WWE superstar Charlotte Flair was a recent guest on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast to talk all things pro-wrestling, including her move back to NXT and working with inexperienced talent. Highlights are below.
How moving back to NXT was not a demotion:
“I don’t look at anything as a demotion. I just look [at it as], ‘Here I am full circle in my career.’ Like, the fact that the NXT [Women’s] Title was defended at WrestleMania still kinda blows my mind. Because I went through those steps of going through FCW to NXT, from Tampa to Orlando. Having those first TakeOvers, traveling outside of Florida, to now you’re telling me the NXT Title is defended at WrestleMania? I took so much pride in that. For me, it was not looking at it as, ‘Okay, you’re going to NXT.’ It’s like, ‘Okay, NXT’s now on USA. This is legitimately a third brand, and we have to treat it as a third equal brand.’”
How her history in NXT can only help the brand:
“I don’t want to say that I’ve added more to NXT. I just hope the talent in that locker room at NXT go, ‘Okay, this girl is NXT’ — or excuse me, ‘This woman is NXT-homegrown, and look at what she’s done in her career.’ And that’s what I strive for. I don’t [say] per se, ‘Do I add to the show, do I add to the locker room, do I add, am I getting girls over?’ There’s no right answer for that. My answer is [that] I hope the women in the locker room look at me and go, ‘Damn, she’s done it all and I want to do it too. And she’s from NXT. And what has it taken her to do that?’ And for me, the one answer is consistency. Whether the storyline is for you, or not for you and you’re a part of it, you shine no matter what.”
Working with less experienced women:
“Well, I think it’s just going, ‘It doesn’t matter how many moves you know. It’s about the story you portray and how you hold yourself.’ And if you learn anything in a ring with me, or if we’re to tell a story; it’s ‘Remember the story, and remember who you are as a character.’ Because that’s what really the audience connects with. They’re not going to remember the 3,000 moonsaults. They’re gonna remember, ‘How did that person make me feel? How did that talent make me feel.’ And that’s just what I am with someone who doesn’t have as much experience. It’s just remembering who they are and just taking those moments in time. And it’s more about that than ‘Okay, how many moves are we gonna do?’”
Full interview is below. (H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)