Charlotte Flair Says She ‘Had A Meltdown’ When She Suffered Her Knee Injury Two Years Ago

Charlotte Flair recalls ‘tearing her knee up’ around two years ago.

Charlotte Flair tore her ACL in December of 2023 during a match against Asuka on the December 8, 2023, episode of WWE SmackDown. The injury also included a torn MCL and meniscus, and left Charlotte out for over a year, returning at the 2025 WWE Women’s Royal Rumble.

While speaking to Men’s Health in a new interview, Charlotte recalled tearing her ACL against Asuka and the sequence of events that came after.

“I had a meltdown. When you’re watching wrestling, you don’t realize when we have commercial breaks, we’re having to wrestle. We’re having to act. We’re having to also count down the, you’re like, okay, we’re going to commercial break in 30 seconds, but I need to get this move in, this move in, this move in, and also this girl needs to be up or I need to be up meaning like who’s in who’s in control at the moment. Then you hit commercial five, four, three, two, one is the refs count you down. Then you’re in break. Sometimes you have a live break, but the segment before that match that I was having, went heavy, so our time got cut. So when it was time for entrances and when the match started, instead of me just taking out a certain section of the match, I left it in because of ego. Then when I went from a direction to the outside that I never had gone from in the air, I was like, okay, I’m way closer to that table than I think. Am I going to let the back of my neck hit that table or am I going to get excuse me, like the F out of Dodge. So I made- got out of Dodge and I was like, ‘oh, that felt weird.’ Then I just kept going. So I finished the match by the end of it. I wasn’t- I couldn’t walk. So I had hurt it through- I’d hurt my knee three different times during that match. So I was like, had I just stopped instead of being hardheaded, but also my character is known for her athletic prowess. So being injured, was like, oh my gosh, the pressure of coming back 100%. Was I gonna not have that same edge where I’d let the fans down? Like in your mind, you’re thinking, oh my gosh, she’s gonna come back washed, and I had that looming thought that I am 39 and that is in the wrestling world- like even though the men at 39, oh my God, they’re in their prime. Where a woman at 39 is like, oh, she’s a legend, she’s had her career, go home and it’s kind of like, huh? Like, that’s the pressure that I think women go through when you’re talking about, is it harder being Flair’s kid? I think it’s getting better, but I think that’s hopefully doors that I knock down being like, well, if the men can be in their prime at 39, why can’t I be?”

Charlotte recently reflected on this year’s women’s WarGames match. You can read more about that here.

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