Charlotte Flair says WWE Unreal has changed the way fans see her, giving them more access to what happens behind the scenes than ever before. Speaking on Unsportsmanlike, Flair said the series helped viewers connect with the person behind the character and not just the version of her they see on television.
"For me, Unreal did so much in terms of the fans being able to connect with the person and not just the character," Flair said. She said wrestling is already understood to be scripted and argued that every business has to evolve, adding that WWE is in the business of selling conflict. "Everything has to evolve. If you’re really good at your job, it shouldn’t be an issue," she said.
Flair also pointed to how much the industry has changed from the old days, saying the older generation lived in gimmick and that wrestlers were not traveling with the person they were feuding with. Now, she said, fans can see her and whoever she is wrestling at the gym the next day, which makes the separation between the show and real life much thinner than it once was.
That shift matters because Flair said she spent the last nine years portraying a villain so convincingly that fans believed she was that bad guy for all of it. "I played my character so well that they believed that I was that bad guy for the last nine years," she said, adding, "For me, it did wonders." Her comments come as WWE Unreal has been polarizing for fans and wrestlers alike, with some seeing it as too much of a lift of the curtain and others treating it as the next step for the business.
The timing gives the series another layer of attention: WWE Unreal has been nominated for multiple Sports Emmy Awards, with the ceremony set for May 26 in New York City. WWE has also been weaving real life into its storylines recently, including Pat McAfee and CM Punk talking about WrestleMania ticket sales and prices, a sign that the line between performance and reality is getting harder to draw even as the company keeps pushing it further.
