WWE superstar Charlotte Flair caused controversy when she deviated from the scripted SmackDown segment with Tiffany Stratton.
She faced the experience while promoning with fellow grappler Tiffany Stratton on a show where they talked about Flair's recent divorce split from her husband. The unplanned moment caused backstage controversy forcing WWE to do cuts before replaying the segment on television.
At the beginning of the segment she pretended to mock Stratton in what had the appearance of an impromptu insult. Stratton had a response to Flair's life changes and her divorce and took their exchange up with each other.
When Flair responded to Stratton's remark on Ludwig Kaiser she said that her business partner had messaged Stratton that brought intensity to their exchange. Viewers and backstage crew felt awkward when the spur-of-the-moment remarks came across that WWE later pulled down the portions from online distribution.
Backstage Reactions and Fan Responses
Spontaneous exchange of words between Stratton and Flair consisted of fans and industry members that triggered several debates. The exchange created two groups of viewers - those shocked by its spontaneity and those that denounced that it violated professional expectations.
Behind the scenes, wrestlers were negatively criticized since their deviation from the scripted material threatened professional production expectations on live TV.
She ended the controversy on social media by making a sarcastic apology after he realized that he should never have uttered those particular words addressing fans in Chicago. I apologize for that.
Flair outlined that in a tongue-in-cheek comment on the controversy that revealed how much he knew about the controversy but refused to mention the particular words from the segment.
There were unexpected plot twists made in the storyline between Strand and Flair in Raw leading up to WrestleMania 41.
That off-the-cuff dialogue has generated publicity but also serves to show why there needs to be adherence to scripted storylines as a necessary means of preserving the quality of the show and of professional relationship among athletes.