At SummerSlam, it’ll be the queen of one generation versus the queen of another, as 9-time WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair takes on WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus for the first time ever. It’s a dream match for many wrestling fans and could serve as an incredible main event on just about any show WWE could ever present. It’ even more than that, though. Flair, herself, sees the match as fated to be.
“We didn’t get to tell this story on TV, but [in] 2005 when her and Lita main-evented Raw, that was in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I was sitting front row,” Flair told GameSpot and a small group of media at the TCA press tour. “So to know that I’m a [high school] senior watching that happen, watching history be made, watching these two women that were pioneers in their time, [now knowing] that was going to be me 11 years later in the same arena and the same main event spot on Raw–and that was going to take that many years later. But you can’t write stuff like that. So Trish is saying, ‘You can’t tell me that didn’t inspire.’ And I’m like, ‘I just never saw myself as a diva.'”
And in that way, Charlotte is right. Since Stratus retired from competition, WWE has also shelved the “Diva” terminology, instead labeling their female performers as “superstars”–just like the men. Still, she sees the importance of the generational battle she faces at SummerSlam.
“It’s just crazy. And now that woman that I was watching as a senior main event [and] make history… Now I’m walking into Summer Slam [with] her being the greatest of all time and me going, ‘No, I’m the greatest of all time,'” Flair explained. “It’s just crazy. I mean, I don’t have another word.”
This battle to see who is the true greatest of all time is only one of the matches on the SummerSlam card. For the rest, make sure to check out our preview of WWE’s biggest show of the summer and to come back Sunday for live coverage of the event.
