{"id":270818,"date":"2025-02-10T23:43:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T23:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/10\/wwe-robbed-charlotte-flair-with-royal-rumble-decision-former-champion-says\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:09:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:09:24","slug":"wwe-robbed-charlotte-flair-with-royal-rumble-decision-former-champion-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/10\/wwe-robbed-charlotte-flair-with-royal-rumble-decision-former-champion-says\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE &#8220;robbed&#8221; Charlotte Flair with Royal Rumble decision, former champion says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"4772018\" data-slug-id=\"2366446\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Charlotte Flair won the 2025 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match after a 14-month WWE in-ring absence. Reacting to the controversial decision, 21-time Hardcore Champion Stevie Richards explained why The Queen&#8217;s return should have been booked differently.<\/p>\n<p>Flair was the 27th entrant in the 30-woman match. The polarizing star eliminated four competitors en route to earning a title opportunity at WrestleMania 41 on April 19-20. Since the event, the 38-year-old has received mixed crowd reactions on RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.<\/p>\n<p>On <em>The Stevie Richards Show<\/em>, Richards said fans were always going to reject Flair&#8217;s babyface persona if she immediately won the Royal Rumble. He added that the 14-time champion should have targeted another title reign at the end of the year like the retiring John Cena:<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I would have eased her back into the whole thing, and then you&#8217;ve got girls to work,&#8221; Richards stated. &#8220;You&#8217;ve got a road map to get you back to the title. Your whole angle is, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to get back and win the world title by the end of 2025.&#8217; Maybe on the same show Cena wins the world title at the end of the year. It&#8217;s a special event. I think they robbed her, and she robbed herself, of being way more over than she ever was before by just inserting her [into the title picture].&#8221; [5:01 \u2013 5:31]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline top\" data-tab=\"top\">\n<p>See who is stunned by Hulk Hogan&#8217;s words <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R5x9xeu8TyU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"top\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/embed\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe title=\"BAD IDEA - Charlotte Flair Winning the Royal Rumble\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fTCMEDPIibs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\" data-embed=\"fTCMEDPIibs\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fTCMEDPIibs\/sddefault.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fTCMEDPIibs\/sddefault.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Flair is allowed to challenge for a title of her choosing at WrestleMania 41. After winning the Royal Rumble, the WrestleMania 35 main-eventer appeared on RAW to address a possible match against Women&#8217;s World Champion Rhea Ripley. Later in the week, she also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-charlotte-flair-sends-six-word-message-confronting-rhea-ripley-giulia-tiffany-stratton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">teased<\/a> potential bouts with NXT Women&#8217;s Champion Giulia and WWE Women&#8217;s Champion Tiffany Stratton.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Stevie Richards on WWE&#8217;s missed Charlotte Flair opportunity<\/h2>\n<p>On December 8, 2023, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/charlotte-flair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Charlotte Flair<\/a> suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus against Asuka on SmackDown. WWE hyped her return with a promotional package ahead of the Royal Rumble. However, the video mostly revolved around her lavish lifestyle and title reigns rather than her injury.<\/p>\n<p>Stevie Richards thinks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">WWE<\/a> made a big mistake by not highlighting her road to recovery:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Show it, and I mean show it from the very beginning. That way the people will never have her out of their minds or out of their hearts, and then somebody talks cr*p about her for a year until she comes back, then you&#8217;ve got a girl that&#8217;s over, put in her place [Flair&#8217;s opponent], the heel, but then continues to try to hurt Charlotte on the way, maybe, to WrestleMania or on the way to something.&#8221; [12:30 \u2013 12:57]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/tiffany-stratton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Tiffany Stratton<\/a> will defend the WWE Women&#8217;s Championship against Nia Jax on the February 14 episode of SmackDown. Charlotte Flair plans to wait at least until the match is over before deciding on her WrestleMania 41 opponent.<\/p>\n<p><em>What are your thoughts on WWE&#8217;s booking of Charlotte Flair&#8217;s return? Hit the discuss button and let us know.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong><em>Please credit The Stevie Richards Show and give an H\/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline-banner\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<a class=\"bottom-tagline-banner-link\" data-tab=\"bottom\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/posts\/wrestlevotes-ep-121122045\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline-banner-container\">\n<div class=\"thumbnail\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"120\" alt=\"tagline-banner-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/statico.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2025\/01\/8611a-17382583869309-1920.jpg?h=240\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Danny Hart<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script> \nvar fbPixelFired = false;\nvar pixelID = \"952063904834769\";\ndocument.addEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\ndocument.addEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\nfunction loadFBPixel() {\nif(fbPixelFired) {\nreturn;\n}\nfbPixelFired = true;\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? \nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, \ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', pixelID); \nfbq('track', \"PageView\");\nfbq('track', 'ViewContent');\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel);\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel);\n}\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-wwe-robbed-charlotte-flair-royal-rumble-decision-former-champion-says\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Charlotte Flair won the 2025 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match after a 14-month WWE in-ring absence. Reacting to the controversial decision, 21-time Hardcore Champion Stevie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":270819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}