Charlotte Flair says WWE’s women have always carried a heavier load than the men.
The Queen made the case to Glamour, framing the division’s progress as something earned against a narrower set of opportunities.
WWE was probably one of the first places where women were truly given the opportunity to be highlighted. I was part of the first-ever women’s main event of a Premium Live Event and then main-evented WrestleMania. (Alexa Bliss) was the first woman to wrestle in Abu Dhabi. We’ve been main-event players for a long time.
She credits the new broadcast deals for widening the audience.
Now, with partnerships like Netflix and ESPN bringing WWE to a broader audience, people are realizing, Wow, these women are bada—- in main events in a male-dominated sport.
Then the point underneath it.
And that’s what makes WWE women so special. We’ve always had to work that much harder because there are fewer spots.
Her examples hold up. Flair and Sasha Banks closed Hell in a Cell in October 2016, the first women’s match to main event a WWE pay-per-view. Three years later she was in the WrestleMania 35 main event alongside Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey, the first time women headlined the show.
The Abu Dhabi milestone belongs to two people. Bliss defended the Raw Women’s Championship against Banks at a live event in December 2017, the first WWE women’s match staged in the city.
Flair is still logging the miles. She entered the 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble at number one and lasted 59 minutes and 49 seconds, longer than the entire men’s Rumble ran that night.
She goes Sunday on Night 2 of SummerSlam in the five-way ladder match for the interim WWE Women’s Championship, against Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill, Chelsea Green and the winner of Giulia vs. Lash Legend.
