WWE’s Charlotte Flair felt immense pressure living up to legend Trish Stratus’ expectations at SummerSlam

The Queen was feeling the heat against the Hall of Famer (Picture: WWE)

WWE superstar Charlotte Flair has admitted she felt a lot of pressure heading into her huge SummerSlam match against Trish Stratus two years ago.

Although the Queen – who is facing Rhea Ripley and Raw Women’s Champion Nikki A.S.H. for the gold on Saturday (August 21) at this year’s event – exudes confidence every time she steps through the curtain, she revealed that wasn’t necessarily the case in the build-up to the high profile clash in 2019.

She exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘She’s Trish Stratus! And she had nothing to prove. It was really hard for me to be like, I’m facing Trish Stratus.

‘That was a concept that I couldn’t really grasp. But I kept thinking that, one, she wants to come out of retirement – not retirement but she’d been away, correct? – and wants to face me.

‘And the pressure of that, the pressure of living up to being the Charlotte Flair that she wants to face. Or that she thinks I’m that good or what she expects.’

Flair, who has held 13 singles titles in WWE across Raw, SmackDown and NXT, reiterated her belief that the pressure was all on her that night, but she found a way to hype herself up for the grand stage in what was only Trish’s fifth match since 2011.

‘Living up to all those things of how she felt about me to want to face me. And then, Trish Stratus had nothing to prove – I had everything to prove,’ she candidly said.

‘The pressure of all that, I don’t know how I kept it together but I just thought to myself: Be the best Charlotte Flair, be the opponent that she thinks you are when you’re out there.’

Despite any nerves Charlotte – whose father is the legendary Nature Boy Ric Flair – felt before the match, it went incredibly and was well-received by fans both at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and watching around the world.

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She thinks it will live on as a once in a lifetime situation where the stars aligned to create something special between two pillars of their respective eras.

‘It’s one of those moments that I don’t think you’ll ever be able to recreate,’ she said. ‘Who’d thought that you’d see Trish Stratus versus Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam?

‘It was just incredible, and to see her in her hometown – she didn’t miss a beat. I was very honoured.’

*Charlotte Flair challenges Rhea Ripley and champion Nikki A.S.H. for the Raw Women’s Title at SummerSlam on Saturday night (August 21). Tune in on the WWE Network.

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