No WWE female star has been as dominant and controversial as Charlotte Flair, who attracted both the spotlight and criticism with her recent Royal Rumble victory, which led to a WrestleMania 41 title match that many fans believe was undeserved. Charlotte Flair's caustic personality was on full display during the build up to that match, but in a recent interview with People, the star expressed a desire to finally show who she really is: Ashley Fliehr, a woman who is very different from the Charlotte who fans see on TV.

The 14-time world champion said that after WrestleMania 41 she plans to abandon the "Charlotte Flair" character as she believes this does not feel relatable to fans. She also addressed her recent divorce and how going public about it lifted a weight off her shoulders. Charlotte has been struggling with her placement since her return from injury, and it seems she now realizes that it may be time to correct course. Flair seems ready to bring the fans something she never has before: more of herself in her character work and less of The Queen.

Leaving "Charlotte Flair" Behind: Why the Queen Is Stepping Out of Character

From Pain, A New Journey Begins For The Queen

Although she is one of the most decorated professional wrestlers in the history of WWE, the majority of Charlotte Flair character's presentation has been as an unrelatable and out-of-touch diva, and even when she returned to the ring from a serious injury, the fans didn't buy into her imioned speech and booed her while she celebrated her Royal Rumble win. The Flair character is ultimately one-dimensional and follows a similar pattern: return to the ring, challenge the champion, win the championship, rinse and repeat.

In a recent interview with People, Flair commented on the changes she felt, personally and professionally, since her unexpectedly open interview with Sherri Shepherd earlier in March.

I’ve felt a bit exposed. I think a weight has been lifted off my shoulders because ‘Charlotte’ had to be so perfect and pristine all the time and people couldn't separate the character and who I am in real life. So, getting all these things that have been really hard for me off of my chest, like, ‘This is who I am, accept me.’ It feels like I don’t have to — not necessarily hide — but I’m not worrying about, you know, ‘What’s going to happen today?’ Or in an interview, ‘Are they going to ask me and I’ll have to pivot to something else?’ It’s like, this is the authentic me. And it feels really good.

Wrestling is largely defined not just by the in-ring work of the performers, but also by the personalities, the larger-than-life personas that the WWE Superstars present to the fans. Whether it's the Tribal Chief, the American Nightmare, or The Man, fans will either buy into the performance or reject it, causing a pivot for the creative plans in place. As WWE lifts the curtain on the world of kayfabe, the Superstars are also beginning to see, and react to in real time, the fans' reception to the characters they see on their screens and in person, which is what happened, in an accidental way, with Flair since her WrestleMania loss.

Opening Up About Divorce: Ashley Fliehr Gets Candid with Fans

Vulnerability In Public Is Difficult, But Flair Tore Her Walls Down

Life, in general, can be difficult, but being exposed in the spotlight consistently and repeatedly is a much larger cross to bear, especially as someone as identifiable and recognizable as Charlotte Flair. Not only a decorated champion in her own right, she's the daughter of the former most decorated champion of all time, Ric Flair, which adds an extra layer of scrutiny to an already very public persona.

So it came as a surprise to many that she would be as candid as she was during an interview with Sherri Shepherd, where she discussed her divorce from her husband, WWE Superstar Andrade El Idolo, and the effect it took on her, both with the embarrassment of another divorce and the comparisons to her father's troubled love life.

I felt like I was failing in my personal life and the embarrassment of being divorced again and being compared to my father. Let me gather myself. When I made the decision to file for divorce, the only thing I kept thinking was I just didn’t want anyone to know. ‘Oh my gosh, I have failed again.’ Then, my knee. As women, I think men too, but everyone is probably thinking, ‘She’s going to come back a year older. She’s going to come back less than. She’s coming back off this knee injury.’ Unfortunately, the WWE audience hasn’t gotten to see the come back of Charlotte Flair. This wasn’t a Charlotte Flair redemption story, but for me it’s a redemption story for me because everything I have feared or been scared of or embarrassed of, publicly, because everyone has an opinion, even though they don’t know the facts.

By allowing herself a moment of rawness and reality, Flair presented a new version of herself to the fans that they'd never experienced or seen before, a person just like the rest of us, struggling with her own perceived failures, flaws, and insecurities. It opened a door that seemed just out of reach for her: a genuine connection with the audience who had never perceived her as anything other than disingenuous and hostile, especially as fans reacted negatively to her shoot responses in the controversial Friday Night SmackDown segment with Tiffany Stratton leading into WrestleMania 41.

From Perfection to Authenticity: How Charlotte Plans to Connect on a Personal Level

Healing Is Freedom, And Freedom Is Shedding The Shackles That Bind You

While some may see vulnerability as weakness, the gift of freedom that comes with speaking your truth can't be quantified, and also allowing others to see you as a human rather than just a face on a screen. So many of us can relate to those feelings of inadequacy, failure, and hurt, and the ability to connect with these shared emotional vibrations often makes for the best and most compelling stories in wrestling and art in general. With that level of candidness and vulnerability, Charlotte Flair found her redemption, but also a way to actually connect with fans on a real level for the first time outside the confines of her shiny, rigid character arc.

In her conversation with People, Flair said she felt freed from the burdens of her pain, and is leaning in to the fans seeing Ashley Fliehr.

On the opposite side of WrestleMania, I think I will tap more into that and kind of try to bring me — Ashley, the real person — to Charlotte, because I do feel like Charlotte really isn’t - the character I made is not relatable.

If I could be ‘Charlotte’ in my real life, I would. In reality, if I wasn’t here right now, I’d be in sweats watching old episodes of Sex and the City. But no, I feel like at this stage in my career I’d like to pull the curtain back a little bit and show them like, 'Hey I’ve been this hardcore, dominant b---- for however many years.' But I’d like to also be able to high-five the kids as I walk down the aisle.

Vulnerability and acknowledgment of pain is an integral part of the healing process and often the first step in a major life transition, even if just for the simple process of forgiveness of self. By shedding the confines and restrictions of perfection, Flair has a unique opportunity here to heal publicly while creating a brand-new element to her character in a way that feels authentic and honest. Creating something that could be a template for other Superstars struggling to relate to the audience, Charlotte Flair is doubling down on authenticity, and it seems like this new journey will be a fruitful, and healing, one.