with Asuka on December 8.
Flair landed on her feet to the floor on a moonsault attempt in a portion of the match that aired on television, but it is believed that the knee and neck injuries happened during a spot that occurred during a commercial break in the match where Flair fell off the top rope.
Some notes on the shows. Our weekend show with Garrett Gonzales was up last night talking the Von Erich movie, UFC, Smackdown, Collision, Final Battle, Charlotte Flair, Kenny Omega and much more. Garrett and I will be doing a show tomorrow night covering Raw.
For print subscribers to the Observer, please contact [email protected] if you haven’t already to get access to the Observer which will come out later this week, our first non-print issue. We have on the site for this week both a regular back issue as well as the issue on the death of Kerry Von Erich given the Iron Claw movie coming out this Friday.
Kenny Omega had been in great pain for some time prior to his diverticulitis diagnosis a few days ago. He thought the pain was his hernia coming back but was in great pain and thought he could gut it out. Thank God he finally went in because the situation had he waited another 24 hours could have been devastating, risking a blood infection.
Charlotte Flair will be undergoing surgery for a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus shortly, which were the injuries suffered last week that were talked about on Smackdown this week. She’s listed as being out nine months.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Final Battle, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
We’re also looking for reports from tonight’s WWE show in Rochester, MN, with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
UFC was the No. 2 trend last night behind the NFL with 1 million views. That’s well above most of the recent PPV shows and well ahead of WWE’s biggest shows as well. No. 1 was the NFL. No. 14 with Sean Strickland for the brawl with Dricus du Plessis in the stands that we talked about with Ryan Frederick last night and No. 17 was Bryce Mitchell who suffered a devastating knockout. On Friday, Jake Paul was No. 2 for the day with 200,000 for his boxing win.
Video is out of the Strickland/du Plessis brawl that wasn’t staged but may be used by UFC for promotion of their 1/20 fight in Toronto for the middleweight title. The two first exchanged insults at a press conference on Friday. Strickland then wrote a tweet saying, “I go hard on everyone I know this, izzy mouth feeding his dog, Dricus kissing his coach and grabbing his cup, Omally (sic) talking about sharing his wife in a podcast. You’re a man, on a world stage doing this in public. And what do you pick? `You got abused as a kid ha.’ Strickland attacked Du Plessis and was throwing punches as both weren’t sitting far from each other at the show last night. It was quickly broken up.Dana White blamed himself for having the two sitting so close together. Dana basically called himself an asshole and stupid for doing so. “So what kind of an asshole sits Strickland next to du Plessis? This asshole, that’s who. I do every seating assignment every week. Yep, how f***ing stupid is that? Seriously , I don’t know what humans you can sit Strickland next do but definitely not du Plessis. I don’t know how I missed that.”
White also said after Tony Ferguson’s one-sided loss to Paddy Pimblett, Ferguson’s seventh loss in a row, that he hoped Ferguson would retire.
WWE from last night in Moline, IL:
Jey Uso b Finn Balor via spear
Street Profits b Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro
Omos b Akira Tozawa after MVP offered $10,000 to anyone who can knock Omos off his feet
Drew McIntyre cut a promo and said that he was sick, but he would still beat Rollins in his home town and win the title tonight.
Kevin Owens & LA Knight b Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa when Knight pinned Uso after the BFT
Chelsea Green & Piper Niven b Katana Chance & Kayden Carter to keep the tag tiles when Niven pinned Chance
Cody Rhodes b Damian Priest in a street fight with Cross Rhodes through a table
Nia Jax b Shayna Baszler with the annihilator
Miz & Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa b Imperium when Miz pinned Vinci with the skull crushing finale, same as in the Raw match
Seth Rollins retained in a three-way over Shinsuke Nakamura and Drew McIntyre with a curb stomp on Nakamura. Same finish they’ve been doing for weeks at the house shows. Rollins after the match talked about being from the Quad Cities. Rollins was the most over because he’s local and then Rhodes and Jey Uso (thanks to Scott Minor)
After winning the women’s MVP award from Tokyo Sports, Tam Nakano said that she was bedridden for a month due to her knee injury and said between that and social media criticism she considered retirement. She said her knee has improved but still can’t do full squats.
Nippon TV will be doing alive wrestling show from Korakuen Hall on 2/9 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Sharpe Brothers vs. Rikidozan & Masahiko Kimura, the first Japanese wrestling match on network television and the match that put wrestling on the map in a huge way in the country, airing on NTV.
