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you took away my crown | mmm*
 Charlotte had been so damn excited to return to the ring after a very long hiatus from the company. Shoulder injuries were very serious and she'd been put on the shelf for longer than she was used to. She didn't like it one bit. She was a fighter, an entertainer, a second generation Superstar. She needed to be in this company to prove herself.
She had only been back a few months before her Dad decided to come and hang out backstage. It wasn't unusual that he did that. He was a Legend, after all. Everyone loved learning from him and taking his advice about the business and what they could to do be better in the ring and out of the ring. She admired him for that, but she hated that she was always casted in his shadow whenever he was around.
This last month is when everything was f***ed up for her. Everything. This isn't how she wanted anything to go at all. Since coming back so close to Wrestlemania season, she wanted to prove to everyone, especially herself, that she deserved to be here. She didn't want to rely on her last name to get her into prestigious spots that other people had to literally claw their way to the top to get. She was finally starting from the bottom and working her way up to the top.
But then her Dad decided that he wanted in on the action, that he wanted to put his nose in something where it didn't belong. She was so f***ing sick and tired of her Dad coming around and messing things up for her. The past few matches that she had he deliberately came out there to either distract her or interfere purposely so she'd lose. And.. she finally snapped. She couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't have him here because it was making it worse on her.
The last match that she had on Raw, she lost.. and the words that she'd said to her Dad just before she went out to compete were echoing through her head right now.
"Dad... I just.. I can't do this crap anymore. I can't focus on my matches and I can't focus on what I love doing and that's this business. Whether you think it's funny or not, coming out and disrupting my matches isn't. I've told you this before.. it's not about whether you think you're better than me or whether I think I'm better than you. It's about protecting our last name. It's about protecting our legacy. That's what I'm doing here. Why do you think I'm busting my ass?" she ran her fingers through her sweaty blonde hair, her entrance music playing in the background as she zoned out.
"You have the audacity to think that I'm trying to trash our name out there? All I want our name to be is what it is right now: household. I think a lot of your life I've pushed you. And I'm not saying that I made you the champion that you are because you've done that on your own... but I'd like to think that I had some part in it." her Dad said back to her.. and he was right. If it wasn't for him pushing her and motivating her, she wouldn't be where she was today. The start of her career was all about trying to impress her Dad. She wanted him to think that she could do it. That was she was talented enough to carry the Flair last name. But now the was grown and had experience under her belt. She was her own person. She needed to break away from being "Ric Flair's daughter".
"You come here and try to say that you're my biggest fan? That you're my cheerleader? But on my time you're trying to take the spotlight. You think it's funny to do your signature moves out there when I'm trying to preform and work my ass off? No. When I'm out there, that's my time. That's my chance to prove that I'm not Ric Flair's daughter. That I'm Charlotte Flair. You know what I think? You still want to be the Nature Boy.. even on your daughter's time. I am grateful for the doors that you've opened.. and I'm thankful for everything that you've given me.. but let me try to be Charlotte Flair."
She realized that she'd been pondering in the ring for longer than she should have been and she slipped out from under the ropes. She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, she didn't even know she was crying. Her fingers swiped at the mascara that could possibly be running down her face. She couldn't let anyone see her in an emotional state like this. She thought she was The Queen, but her Dad had single-handedly taken that opportunity away from her in an instant. She was looking forward to Wrestlemania and challenging Asuka for the Raw Women's title. A championship opportunity that most of the WWE Universe and her own coworkers didn't think she deserved. And maybe she didn't deserve it. Doubt started to creep into her mind as she composed herself before walking backstage.
Could she do it? Could she step out from behind her Dad's shadow and become Charlotte Flair instead of Ric Flair's daughter? She thought she'd more than proved herself in that aspect. Her mic skills and her in-ring performances were like no other. It was just her Dad that kept meddling in her business and ruining everything for her. And this opportunity was one of them. With his antics, he had stolen her chance to perform on the biggest stage of them all.
Charlotte was Ms. Wrestlemania, but she would be non-existent this year for it.
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