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What's the story?
Charlotte Flair recently appeared on Chasin Glory with Lillian Garcia and opened up on a host of topics. The major talking points, however, were her turbulent past that included coming out of an abusive relationship and the death of her brother.
In case you didn't know...
Despite being part of wrestling royalty, the Queen of WWE has been through her fair share of struggles growing up. Her brother, Reid Flair -- the youngest son of Ric Flair -- was found dead in an apartment in North Carolina owing to a drug overdose in 2013. Heroin and traces of other prescription drugs were found in his system as a result of the autopsy.
Her disturbing relationship with her first husband, Riki Johnson, further tested her fortitude and, thankfully, the SmackDown Superstar hasn't let the downfalls affect her career.
The heart of the matter
Flair opened up about her relationship with her brother Reid during his final days. She said that despite doing well for himself in Japan, he made a lot of mistakes and it eventually frustrated her.
She refused to do some promotion for Reid as rage influenced her decisions. She expressed regret at how she handled the whole situation, admitted to being in a lot of guilt, and envisioned changing a few decisions from the past.
She spoke about her book -- Second Nature: The Legacy of Ric Flair and the Rise of Charlotte -- and how it's more of an open letter to her brother about what he wanted to do and become.
She still hasn't come to terms with his death and revealed how hard it has been on her mother.
"It's hard on my mom, for sure, hard on my mom that the only thing the world sees is her son dying of an overdose, instead of what a beautiful soul he was… So I think getting to write about him and what he meant to me in the book, meant a lot."
Charlotte moved onto her forgettable first marriage with Riki Johnson. She said that they were young and Riki was dealing with some family issues back then. She accused herself of covering up for him and said that, in reality, both of them were in a very unhealthy scenario.
Her intention was to help him out in any way possible. She thought if she dressed well or said something, it would elicit the desired reaction. However, his problems had nothing to do with her and she eventually piled up excuses.
She concluded:
"When you're in a codependent relationship like that, you're listening to what the person says, but even though they do something else and say, 'Oh, I'm sorry. It will never happen again,' but that's not really how it is if the behavior never changes."
What's next?
The 4-time Women's Champion will be a part of the SmackDown Women's team in the traditional Survivor Series Women's match.
Survivor Series will emanate from the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, November 19th.
Author's take
Inspirational! That' the only word that can be used to describe Charlotte's story, however, cliched it may sound.
The chaos around the Flair scion has acted as motivation for her to succeed in WWE. Charlotte is already a legend in the making and her well-documented past is what laid the foundation for her rise.
Let's hope she has the SmackDown Live Women's Championship around her waist sooner rather than later.
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