Charlotte Flair’s Forgotten Partnership With Dana Brooke On WWE Raw, Explained
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It may make fans feel old, but Charlotte Flair has been on WWE’s main roster for nearly eight years at this point. Due to her run in WWE going on for quite a while now, there are bound to be things that people have forgotten about over the years. For instance, a rehash of the Montreal Screwjob in a match against Natalya, and even more recent things like her weird rivalry with Lacey Evans in which it was heavily implied that her father, Ric Flair, was having an affair with Evans. Among these things, many fans will have forgotten all about Flair’s partnership with Dana Brooke in 2016, which looked like it was set to be a stepping stone for a push for Brooke on WWE’s main roster.
Charlotte Flair Replaced Ric Flair With Dana Brooke
Despite starting out on WWE’s main roster as a babyface, it became clear that Flair’s natural role was as a heel, and WWE tapped into that throughout both her Divas Title reign and her WWE Women’s Title reign too. Her father, the legendary former World Champion Ric Flair, acted as her manager, helping her win matches through shenanigans and cheating. Although her father added some name value to her character, it was important for her to eventually stand on her own two feet, and this is exactly what happened once Dana Brooke came into the fold.
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At the Extreme Rules PPV, Dana Brooke appeared dressed as Ric Flair, causing a distraction which helped the champion retain against Natalya in a Submission Match. From there, Flair and Brooke became more aligned with one another, and it led to Flair disregarding her father, humiliating him and kicking him to the curb on an episode of Raw, which further established herself as a dastardly heel. Flair announced that Brooke was now her protege, with her acting as a sidekick and lackey from there on.
Emma’s Injury Saw Dana Brooke Become Charlotte Flair’s Protégé
It wasn’t in WWE’s plans initially for Dana Brooke and Charlotte Flair to come together as an act, but a series of events led to a change in plans. Brooke had recently made her main roster debut, coming to the aid of Emma, whom she had a tag team with during their time in NXT. It looked as though WWE were continuing this duo, but it was instantly cut short due to Emma picking up an ill-timed injury just a week or so later. WWE quickly reshuffled the deck and put Brooke alongside Flair.
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Brooke became very much a punching bag at times for Flair’s enemies, entering feuds with the likes of Sasha Banks and Bayley. Due to her time in NXT being mostly a success, it looked as though Brooke was set for big things in WWE, as she did her best to keep up with the high level of her opponents. She managed to hang with them in PPV matches, such as an entertaining tag match against both Banks and Bayley. Her character work was strong, and she was a good part of Flair’s act as she battled over the Raw Women’s Championship.
Charlotte Flair And Dana Brooke’s Breakup Was A Missed Opportunity
Over time, in what was a rare case of a long-term build, with hints and steady booking over time, Flair mistreated Brooke to the point where she began to naturally turn face. The fans were getting on her side, imploring her to eventually turn on Flair. After many months of partnership, things imploded, with Flair and Brooke breaking up. With how much fans were on the side of Brooke, this should have really developed into a feud between the two, however WWE completely rushed everything by having them compete in a throwaway three minute match on Raw, which was won by Flair.
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This was then barely revisited as Brooke began to fall down the card, becoming just another name on the roster. It is certainly a shame when looking at what could have been. Although Brooke has improved over time, working with the Four Horsewomen members was doing wonders for her, so taking her away from that did some damage to her development. WWE has a chance to build her up as a potential star, with her performances as both a heel and babyface showcasing her to be a versatile performer, but the ball was dropped, and the months of partnership with Flair was completely wasted for just some quick and easy heat on Flair. For what it was, their alliance was a lot of fun, and it did both of them good at the time, but in the aftermath, WWE didn’t do enough with Brooke to capitalize on her role alongside Flair.
