Bully Ray Lays Out Changes He'd Like To See From WWE's Charlotte Flair

During the spring of 2025, Charlotte Flair found herself repeatedly drowned out by the boos of the WWE Universe. Along with the turn of the seasons, however, those boos turned into cheers, with Flair now largely seen as a friendly face to wrestling fans. On a recent episode of "Busted Open Radio," WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray weighed in on the shift in perception of Flair's character — something that he believes could undergo some additional changes of its own.

"I think you keep Charlotte Flair away from the [singles] championship. Keep her with Alexa [Bliss]. Keep her relatable and vulnerable," Ray said. "Last night, this is very subliminal, and I know you can't take Charlotte's gear off of her, but when she came out, she looks like the Charlotte Flair of old that we like to boo. It's almost like I'd love to see a different side of Charlotte from a gear point of view, from a visual point of view."

Typically, wrestling fans see Flair arrive to the ring in extravagant robes complemented by sparkly ring gear of various colors. Since returning from injury this year, Flair has also worn a bedazzled knee brace. To appear more relatable, and not "grossly misunderstood" as CM Punk recently referred to her as, though, Ray thinks it might be time to physically lock away items from her past.

"Imagine a vignette of Charlotte Flair maybe at home ... you see Charlotte go into her closet, she pulls out one robe and she folds the robe up nicely, and she puts it in the crate," Ray said. "Then she goes in, she gets another robe, she folds it up nicely, she puts it in the crate. Then you see her take her Divas Championship, she puts it in the crate, then you see her take one of her world championships and you see her put it in the crate. You see Charlotte take everything that is synonymous with Charlotte Flair and put it in this crate, not because she's throwing it away. She's putting it on pause. She's putting it on hold. She's putting it in storage. You're putting it away for safekeeping because you know one day you're going to get back to it, but for now, I'm putting this version of myself to sleep."

On the heels of her WWE Women's Tag Team Championship victory alongside Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam, Flair appeared on "WWE Raw" dressed in a oversized, shiny, silver robe. As co-host Dave LaGreca pointed out, she also made reference to the mass number of championships she's held in her in-ring career. Combined, LaGreca and Ray were both then slightly put off by Flair's outing.

To maintain the overall positive reactions from viewers, Ray again implored Flair to "stop being the Charlotte Flair that we know," and instead further explore the different side of herself that she previously discussed. Whether or not Flair does that by physically putting away the more familiar elements of her character has yet to be seen. Nevertheless, she and Bliss now reign as the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, with The Judgment Day's Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez now in their rearview mirror.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.