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Charlotte Flair comes across as the chosen one. She has the good looks WWE typically associates with top female stars. She has the relative size and strength WWE typically associates with top male stars. She has the Flair family name, a legitimate athletic background, and while she may not be the best female wrestler of her generation, it’s hard to deny that she belongs in a conversation about the top ten.
Flair conspicuously sat out the first women’s Royal Rumble last year, for the simple reason that she was reigning champion and thus it did not make kayfabe sense for her to be involved when the prize for the match was a shot at her title. This year, Flair is already announced as a participant in the match and has to be considered a top five favourites to win it all (and, depending on whom you ask, the favourite to win).
What happens if Flair wins the Rumble? First of all, there would be some interesting history in instating the first two-generation pair to win the Rumble, after her father went the distance in 1992. More to the point, it shores up Flair’s spot at WrestleMania, with at least four potential high profile matches.
It may be the least tantalizing match at this point, but Flair could go for a rematch from last year’s WrestleMania, in a bout with Asuka. Many considered that an excellent match, if a bit too short, and no one would complain about the sequel. Of course, Asuka might not have the title anymore come WrestleMania, and we could instead get one more iteration of Flair challenging Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship instead.
WWE has a good bit invested in Ronda Rousey’s war with the top women of SmackDown, though. Rousey vs. Flair, perhaps with a no DQ stipulation to follow from their Survivor Series match has promise. And then there is, perhaps the most rumoured option of all, a Triple Threat between Flair, Rousey, and Lynch, if WWE truly decides to put all of its most-pushed female talents into one match and let them tear the house down.
