5 reasons why WWE has made Charlotte Flair lose six PPV matches in a row

Charlotte Flair will face Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in one of the featured matches at the WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view on Sunday, May 19.

In a recent article, we looked at five possible reasons why Rusev has lost 18 PPV matches in a row over the last two years, breaking an unwanted record that was previously held by The Great Khali.

Whilst researching the article, it was noticeable that there are also several other Superstars on WWE’s main roster who are currently struggling to rack up victories in high-profile matches, including Flair.

Over the last seven months, "The Queen" has competed in six PPV matches and she has lost all six of them: vs. Lynch (Evolution), vs. Ronda Rousey (Survivor Series), vs. Asuka & Lynch (TLC), vs. Lynch & 28 other women (Royal Rumble), vs. Lynch (Fastlane), vs. Lynch & Rousey (WrestleMania 35).

For any other Superstar, a run of defeats like this would probably not be too alarming. However, considering that the eight-time main-roster champion was once considered “The Queen of PPV”, it is surprising that WWE has taken a completely different direction with her character at PPVs in recent months.

In this article, let’s take a look at five possible reasons why the company's decision-makers have made her lose six PPV matches in a row.

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#5 To end her run as WWE's 'Queen of PPV'

The best WWE characters are the ones whose storyline arcs evolve significantly over the course of several years. Seth Rollins, for example, was once “The Architect”, then “The Man”, then “The Kingslayer”, and now he has transitioned into “The Beastslayer” following his victory over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35.

In Charlotte Flair’s case, she won all 16 of her singles matches on pay-per-view between July 2015 and March 2017, earning herself the "Queen of PPV" nickname.

Once her undefeated streak finally ended against Bayley at Fastlane 2017, there was no need for her to win so many PPV matches or for her to be referred to as WWE’s “Queen of PPV” again. However, the name returned in late 2017/early 2018 when she strung together five PPV wins in a row, with her most notable victory coming against Asuka at WrestleMania 34.

The Flair we see today is very different to the person we saw during her initial “Queen of PPV” run, so perhaps these losses are partly due to WWE moving away from her former character and transforming her into someone who, as we’ve seen in recent months, is not as unbeatable as everybody thought.

#4 Becky Lynch needed the victories more

Charlotte Flair had already established herself as the top woman in WWE before these pay-per-view defeats started, so it is not as if her character has been affected by her recent losing streak.

Becky Lynch, on the other hand, desperately needed to start picking up meaningful victories in 2018 after spending the previous 18 months playing cheerleader to Flair and Naomi on SmackDown Live.

After the former best friends traded victories in singles matches at Hell In A Cell in September 2018 and Super Show-Down in October 2018, four of Flair’s six PPV losses since then have come against “The Man”, including the WrestleMania 35 main event (also including Ronda Rousey) for the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.

Flair could have continued winning at the same rate on PPV after SummerSlam 2018, but where would that have left Lynch? These victories have completely turned her career around, while “The Queen” has been able to remain a top star in the process.

#3 To appease the WWE Universe

In reality, Charlotte Flair is one of the hardest workers in WWE and she has been involved in some of the greatest women’s matches of all time over the last few years.

In WWE’s storylines, she is the hand-picked favourite of the McMahon family and fans have grown tired of seeing her receive opportunity after opportunity instead of other women on the roster who are often overlooked.

Although it makes sense from a storyline perspective for WWE’s on-screen authority figures to keep putting Flair in title matches, fans would become even more infuriated with the current product if “The Queen” also went on to win many of these PPV matches.

Perhaps WWE has seen how well audiences react when she loses high-profile matches and that is why she has taken on the role of suffering defeats against babyfaces on PPV over the last seven months.

#2 Her current character is defined by titles, not PPV wins

As we mentioned earlier in the article, Charlotte Flair’s July 2015-March 2017 run as WWE’s “Queen of PPV” was successful while it lasted but her current character as “The Queen” does not necessarily need to win at pay-per-view events. Instead, she has a much more meaningful focus: title reigns.

Despite only stepping foot on the main roster four years ago, Flair has already racked up an extraordinary eight title reigns (Raw Women’s Championship x4, SmackDown Women’s Championship x3, Divas Championship x1), making her the most decorated champion in the history of WWE’s women’s division.

As she prepares to face Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Money In The Bank on May 19, it feels like there is a very real possibility that she will win the title back from her former best friend and become a nine-time champion.

Regardless of whether she wins or not, Flair’s run of losses has almost gone unnoticed over the last few months, simply because it is her tally of title victories that is more important.

#1 She was overshadowing the rest of the women's division

Looking back at the WWE landscape in the summer of 2018, Ronda Rousey was beginning to make strides as an in-ring competitor on Raw, while Charlotte Flair was undeniably the biggest Superstar in either of the company’s two main-roster women’s divisions.

Elsewhere across the two brands, Sasha Banks and Bayley were midway through the worst year of their WWE careers so far, Alexa Bliss was Raw Women’s champion but her reign was destined to come to an end, and Becky Lynch and Asuka were being completely overshadowed by Carmella’s title reign on SmackDown Live.

Right now, it would be an exaggeration to say that Flair is the John Cena or Roman Reigns of the women’s division. Back then, however, that would have been an accurate description of how she was being presented in WWE’s storylines.

Following her run of pay-per-view defeats, other female Superstars have been able to step up during that time (Lynch, Asuka etc) and stake their claim to seriously challenge “The Queen” as the top woman in the company.

Would that have happened if Flair continued winning? Almost certainly not.