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#3. WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair
Despite being the daughter of the legendary Ric Flair, Charlotte Flair never wanted to pursue a professional wrestling career growing up. Instead, she played volleyball in high school and college. She also worked as a personal trainer before joining WWE.
In an interview with Chasing Glory in 2019, Charlotte revealed why she did not want to pursue a wrestling career earlier in her life.
"Honestly, no. I always went to the shows and wanted to take my friends when I was in college, like you’re talking about, bringing my volleyball team, but seeing the women during that time period I just never, like Bayley, I played sports my whole life. I was a tomboy … not a tomboy but, I kind of was a tomboy, so I just didn’t see myself as Stacy Keibler or Torrie Wilson, Trish [Stratus] or Lita. So I was like, 'Oh I’m athletic, I could do the moves.' But I just didn’t see myself as a Diva. So I don’t know if that’s kind of why I didn’t really care about it," she said.
Despite this, Charlotte's life changed in 2012 when she accompanied her father and brother, Reid, to a dinner that she was initially not invited to with WWE Executive John Laurinaitis. Ric and Reid were initially meeting with Laurinaitis to discuss Reid's chances of getting a WWE tryout. However, Charlotte was the one who received an unexpected offer.
"I was with my little brother and one of the producers and Johnny Laurinaitis at the time was like, 'Why aren’t you doing this?' And I think he just said it to me to kind of encourage my brother, to kind of light a fire under him to do what was needed to get into the company. So I was like, maybe if I do this, my brother will get on the right path and I can help him," she added.
The Queen joined Vince McMahon's promotion later in 2012 and has become one of the top superstars on the roster in the following years. She is currently active on SmackDown. The 35-year-old now holds the SmackDown Women's Title.
