WWE star Charlotte Flair has admitted that it’s an honour to be compared to Randy Orton after revealing that she studies the Viper’s work.
The Queen, who became a two-time NXT Women’s Champion at WrestleMania 36, also opened up about the pressures of delivering against Rhea Ripley.
Ahead of the unique behind closed doors Show of Shows Charlotte’s dad, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, had hailed former Evolution stablemate Orton as the company’s top guy.
And Naitch shared his belief his daughter is the “female Orton” because of her ability to make her opponent look good and prioritise the match over herself.
But speaking to SunSport, Charlotte laughed as she replied to Ric’s comments: “Ahhh my dad.
“Randy is someone I very much look up to and I study his work.
“But everyone knows my dad is my biggest fan. So, of course, he would compare me to Randy but that’s just an honour and sometimes my dad brags too much.”
Charlotte’s win over Rhea opened the second night of WrestleMania, a year on after she was part of the historic inaugural women’s main event at the Showcase of the Immortals alongside Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey.
But the Nature Girl claimed that the pressure on the night instead came from carrying the responsibility of protecting the green Ripley.
She added: “I don’t care where I am placed on the card. I mean let me rephrase that, I do care.
“But in terms of putting pressure on myself to deliver whether I’m the first match, this match or the main event…it is exactly the same.
“Last year main eventing was a little different because I was walking in with two established stars that the whole world already knew.
“So I knew that Becky knew what she was walking into. Ronda knew what she was walking into.
“For Rhea, I very much felt the pressure, she has nothing to lose. This is her first WrestleMania, she’s been thrown into this crazy storyline that all of a sudden she’s come through NXT to the biggest show of the year, and I very much took on the pressure.
“If it doesn’t work, it’s on me that the pressure is on me that this has to go well. So I didn’t look at it as opening Mania or closing WrestleMania, it was just the pressure of overall delivering for the show as a whole.
“But it was exciting to know that my entrance opened the second night of WrestleMania so I thought that’s what was so cool.
“It almost felt like the main event entrance because it’s the last entrance and now it’s the first and I was very honoured that they had that much faith in us.”
Relive last weekend’s WrestleMania 36 where Drew McIntyre became the first ever British WWE World Champion, this Saturday and Sunday on BT Sport 1 at 9pm
