The following is an update as reported by PWInsider on the Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch confrontation that occured backstage at SmsckDown in Wichita, Kansas last Friday night.
-The confrontation took place in the gorilla position in full view of Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard, and among others. It is being said two different sources described Sonya Deville as “mad enough to want to fight Flair” and at one point, including an argument with Flair in the backstage area.
-The Lynch argument was said to have been loud and angry with Lynch described as standing up for herself after being “disrespected.”
-The blame for the situation reportedly has fallen on Charlotte Flair, with several claiming that the situation started after Flair made it clear she felt the segment made herself and her championship reign “look weak.” It is being said there have been several alleged instances where Flair’s behavior has led to issues in recent months, including legitimate back and forth issues with Nia Jax in the ring on Raw.
-The criticism on Flair is said to be that she has been self-indulgent towards protecting herself and making sure that all attention is on her. However, one source reportedly not close to Flair said, “Let’s be honest, that’s what stars do. They make sure their star power remains the same or greater.” Another source reportedly noted that the resentment towards Flair has been building in recent weeks and it was “just a matter of time” before something happened.
-Flair was escorted out of the building by WWE officials, which some close to her pointed to as a “sign of disrespect” in itself, given her family’s history with the company and her importance to the SmackDown brand going forward. It was said that one talent who was in the building, but did not see the argument, felt the company did the right thing as it was just WWE’s way to defusing the situation.
PWInsider noted that Flair was not backstage at AEW Dynamite in Orlando, Florida over the weekend. However, she has visited backstage in the past, as her fiance Andrade El Idolo works for AEW. It was reportedly said that there were those in her circle that were privately pushing the idea of her trying to get out of her WWE deal. However, it was further noted, realistically, no one expects that to actually happen.
-With Flair and Lynch now on separate brands, and a UK tour keeping the brands separated for a good part of next month, they would likely not be crossing paths until WWE storylines call for it, possibly at Survivor Series. It is further being said there are a number of people within WWE keeping their eyes on Flair to see what will happen with her and how she will handle herself when she heads to this Friday’s SmackDown in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
FOX replayed Friday’s SmackDown episode on Saturday due to the Major League Baseball American League Championship series ending. The part of the title exchange segment with Flair dropping the belt was edited. The belief and expectation is the final archived episode for Peacock, WWE Network and Hulu, will be the edited version that aired on Saturday.