Charlotte Flair Talks Past Rivals and Her Next Chapter with Becky Lynch [Exclusive]

WWE on A&E continues this coming Sunday, May 24 with two new episodes of WWE Rivals that will air back-to-back starting at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT), and it will be a double feature for the Flair family.

The first episode, hosted by actor and comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, will focus on the longtime rivalry between 16-Time World Champion Ric Flair and the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, followed directly by a look into the big time rise of Becky Lynch and the toll that creating "The Man" took on her friendship with Charlotte Flair.

This is a rivalry that history will look back on as one of the most heated, and arguably the most important, in terms of continuing to push forward the evolution of women's wrestling in WWE. It started as a simple, but effective story that carried both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair into the main event of WrestleMania 35.

"She wants to be the best. I want to be the best. And we went head-to-head," Charlotte told The Takedown on SI this week. "What it did for me on a personal note, was taught me so many things, where I looked back and was like, I would've done this [a different way] because I really didn't understand the psychology."

Sunday's episode of WWE Rivals features snippets of sit-down conversations with both women, as they each tell their side of the drama that spread beyond what fans saw play out in the ring, but Flair disclosed that they were recorded quite a while ago.

Charlotte, who has yet to see the final cut of the show, admitted to The Takedown on SI that she wasn't in the best mindset at the time she conducted her interview.

"I was in such a dark place. I'm probably able to express myself better now," Flair said.

It's coming up on five years since the last time that Flair and Lynch faced each other one-on-one, which Charlotte says doesn't seem that long in the grand scheme of things. She's very much looking forward to telling the next chapter of their story, where she'll have the opportunity to apply all the lessons she learned during their first arc together.

"Because [The Man] character was so hot, I felt [at the time] like everything I had done was being discredited due to that storyline. Where like, I'm not just Ric Flair's daughter. The hard work was being discredited, but I wouldn't go back and change any of it."

Even though Charlotte was being presented as the babyface coming out of the slap heard around the world at SummerSlam 2018, the WWE Universe — long put off by the lack of opportunities for Lynch — fully rallied behind the company's chosen heel.

Over the ensuing few months, Flair was swept up in a battle with Lynch and the WWE audience, and admittedly became too concerned with earning the fans' adulation. Becky's heel promos and social media tactics very quickly made it cool to tear down the most accomplished performer of the women's revolution.

"I'm Ric Flair's daughter, what do you want me to do about it? I'm sorry you were born Becky Lynch," is how Flair may have responded to Becky today. "That's not the route I took, because I was too emotionally caught up in the friendship of it."

As WWE Rivals will detail, the seemingly endless social media vitriol that Flair received while feuding with Lynch is not something she would wish upon anyone. It took on toll on her mentally, but strengthened her in the long run. She learned, she adapted, she's proud of what she overcame and The Queen is ready for her next dance with her greatest rival.

"Becky and I aren't done... Our paths are gonna cross. I think it was a [pivotal] moment in the business because we main evented WrestleMania 35 due to this epic story that was so heated. But I don't think the story between Charlotte and Becky is over."

Becky and Charlotte — Nov 21, 2021; Brooklyn, NY, USA; WWE Raw Women s Champion Becky Lynch (red attire) and WWE Smackdown Women s Champion Charlotte Flair (black attire) battle in their singles match during WWE Survivor Series at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

It is fair to wonder when exactly these two women will cross paths again, as they are on vastly different trajectories right now. Not to mention being separated by the Raw and SmackDown brand split, which, admittedly, isn't much of a roadblock for the WWE creative team.

There's also consideration that needs to be given to their story and whether the heart of it remains the same. Flair and Lynch could easily continue their battle to prove who truly is the greatest women's wrestler in the history of WWE — we have them ranked first and second respectively — but given Big Time Becks' heel persona these days, Flair sees a more personal angle to explore.

"I think you could tell that she became everything she said I was," Flair suggested.

Charlotte Flair discusses some of her other great rivals

As the rivalry between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch carried into WrestleMania season back in 2019, another woman entered the fray.

After dominating the world of MMA and rising to the level of a world-renowned megastar, "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey burst onto the scene in WWE to help elevate women's wrestling the way she did for mixed martial arts.

There are some who want to discredit the impact that Rousey had on women's wrestling. Charlotte Flair, who has deep respect for the multi-time's champion, is not among them.

"We all got to the dance together, but I think what Ronda did globally for women's sports, and women to become a draw, it opened WWE's eyes. Ronda Rousey can do that where she is, let's bring her to WWE and see what happens. Obviously, Ronda didn't main event WrestleMania by herself. She had two other opponents, but she opened the doors to WWE considering women to be main event players."

Flair still believes that women would have gotten to the main event of WrestleMania eventually, but there's no denying that Rousey showed the world that female athletes could draw.

The year before that history-making triple threat match, The Queen faced off with The Empress of Tomorrow. Asuka carried her record undefeated streak into WrestleMania 34 after winning the inaugural Women's Royal Rumble Match and chose to face Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Her future in WWE is said to be "up in the air" following her match at WWE Backlash earlier this month. If she ultimately does decide to walk away, Asuka's would be swansong with IYO SKY will cap off an incredible career. And she will be missed by many.

"Oh, she's irreplaceable," Flair said about The Empress. "She cemented my legacy. If it wasn't for her at that WrestleMania when she had the streak... She means so much to the locker room, to the fans, to the industry. She's a global superstar and she's one of a kind."

As one rival steps away from WWE, another has recently come back home. Paige made her return at WrestleMania 42 as a last minute sub for the injured Nikki Bella in the Women's Tag Team Championship Match, and very quickly came face-to-face with The Queen.

"I always looked up to Paige," Flair said. "Even when I started at FCW, which turned into NXT, I was like there is this goth chick, anti-diva that cusses. Everything that I wasn't. I was just enamored by her."

Paige and Brie Bella went on to win the women's tag team titles by pinning Flair's tag team partner Alexa Bliss, setting the stage for more match ups down the line.

"To have that moment with her at WrestleMania and face off for a second, it was like, we've come so far. This is fun. I can't wait to see what her and Brie [Bella] do, and I hope Paige and I get to have another moment."

.@RheaRipley_WWE, @MsCharlotteWWE, & @AlexaBliss_WWE will battle @Jade_Cargill, @MiaYim & @TheVibeBri in a Six-Woman Tag Match at #SNME!

📍: Fort Wayne, IN
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📺: May 23rd, 8 ET/5 PT on @peacock pic.twitter.com/aXFEAe42VJ
— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2026

First up for Flair and Lexi is Saturday Night's Main Event this weekend. They'll be teamming up with WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley to battle Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab in a Six-Woman Tag Team Match.

It'll be the first match of any kind between The Queen and The Storm, and perhaps will serve as the appetizer for the one-on-one match that's been dangled in front of the audience since the first day Cargill arrived in WWE.

"I don't know, because they've teased it so much. I couldn't tell you," Flair said about facing Jade in a singles match. "Like, I wanna wrestle her. I think when we had like that last face off on the ramp before WrestleMania, it was just [shivers]. I just don't know when it's gonna happen. So, I don't wanna get my hopes up. I think when it does happen, it's gonna be epic."

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