Charlotte Flair Talks WWE Absence, Big Show Wants Shaq, Hogan on Young Wrestlers

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Flair Discussed Why She Took Time Off

Charlotte Flair made her WWE return at TLC last month after six months away, and The Queen has broken her silence regarding why she was gone.

During her WWE Day Of documentary (h/t Phillip Hendrix of Ringside News), Flair explained that she felt she was stagnating from a character perspective before taking time off:

"It felt like hard times for the company—as talent, as individuals. But I was like, I need to go home. If I'm not going to do this now I'm never going to do it. When I left I felt so deflated, and it's not because I wasn't or didn't feel creative, I just felt like I was at a standstill. I was working NXT, SmackDown, and Raw. I felt like I was doing the best work of my career, but I was not moving forward. I felt like, well am I letting the company down [because] I'm leaving? I've always been there. Regardless of how the fans view me as good or bad, so the last six months I just tried to think about when I do return, what does that look like and what do I want because I have done it all."

While Charlotte is and long has been one of the best all-around women's wrestlers in the world, it can be argued that she was a victim of overexposure prior to her hiatus, as WWE was using her on every show.

Flair had great matches, cut strong promos and made the most of her television time, but the viewing audience tends to get burned out on wrestlers when they're featured so often, no matter how great they are.

Taking time off gave fans a chance to miss Charlotte, and she made her return in an impactful way by teaming with Raw women's champion Asuka to beat Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships at TLC.

With that win, Flair became a Grand Slam champion, as she has now held the tag titles, as well as the NXT, Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships.

Bringing Flair back before the Royal Rumble made sense since she won the Rumble last year and figures to be a top contender against this year.

She also could be in line for a feud and match against Asuka heading into WrestleMania, which would ensure that two of WWE's top female stars have something of great importance to do on the biggest card of the year.

Big Show Still Wants to Face Shaq

There has been talk of a match between Big Show and Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal for years, and Big Show would still like the opportunity to go one-on-one with Shaq.

In an interview with WWE UK (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Big Show discussed what he believes would be the ideal situation for a match with The Big Aristotle:

"Let's see ... in a perfect scenario at WrestleMania it would be Big Show vs. Shaquille O'Neal. That would be a perfect scenario; because we never got to make that match happen. That is one of those stones I would like to get out of my shoe and settle that; who is the best big man of all time? Period."

Big Show and Shaq have mixed it up multiple times on WWE programming with the most recent and significant example coming at WrestleMania 32 in 2016.

Shaq was a surprise entrant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which Big Show won a year earlier. Big Show and O'Neal went at it, but they were both eliminated before they could truly settle the score.

Big Show vs. Shaq would be a massive spectacle fit for the WrestleMania stage, but it may not be a possibility any time soon given O'Neal's status.

Due to Shaq being an NBA on TNT analyst, he has begun a working relationship with AEW. Jade Cargill brought up Shaq's name while cutting a promo on Cody Rhodes several weeks ago and then O'Neal had an interview segment with Brandi Rhodes.

That segment ended with Brandi throwing water in Shaq's face, which could be a sign that AEW is building toward Shaq vs. Cody.

Big Show vs. Shaq may not be off the table forever, but until O'Neal stops working with AEW, it is difficult to see that match happening.

Hogan Says Young WWE Wrestlers Aren't Welcoming to Him

Ahead of his scheduled appearance on Monday's episode of Raw as part of Legends Night, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan discussed the current landscape in WWE.

In an interview with ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, Hogan said some of WWE's young Superstars don't necessarily give him a warm welcome when he shows up:

"It's a mixed bag. Some people I get a really warm reception from. Some of the younger guys are really cold to me, like I'm coming to steal the main event. And I'm like, 'I can't do this anymore, guys! I'm not a threat!'

"Going back with all the legends will be a lot of fun. When I've gone back before by myself, there have been certain wrestlers, like Edge and Seth Rollins, that have told me to my face that the only reason they got into this business was because of me. The newer kids ... I don't think they know who I am all the way."

While it may be hard to believe that some wrestlers may not know much about Hogan given his status as one of the most popular and iconic wrestlers of all time, his heyday was back in the 1980s and 1990s.

Hogan explained that fellow Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin recently told him he didn't know about some of the things he did in his career, such as appearing on Love Boat or The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which gave him greater understanding regarding why some young wrestlers may not be so excited to see him.

While Hogan is far removed from his wrestling prime and has been the subject of controversy in recent years—specifically the release of tapes in which he used racist language—it is still a significant event when Hogan appears on WWE programming.

WWE has given Hogan a chance to redeem himself over the past couple of years, and while some may be unwilling to forgive him, he has been a model citizen since being reinstated by WWE.

It is unclear what WWE has planned for The Hulkster on Raw, but he figures to have a big role on the first Raw of 2021.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).