RevPro from the Crystal Palace in London yesterday:
Zack Sabre Jr. b JJ Gale, Spike Trivet b Robbie X in a street fight
Leon Slater b Connor Mills to win the British cruiserweight title
Brendan White & Danny Jones (Greedy Souls) b Anthony Ogogo & Ricky Knight Jr. (match said to be a mess, Ogogo didn’t get much reaction even though he’s a well-known name in the U.K. from boxing) and Knight at one point was taken to the back and checked for a concussion but did come back out
Tomohiro Ishii b Luke Jacbos (said to be great but not as great as their August match)
Dani Luna b Alex Windsor to win the British women’s title,
Volador Jr. b Trent Seven
Michael Oku b Zack Gibson to keep the British Commonwealth title in a good match with a frog splash. Gibson shook Oku’s hand after and turned babyface. The Greedy Souls attacked him and James Drake made the save to set up a tag team feud
Will Ospreay b Gabe Kidd. Said to be a super match, ending via ref stoppage. Ospreay said his final match in RevPro would be 2/18 and wanted to face Oku for the title. Oku has never beaten Ospreay and Oku will now have to carry the promotion going forward. (thanks to Liam Fitzpatrick)
Jake Paul had a first round knockout Friday night of Andre August in Orlando, FL. Paul is now saying he’s concentrating on boxing and won’t be doing MMA next year unless it’s with Nate Diaz.
Dutch Mantell said he had an infection that turned into sepsis and was transferred from the hospital to a rehab facility and is hopeful of being able to go home next week.
Dungeon Wrestling from last night at the Victoria Pavilion in Calgary before 350 fans. This is Bret Hart and his son’s promotion: Michael Allen Richard Clarke b Shaun Moore, Tiger Raj Singh b Kamikaze, Leon Lokombo b Chris Knight, Michael Blais b Mighty Mo Jabari-COR, Taryn rom Accounting b Zoey Zager, Billington Bulldogs b Voris Twins to keep the Dungen tag team titles. (thanks to Ross Hart)
ASF, real name Luis Antonio Garcia, was arrested on 12/6 for online solicitation of a minor younger than 14 years old, a second degree felony. The Lucha Maniaks promotion in Laredo wrote that former team member Garcia has been dropped by the promotion. The arrest report says that he sent explicit photos via Facebook several years ago to an 11-year-old girl who had messaged him. The police report said that he was brought in for questioning and claimed that girl’s boyfriend made up the accusation when asked if he had sent the girl a photo of his genitalia, but then said he wasn’t sure and it was a stupid mistake. He had been a regular with GCW but they had stopped using him about one year ago.
CM Punk did commentary for CFFC MMA on Fight Pass on Friday night in Atlantic City. On the show he plugged he would be wrestling in Los Angeles on 12/30 against Dominik Mysterio joking he’s been wanting to punch Dom since he was eight and how he gets the chance.
WWE star Charlotte Flair is facing an extended period of time away from the ring.
During SmackDown on Friday night, WWE stated that Charlotte will be out of action for nine months due to a knee injury. The announcement was made on commentary while recapping last week’s Charlotte vs. Asuka match.
Charlotte suffered the knee injury while facing Asuka on SmackDown last Friday. Though Charlotte was able to finish the bout, she received medical attention following the match and had to be helped to the back. Our Dave Meltzer reported last Saturday that Charlotte was awaiting X-ray results.
Asuka defeated Charlotte in their match after interference by Bayley.
While the exact injury that Charlotte suffered has not been confirmed, nine months would be the expected recovery time from a torn ACL.
If the nine-month recovery time is accurate, Charlotte would miss the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 40.
Charlotte had been feuding with Damage CTRL on SmackDown. In the women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series last month, Charlotte, Bianca Belair, Shotzi & Becky Lynch defeated Asuka, Bayley, IYO SKY & Kairi Sane.
Michin & Zelina Vega vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane has also been confirmed for tonight’s SmackDown.
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Randy Orton’s war against The Bloodline is set to continue on SmackDown tonight.
WWE has announced that a singles match between Orton and Jimmy Uso will take place on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. The match comes one week after Orton and Jimmy faced off in tag team action. In last Friday’s main event, Orton & LA Knight defeated Jimmy & Solo Sikoa.
In storyline, Orton is out for revenge on The Bloodline for causing the back injury that kept him out of action for more than a year. Orton underwent double fusion back surgery in 2022. He returned to the ring at Survivor Series last month.
Two weeks ago, Orton joined the SmackDown roster. WWE looks to be building toward Orton challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Reigns is also set to appear on tonight’s SmackDown. He’s returning to the show for the first time since retaining his title against Knight at Crown Jewel.
Tonight’s SmackDown is being held at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Here’s everything that’s been announced:
Roman Reigns returns
Randy Orton vs. Jimmy Uso
Michin & Zelina Vega vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane
US title contender’s tournament match: Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory
US title contender’s tournament match: Grayson Waller vs. Carmelo Hayes
