Ric Flair, AEW signee, calls Charlotte best, questions Orton's WWE usage

Ric Flair, the 16 time world champion now signed with All Elite Wrestling, used a recent interview to praise his daughter Charlotte as the best wrestler in the world while also criticizing how WWE is handling veteran star Randy Orton, saying the performer is being underutilized. Flair called Charlotte the companys most athletic and skilled competitor and placed Orton in the same rarefied category when he is healthy and on his game, but questioned why WWE has not given Orton a more prominent role.

She only became a wrestler by accident, Flair said of Charlotte, adding that she is the best wrestler, male or female. The only person who I think is close to her, when he is on and healthy, when you think about in ring timing and knowing where you are all the time, is Randy Orton, he said. On Ortons current status, Flair added, Randys really underutilised. I dont know why. I think maybe he made somebody mad along the way. Randys not afraid to say what he thinks and thats not always popular.

Flairs remarks highlight a tension between how peers view Ortons in ring talents and how WWE has booked him on television. Orton, a long-time main event performer who worked alongside Flair in the...