I wasn’t a fan of Charlotte Flair winning the 2025 Royal Rumble.
I don’t hate Charlotte Flair and I do think she’s a strong wrestler. Heck, I would argue the top three in terms of women. But I don’t care about Charlotte’s character. The former WWE Women’s Champion has NEVER been great on the mic. Flair is usually at her best when she’s a heel and her best run (in my opinion) was when she was paired with her father.
But that was nearly ten years ago. The roster isn’t the same. The WWE regime isn’t the same. Sadly, Flair is still the same character that she was in 2016. This “Queen” character is simply tired. There’s nothing new with it. I was stunned that Triple H tried to make the second-generation star a babyface at first. Flair is just not a good babyface. But this feud has exposed all of the bad parts of WWE.
Because Tiffany Stratton isn’t a good babyface either. I don’t blame Tiffany. I also don’t blame Charlotte. I don’t think Charlotte/Tiffany is the worst build to WrestleMania, but I am concerned that Stratton’s stock may dip because of it.
WWE Should've Taken A Risk
I soured on the idea of Charlotte Flair winning again because this was a perfect opportunity for WWE to take a risk on someone new. They did that with Jey Uso and they should’ve done the same for the women. Roxanne Perez could’ve been a fun challenger for Rhea or Tiffany (though I’ve chosen Rhea). Stephanie Vaquer and Jordynne Grace don’t need to be in NXT.
They would’ve fit on the main roster perfectly. Hell, WWE could’ve gone left and chose Nikki Cross or Alexa Bliss; the creativity could’ve been off the charts. There were so many interesting choices that WWE went with the bland approach. Charlotte IS not a compelling character.
Why should I care about her arrogantly getting into the main event of WrestleMania again?
The company had something with Rhea Ripley. In fact, Charlotte/Ripley III would’ve been the preferred choice. This time, Charlotte would’ve been in the underdog role and that could’ve been a nice new wrinkle for Flair. Plus, these two have history with one another. That one promo with Ripley demanding that Charlotte pick her was the most interesting thing that Flair has done since her return.
Why didn’t Charlotte pick Rhea?
How can she call herself the Queen when her throne was taken by the former Women’s World Champion?
Maybe Charlotte picked Tiffany because deep down, she knows she can’t beat Rhea. There are so many narratives that the company could’ve gone, but it doesn’t feel that WWE understands either Charlotte or Tiffany.
Charlotte is this one-dimensional heel who doesn’t have an intriguing reason for going after Tiffany. Is it because she’s trying to steal Sttraton’s spotlight? That’s an interesting wrinkle, but that’s not the story this company is telling. There doesn’t seem to be much motive behind Charlotte fighting Tiffany and that’s why this rivalry has been bone dry since the moment it began. But the reason that Charlotte/Tiffany isn’t working doesn’t solely fall on Charlotte, as Tiffany is a big reason why this feud isn’t working as well.
Tiffany Stratton Isn't Working As A Babyface
I like Tiffany Stratton. But WWE did her wrong by not understanding what they wanted to do with her character. Tiffany wins the Money in the Bank Ladder match and they build a long-term story with Nia Jax. On paper, this type of build is leading to a babyface turn. Jax is the big bad bully and Stratton is her victim until she finally cashes in that briefcase.
Stratton has her huge babyface moment, but instead, WWE ruins it by turning her back into a heel. So we wasted months and months on a story designed to cheer Tiffany, in order to turn her back into a villain without explanation.
What’s even more laughable was that the company had to turn her back into a babyface when officials realized that Charlotte was going to get the early 2000s John Cena treatment. Stratton’s face run is failing because she hasn’t had the proper time to develop her babyface personality. We don’t really know who she is as a good guy and there’s not much incentive to cheer for her.
Stratton is not working out as a babyface. She's coming off as green and Tiffany doesn’t even seem ready for the spot that she's been given. I get annoyed when WWE randomly turns someone face or heel. It happened with Roman Reigns (he never changed as a character), Bron Breakker, Iyo Sky, they tried it with Gunther when he was feuding with Judgment Day, and now it’s massively backfiring with Tiffany Stratton. At least the crowd still likes Stratton.
In this case, we did see a character evolve. Well, somewhat. That Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton story wasn’t particularly good. It was just a string of false cash-ins and Jax bossing Stratton around sometimes. But it did its job in making us feel sympathetic towards Tiffany. Plus, it helps that Stratton wasn’t doing anything despicable as a heel.
But WWE pulled the rug from under us, turning her back into a villain. They confused the audience, which is the worst thing you can do when you’re trying to tell a story. I would love to be surprised, but I don’t see how this rivalry can get any better.
I'm Concerned About Tiffany's Future
The match will likely be good. In fact, this match could be excellent! Remember Ripley/Flair and Sasha/Belair? The build to both matches was terrible. People forget because the matches were so damn good. Hopefully, that’s the case here.
But I’m concerned about the future of Tiffany Stratton as she could be on the verge of losing fans. I hope she comes out of this build unscathed. This isn’t the worst build to WrestleMania ever (Jay/Gunther is worse), but when you have a story that is so uninspired with one dimensional characters then the cause for concern is certainly warranted.