Charlotte Flair Gives An Update On Ric Flair and Explains Why She Returned To Work

After a stressful couple weeks, beginning with a trip to China during which she found out her father, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, had been admitted to intensive care at an Atlanta hospital, Charlotte Flair returned to the road over the weekend.

While she did not appear on last night’s episode of SmackDown LIVE, she did work a dark match after the show. SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya beat Flair by using a handful of tights on a roll-up.

Backstage at the show, Flair chatted with Renee Young about how she and her father are doing.

Charlotte’s answer continues to guardedly good news about the Nature Boy’s condition and is full of gratitude for friends and fans who’ve supported the family.

“It’s probably the hardest two weeks I’ve had, but man, my dad’s a fighter. I just want to thank everyone. [laughs] He’s got nine lives. I just really want to thank everyone for the messages, the prayers… Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, text messages… it really means a lot to me, I know it means a lot to my family and most importantly I know my dad would really appreciate,” Flair said.

“He has a long road. I’m not saying he’s gonna be back next week strutting, but definitely the prayers and the positive vibes help. And I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was okay, so everything’s good. This is where I belong and I’m glad to be back.”

She also spoke about the importance of getting back to work, not just for her, but for her father, too:

“Just to be with my friends, like traveling with Becky this weekend and seeing Breeze and AJ and New Day and the whole SmackDown roster. I don’t know – when you’re used to doing something every single day and then it’s taken away for two weeks and especially since my bond with my dad is this – so I kept thinking like sitting there ‘how am I gonna talk to my dad about work?’ So just being back and knowing that he’s getting better, it’s for the family. It feels like, yeah, I don’t know, I just needed to get back in the groove of things.”