In a recent interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal, current WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair shared her thoughts on WrestleMania 39 and her opponent at the two-night premium live event, Rhea Ripley.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the desire to headline one of the nights at WrestleMania: “First, let’s start with the main event (aspect). I always find it so odd when people say, ‘Why does Charlotte always want to main-event?’ Isn’t that what you want as a performer? If you’re a football team, you want to be at the Super Bowl, right? I don’t understand the criticism over that. Why wouldn’t you want to be a champion?”
On how the next two months between Ripley and herself might be planned or laid out: “With Rhea, we’re not starting from scratch. We have so much history. We have our first faceoff Friday. I’m not planning anything in my head creatively because I want to feel the energy. I want to feel what the audience thinks of how far she’s come, and where I’m at now. Will it be a different vibe? Are they going to want to see her beat me, or do they know she’s not ready? I have to feel it out there, depending on my mind, what direction to go. At the same time, I feel how Rhea feels will be much different. I beat her for the NXT title, I beat her for the Raw title. That’s something, in her heart: ‘I know I can beat Charlotte. I have to beat Charlotte.’ I feel like she has something to prove to herself. … And we naturally have such great chemistry. I know she’s going to bring it, and she knows I’m going to bring it.”