If you've ever heard the name Ashley Fliehr then you probably know who we are referring too. If we liberally change the spelling of her last name to match the pronunciation, it would spell Flair. Today, there is only one Flair that is getting all the attention, even though it is her father that made the family name.
Ashley competes under the name Charlotte, and during her time with WWE, fans have seen growth and progression in her as a professional and competitor, which shows she is determined not to just get by on her father's name.
What we normally see on WWE programming is the company boasting how a performer has had to overcome a number of challenges to make it where they are today. Charlotte has had to work twice as hard, being the daughter of a legend.
She has seen a number of ups and downs in her life but has overcome these obstacles to become the success that she is today. Here are a few things the WWE won't tell you about Charlotte.
#5 Made some mistakes before finding herself
We all make mistakes in life. We learn from them, grow, and move forward with our lives. Before her time in WWE, Charlotte was arrested for an incident in 2008 in North Carolina. The reasons for the incident are said to be tied to not only her but her father Ric and her ex-boyfriend.
It involved assaulting a police officer during a fight between her boyfriend, and father. Whether she struck the officer in the midst of the skirmish, or while defending her dad or attempting to fight off her boyfriend, isn't quite clear.
What is clear is that at the end of it all, Charlotte pled guilty to a lesser charge and as a result was sentenced to jail. Thankfully the sentence of 45 days in jail was reduced to supervised probation and a $200 fine.
life. It is important to acknowledge how she has overcome that incident and not allowed it to define her moving forward. Today, Charlotte appears to be every bit the dedicated professional.
#4 She was previously married to a former NXT and current TNA wrestler
It appears as though Charlotte and her father Ric are closely linked, and there are parallels between their personal lives. As many are aware, the elder has been married five times, and Charlotte, at just under 30 years of age has been married and divorced twice.
Her second marriage was to a former NXT wrestler known as Kenneth Cameron. While with NXT, Cameron was part of the early version of the Ascension, later replaced by Viktor. He was released from the company after he was charged with battery and disorderly conduct in Florida.
A year prior, he had been arrested for a DUI. Cameron's real name is Thomas Latimer, and his brushes with the law had to make for a tumultuous relationship between him and Ashley ‘Charlotte' Fliehr. Their divorce was finalised in 2015.
Today Latimer can be seen competing as part of Impact Wrestling under the name Bram. One can see why the WWE wouldn't want to share some of Charlotte's past, as they wouldn't want too much light shed on the personal life of the former Raw women's champion.
#3 The basis of her character is from Queen Elizabeth in the anime Tiger Mask W
She is often referred to today as ‘the Queen,' and the reasons why are pretty easy to speculate. Charlotte is announced as being from ‘The Queen City'. It could also be said that she is part of wrestling royalty, as her father's legendary status makes him akin to a king.
However, what isn't mentioned is that her character is actually linked to a Queen, but not in a way many may think. Add to that, the Queen she is linked to is named Queen Elizabeth, but it is not Queen Elizabeth from the English Royal Family, undoubtedly the world's most famous Queen and someone that is known worldwide.
Charlotte's character is inspired by the Queen Elizabeth character in the popular Japanese anime program Tiger Mask W, a cartoon set in a fictional wrestling world that features many actual wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling.
It's unlikely WWE would promote the presence of this version of her, given they produce their own cartoon movies and wouldn't want to highlight all the wrestlers from a rival promotion that may appear on the show.
#2 She first appeared in WCW
Much has been made of her time in NXT, and fans will recall her arrival as part of a ‘divas revolution' on Raw when she joined the roster along with Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. However, while WWE is quick to make mention of her time with the company, they don't discuss other times that she was on camera.
During Ric Flair's retirement match against Shawn Michaels, a much younger Charlotte was sitting at ringside along with her brothers and sisters, weeping as her father lost to Michaels, but that wasn't the first appearance of a young Charlotte on screen.
A much younger Ashley Fliehr appeared on-screen during a rivalry her father was having in WCW. As part of a storyline, Ashley's younger brother Reid was in the ring along with Arn Anderson and Eric Bischoff, while Reid was still a child, and he demonstrated strength and ability by taking down Bischoff, the head of WCW at the time.
What fans may not recall is Ashley also appeared on screen at ringside, as her younger brother was busy showing the world that he was likely to follow in his father's footsteps.
#1 Has only been wrestling professionally for five years
A number of men and women that are part of WWE have committed, in some instances, fifteen years of their lives to the independent scene, just to earn an opportunity to join the promotion. The women both on SmackDown Live and on Raw have honed their craft for years and years, just to be primed for the main roster.
Whether it is Sasha Banks, Bayley, Becky Lynch or Mickie James, these women have spent countless hours in the ring and travelled all over the world to be seen and heard. So when we hear that Charlotte's time, not in WWE, but in wrestling, amounts to only about five years, it is incredible.
Her father Ric discusses how her younger brother Reid's passing acted as a source of inspiration for her to pursue this career. His death hit the family hard and became a great source of motivation for Charlotte moving forward.
It really is incredible because her success in the sport has been nothing short of meteoric. Very rarely can anyone rise to the top of their sport in such a short time.
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