Charlotte Flair Reveals Who She Wants To Face At WrestleMania 34, Why It’s Not Ronda Rousey

During a co-hosting appearance on SiriusXM Stars’ Conversations With Maria Menounos on Thursday, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair revealed who she wants to face at WrestleMania 34.

“I know who I want to wrestle. I want to wrestle Asuka, I want to break her streak,” Flair told Maria Menounos.

“We’ve never faced each other, never been in a multi-woman match. I feel her coming from Japan and having her own legacy, and coming from a completely different culture, and then my background, I think it’s definitely a WrestleMania moment. So that’s who I would like to face.”

Menounos then says she thought Flair would say, “Ronda Rousey.” Flair responds, “She has to pay her dues first to face me.”

Here are more highlights from the interview.

If WWE talent are happy to have Rousey there:

“Oh, they should be. Ronda’s a star and an attraction and with her coming to be a part of the women’s division, obviously it brings more eyes on the women’s division, not just our audience. I mean, people that don’t even watch wrestling, they know who Ronda Rousey is. They’re like, ‘oh she’s on WWE, oh let’s tune in for a second.’ So I think that’s huge. But, you know, we’re on the road 265 days a year and you just can’t call yourself a WWE Superstar. So the easiest thing she’ll do is sign a contract. Whether she’s willing to put in that work, that’s where the respect and understanding our culture and what it means to be a star in our industry… we’ll see how the future plays out. ”

If she would take Rousey under her wing:

“100 percent. I haven’t had that opportunity. I’m on Smackdown right now and she’s been on Raw, but I hope in the future. I think all the women would be willing to take her under their wing and show her the ropes.”

Advice for Rousey:

“It doesn’t matter how athletic you are… It’s about being a performer and eliciting a reaction from the crowd. The best superstars are the ones who can have an emotional connection, whether positive or negative, with their audience. And that’s what makes the greats, great.”

Not understanding the impact of her father’s legacy:

“I didn’t really know about his legacy. That’s what’s crazy. People are like, ‘well, your Dad was Ric Flair, you must have grown up around the business.’ Yes, I went to my Dad’s matches, but I was always playing sports and I just wasn’t really into, I don’t know, the celebrity scene. It’s when I started, that’s when I started to learn, wow, my Dad means a lot to a lot of people in this industry and I started to understand his choices. Now being a part of a company, now I get it. The feel you get when you walk on stage, in front of 101,000 people, there’s nothing like it. Being able to control an arena full of emotions, now I understand. And then the road life becomes your family.”

Conversations With Maria Menounos airs live weekdays from 1 to 2:00 p.m. EST on SiriusXM Stars. You can also catch the podcast edition every Friday on Apple Podcasts and ConversationsWithMaria.com.