Examining Charlotte's Direction, Upside and Long-Term Potential

The pace at which Charlotte has gone from wrestling rookie to star and the speed at which she has grasped the art form are stunning.

After only four years in the business, the WWE women's champ is already looking like one of the greats.

She is not yet a finished product. She sometimes reminds us that she's still raw in many ways. Still, it's evident that she is special. 

WWE has made it clear that it believes Charlotte to be a cornerstone of its revamped women's division. She held the Divas Championship for seven months until the company replaced it with the Women's Championship, a title she still holds tight in her grasp.

Charlotte ended Nikki Bella's historic reign before fending off Brie Bella, Paige, Becky Lynch and now Natalya. 

In the process, she began to let her father, Ric Flair, be her ringside mentor. She has embraced the underhanded techniques that carried The Nature Boy to so many victories. And as Natalya gives chase to her title, Charlotte is thriving as a throwback cowardly, arrogant heel.

After her stumbles as a babyface, this villainous role is the one she was born to play.  

As Charlotte continues her rapid evolution, she is being put into a position to succeed, facing the division's top talent and getting the lion's share of the spotlight. While one could easily argue that Sasha Banks and others should be showcased more, there's no doubt Charlotte belongs on the marquee.

Strengths

Charlotte is proof that the "it" factor is hereditary. Early in her career, she exuded presence. Flair has passed down his charisma and star power.

But where Charlotte outdoes her father is in terms of athleticism.

She isn't nearly the in-ring technician Flair was, but she is quicker, more agile and naturally gifted. The Nature Boy didn't bound around with the ease that she does. Flair couldn't hit a moonsault with the kind of grace that Charlotte does.

Miami Herald columnist Scott Fishman pointed out both her athletic ability and the other trait that will carry her to success:

Charlotte carries the cockiness of her character into the ring. She struts. She mocks her opponents. Her hubris is as convincing as her viciousness.

Outside the ring, she has improved as a talker after transitioning into a heel. After retaining the women's title at WrestleMania 32, she did well to belittle her peers while talking herself up. 

The champ is a brat and a braggart, someone the crowd wants to see fall on her face. The kind of heat she generates is hard to do in the modern era, where wrestling is now more open about its scripted nature.

And once the bell rings, she often manages to deliver a strong performance, even if there are slip-ups along the way. She has produced memorable matches against Natalya, Banks, Lynch and Paige.

The match where she won the NXT women's title in 2014 remains one of the best the division has seen. She, Banks and Lynch stole the show at this year's WrestleMania with a thriller of a Triple Threat match. And when WWE.com listed the top 25 matches of 2015, the Fatal 4-Way bout featuring Charlotte, Bayley, Lynch and Banks came in at No. 5. 

WWE has plenty of evidence now that Charlotte produces when the lights are bright. It now just needs to let her stand there on her own.

Obstacles

An obsession with the past has hurt a number of current Superstars. It threatens to hold back Charlotte as well.

Having her Hall of Fame father in her corner as she rose to prominence made sense. It helped introduce her to the audience. It helped shape her character.

But WWE has since overdone it with how much it has focused on Flair's lineage. Charlotte does the Flair strut, she utters his catchphrase ("Woo!") and, at Payback, she even had The Nature Boy's former personal referee, Charles Robinson, in her pocket.

This kind of approach makes it hard for Charlotte to make her way out of Flair's shadow.

She needs to be on her own at some point. Until then, she will feel like an extension of an old star rather than a standalone new one.

And as good as she can be in the ring, she's still inconsistent. There are times that her offense doesn't look crisp enough. She and her opponent share awkward moments from time to time.

Much of that is a lack of experience. As successful as she's been, it's easy to forget that she is still learning the business. After four years, most wrestlers are still on the independent circuit, figuring out who they are, not being asked to represent an entire division for wrestling's biggest company.

One of her most notable issues is a lack of selling. One moment, she will be locked in a hold designed to tear at a limb, and the next, she will have seemingly forgotten that she is supposed to be in pain.

Rolling Stone's Kenny Herzog wrote of a sequence in the title match at Fastlane that illustrates this problem: 

"

What was up with Charlotte bouncing back from Brie's Boston Crab (and its preceding "Yes!" Lock) like she hadn't just had her leg contorted in an unnatural position for the better part of a minute, abruptly turning the tables with a pain-free Figure 8 for the win? Talk about puzzling and anticlimactic.

"

Credit: WWE.com

Charlotte isn't able to be a quality babyface—at least right now. She's a natural heel, but as a fan favorite, her interviews seemed forced, and she looked uncomfortable in that role overall.

Perhaps that will change with added experience, but she will limit WWE's booking options if she is only able to work as a heel.

Long-Term Potential

Charlotte is only going to grow from this point. She went from green prospect to division leader at NXT in a hurry. She then made her way to a high-profile spot on the main roster, improving along the way.

As Mike Mooneyham of the Post and Courier pointed out, Charlotte is continuing that improvement:

And as Charlotte is already a compelling performer capable of show-stealing bouts, imagine what she will do after a decade's worth of excellence. Charlotte will be champion several times over and, beyond that, one of WWE's bigger Superstars.

The WWE machine is behind her. That will bring a wealth of opportunities.

Combine that with the number of quality foes she is sure to face over the next few years (especially when Alexa Bliss, Asuka and Bayley are all on the main roster), and Charlotte can start prepping her Hall of Fame speech now. She and Banks will be this generation's Lita and Trish Stratus.

Count on Charlotte working out the kinks in her ring work, developing as a talker and leading the way as the women's division forces WWE to give it more spotlight. 

Be sure to check out previous editions of this ongoing series:

• Emma
• Enzo Amore
• Aiden English
• Bray Wyatt