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Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has affected countries worldwide, the WWE Live South Africa tour has been postponed to September.
WWE Superstar Charlotte Flair talks to Channel24 from New York, while on the elliptical trainer about playing a TV baddie and what's next for women in wrestling.
What Charlotte loves most about being in the ring is being a role model and "having been able to create a strong, independent, confident character in a male-dominated world."
Talking to Channe24, she says: "I hope that I can send a message that anyone, in any industry, if they work hard enough, change can be made and anything is possible, especially gender equality. "
A second-generation professional wrestler, Charlotte is the daughter of Ric Flair, and she says there is nothing more gratifying or a feeling of being more alive than being in the ring.
"I now understand why my dad had such a hard time retiring because I can't imagine the day when I wake up and hang up my boots," she laughs.
About her character Charlotte, whose real name is Elizabeth Ashley Fliehr, she says it's about finding a balance between entertainment value, and who she is as 'Elizabeth'.
"They say that the best characters are the ones that are an extension of the person, and I'm very proud of my sports background, and I'm sometimes a little bit over-competitive. But it's about finding certain parts of yourself and putting it into the character," she says.
She adds: "I play a bad guy, but one thing I do is that I never resort to body-shaming or the cheap ways about being a mean girl. I show a different side to what it means to be a bad guy, playing up the arrogance rather, because at the end of the day little boys and girls, and everyone around the world is watching and following you on social media."
Charlotte became the first woman to headline a WWE pay-per-view event in October 2016 and was one of three women to headline WrestleMania, WWE's flagship annual event, in April 2019.
Speaking about how women have become an integral part of the WWE line-up, Charlotte says: "We've gone from secondary storyline to being the centre focus of the company, and that's apparent from whether it's posters and T-shirts to being the main attraction on Wrestlemania. The message is that there's nothing that our female superstars haven't done, that our male superstars can do. And we've been given the platform."
For a WWE Superstar "life is pretty much the same thing every day, just a different city" according to Charlotte.
"I'll wake up like I'm on the elliptical right now. Then I'll do weights for about 45 minutes and find a Starbucks and make it to the show. I'll eat either chicken, salmon or steak twice a day and a protein shake and then drive to the next show," she says, when asked about her day-to-day routine.
When she does have a moment to herself, Charlotte says she loves being in the water and especially loves boats.
Another passion is food, and she enjoys trying different restaurants and different local cuisine that is popular to the area she is in."
Trying the food native to South Africa is something she looks forward to when visiting later this year.
"I've never been to South Africa. But every time I get to go to a new country, and I realise that they know who we are, it's mind-boggling to me," she says about the upcoming tour.
Although the WWE Live South African tour has been postponed, she says: "I can't wait to come to perform and if you're going to do it, do it with flair!"
