By Alex Biese
The Nature Boy is coming back to New Jersey, and he’s bringing company.
Professional wrestling legend Ric Flair and his daughter Charlotte, current holder of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Divas Championship, will appear for a meet-and-greet session at iPlay America in Freehold on Friday, Dec. 18.
While he’s a 16-time World Champion and member of the WWE Hall of Fame, Flair told the Asbury Park Press’ “Fan Theory” podcast that Charlotte’s success is “the highlight of my entire career.”
“There’s nothing that I have achieved personally that is as rewarding for me as seeing her get her success, which she deserves,” Flair said.
A life-long athlete, Charlotte grew up competing in gymnastics, cheer-leading and volleyball before making her debut as a full-time WWE Diva in July and winning the Divas Championship in September.
“When I saw how good she was and I saw her athletic potential, I had personal trainers working with her from the time she was 8 years old,” Flair said, nothing that Charlotte”has a work ethic that’s second to none.”
For his part, Flair has spent plenty of time in the ring in New Jersey during his decades-long career, having logged a number of particularly iconic matches at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford.
“The Meadowlands was always special,” Flair said.”I wrestled so many people there: Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Sgt. Slaughter back in the heyday, and then later on in life I wrestled Shawn Michaels there, Hunter (Hearst Helmsley, also known as Triple H). It’s just a great market.
“The wrestling fans in this part of the world, New York and New Jersey, are second to none. They’re very very similar to European fans. They’re always fun to perform in front of and they have a lot of attitude, but it’s fun for me because I give it back to them.”