During last Friday's episode of SmackDown, Charlotte Flair squared off with Asuka in a match which saw her take a nasty fall from the top rope. The 15-time Women's Champion landed on her head and leg, and the bout wrapped up quite quickly after that.
Footage of The Queen later emerged which suggested she'd legitimately injured her leg, and we now have an update on her current WWE status.
Flair was pulled from WWE Live events over the weekend and, according to PWInsider, she's returned home to Florida and will not be back on the road for the foreseeable future. It's unclear how much time she'll miss or whether surgery will be required.
We'd assume that's something which is currently being assessed and this would make the third absence for Flair in the past eighteen months. She took seven months off in 2022 after marrying AEW star Andrade El Idolo and then went on a two-month break after facing Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 39.
It's unclear what this will mean for SmackDown as Flair has been front and centre in the blue brand's women's division in recent months, tagging with Shotzi to feud with the members of Damage CTRL.
Flair does appear to have aspirations away from WWE; earlier this year, she revealed: "I’d love to star in a movie, a series. During my off-time, I did have the opportunity to become a global ambassador for Smile Train, so that’s been really rewarding, working with the community on my off-time. So I don’t know. Whatever happens next."
"I think because I didn’t grow up wanting to be a WWE Superstar, and I definitely didn’t see myself following in my dad’s footsteps. So if you had met me 12 years ago [compared to] now, it like, 'Are you even the same person?'"
"I think what keeps me motivated is my life gets better every year, as a performer, professionally, personally," Flair concluded. "I’m like, 'Man, if I just put my mind to something, what can I achieve?' That’s kind of what happened with WWE."
Stay tuned for updates on Flair's WWE status as we have them.