Charlotte Flair Opens Up About Negative Mindset Before Career Changing Knee Injury

Charlotte Flair Opens Up About Negative Mindset Before Career Changing Knee Injury

Charlotte Flair has spoken about the difficult mindset she was in before suffering her major knee injury in December 2023.

Flair tore her ACL, MCL, and meniscus during the December 8 episode of SmackDown, an injury that required surgery and kept her out of action for over a year. Speaking on Bloomberg Talks, she admitted she was struggling mentally at the time.

“I definitely think when I hurt my knee , I tore my ACL , I don’t think I was in the right state of mind, meaning whether it was imposter syndrome, that dialogue [of] how we talk to ourselves, that inner self-talk,” Flair said. “I feel like I was in a very negative space and not opening up about it and the anxiety of being a woman that’s approaching 40.”

Flair said the injury forced her to rethink how she viewed herself outside of wrestling.

“And for someone who has , I always looked at myself as the iron woman, and when my knee took me out, I was like, all I viewed myself was as a professional wrestler,” she continued. “Like, that’s all I am. And that’s not all I am. And I do have a voice and maybe this is the start of something bigger for me.”

Since returning, Flair has been teaming with Alexa Bliss. The pair recently defeated Giulia and Kiana James on SmackDown to become the number one contenders for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships currently held by Nia Jax and Lash Legend.

Ronda Rousey Slams TKO Leadership, Says “The UFC Is One Of The Worst Places To Go”

Ronda Rousey Slams TKO Leadership, Says “The UFC Is One Of The Worst Places To Go”

Ronda Rousey has revealed that her upcoming MMA fight with Gina Carano, set to stream on Netflix on May 16, was originally pitched to the UFC with a potential “New Year’s” timeframe attached.

Speaking during Tuesday’s press conference in Los Angeles, Rousey explained she first approached Dana White out of “love and respect for him.” The bout had initially been discussed as the final fight under the UFC’s pay per view model before the promotion moved to Paramount in January 2026. According to Rousey, the deal offered to her featured “the best PPV structure ever.”

The plan ultimately fell through because Carano was not ready at the time, something Rousey said “was meant to be.” She added that White was the first person she told about moving the fight to Netflix and noted that “he’s always been my friend first.”

Rousey was critical of the UFC’s current direction, claiming White “isn’t calling the shots” anymore and that the company is prioritizing shareholders over the sport.

“They are bleeding talent because of short term greed. They’re thinking about the next quarter. They’re thinking about the shareholders. They’re not thinking about their responsibility to be stewards of the future of the sport,” she said.

She also added, “He knows the White House card sucks. I guarantee he’s not happy with it either.”

When asked to describe White, Rousey called him “loyal to a fault.”

Rousey further claimed that “the UFC is one of the worst places to go,” arguing that many athletes are leaving for better pay opportunities elsewhere.

Looking ahead, Rousey said future fights will depend on how the Carano bout goes, though she noted that this matchup feels like a final chapter.

“When are you going to be impressed enough with yourself to spend more time with your family?” she said, describing the fight as a chance to “rewrite her ending.”

Also appearing at the press conference were Francis Ngannou and Philipe Lins. When asked about a potential bout with MVP promoter Jake Paul, Ngannou said he was not interested in fighting him but rather “beating his ass,” while Paul later responded that he would be open to the matchup in boxing.

Kevin Nash On CM Punk’s WWE Raw Line: ‘If Death Is Funny, May It Be On Your Doorstep’

Arguably the most heated rivalry going into WrestleMania today is the feud between Roman Reigns and CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship. So far, both men have been able to draw from their real-life animosity in the past and use it to further their storyline, but things reached a boiling point last week on “WWE Raw” when Punk said to Reigns, “I’m going to bury you next to your father,” as he referred to the “OTC’s” dad, Sika Anoaʻi, who passed away almost two years ago. The line instantly went viral following the segment, but not everybody was pleased that the death of a legend was used for entertainment, as WWE Hall Of Famer Kevin Nash aired his frustrations over the promo during a recent edition of “Kliq This.”

“I don’t like that,” Nash said. “I mean, I’m not even going to f*****g make reference to it because whosoever idea it was on any level, if death is funny, may it be on your doorstep the next f*****g day.”

Last night on “Raw,” The Usos confronted Punk and demanded an apology for his comments about their uncle the previous week, but were adamant that they weren’t sent on Reigns’ behalf. Although it initially seemed like Punk was going to make amends, he instead apologized that Reigns never took responsibility for manipulating them in The Bloodline for years, which caused Jimmy Uso to deliver a stiff right hand to the “Best In The World” to close the show.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Kliq This” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

WWE’s AJ Styles Says He’s Been Training His Son To Become A Pro Wrestler

It’s now been a few weeks since AJ Styles officially called it quits on his wrestling career, taking the gloves off on “WWE Raw” and accepting an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame just a few minutes later. And while Styles is set to continue on with WWE in a talent scout role, one would expect that job to carry significantly less of a workload, allowing Styles to enjoy some free time in retirement.

But according to Styles, it’s actually helped make him even busier than ever. On the first episode of “The Phenomenally Retro Podcast,” Styles recounted a recent day that saw him doing a school activity with one of his kids, going to doctors appointments and getting his car worked on, as proof that he still has no free time. But another thing is also preventing Styles from settling down: his nightly training sessions with his second oldest son.

“I was going to train my son tonight for pro wrestling,” Style said. “He’s going to be a professional wrestler, so I’m training him.”

The revelation will not come as a huge surprise to anyone, as Styles revealed in an interview with Stephanie McMahon last month that he had begun training his son to wrestle, and that Styles’ daughter had also expressed interest in pursuing a wrestling career, though Styles had not begun training her. Not only does training his son keep Styles in the ring but may open the door for more, as Styles admitted to McMahon he was would be willing to wrestle again if he was able to team with his son or his other kids, should they choose to become wrestlers as well.

If you use any quotes in this article, please credit “The Phenomenally Retro Podcast” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

WWE Officials Reportedly Felt WrestleMania 42 Card Was ‘Too Predictable’

In the last two weeks, there’s been four title changes on WWE’s main roster, with Cody Rhodes defeating Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship this past Friday on “WWE SmackDown” being the biggest surprise. Since it was reported that ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 were down in comparison to last year’s event, plans for the show were said to be “up in the air,” causing multiple storylines to be re-written in the last few weeks. However, according to Dave Meltzer during the latest edition of the “Wrestling Observer Radio,” the reasoning behind the recent changes in the lead up to WrestleMania, specifically the decision to make Rhodes champion again, is due to the company believing the card was too predictable. 

“They thought it was too predictable and then they kept changing their mind,” he explained. “When you have very reactive, changing booking and you’re listening to too many people, your stuff is not going to make sense in the long run … by listening and worrying about too much stuff and wanting to fool people, what you do is you take the most logical thing and you throw it out the window because people will figure out the most logical thing and that’s one of the big problems right now is it’s too predictable.”

Meltzer also mentioned that fans should have an idea of eight or more matches on the card by now, but WWE chose to alter plans for WrestleMania to intentionally keep its audience uncertain about the match lineup. “They had the whole card, but guess what? Too many people figured it out so they figured they gotta change it. That’s the problem. You want the problem? That’s the problem.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.