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New WWE NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair said she wants to work all three brands – RAW, SmackDown and NXT. Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT noted on Twitter that he spoke to Flair this morning and she said she plans to defend the NXT Women’s Title across all three brands, and is excited about the prospect of facing wrestlers from the NXT women’s division. She also said she’s only “scratched the surface” with Rhea Ripley, who she captured the title from in the opener of WrestleMania 36 Night Two on Sunday. Flair, who also turned 34 on Sunday, is still a member of the RAW roster as of this writing. We noted earlier, via Wrestling Observer Radio, that Flair would be competing on RAW and NXT moving forward. Flair also spoke with TV Insider today and was asked if she will be working RAW and NXT from here on out. “I guess that is up for debate,” Flair said. “Do I need to be drafted to NXT? [Laughs] How is this going to work? I hope I get to work at all three brands.” Flair was also asked some of the NXT Superstars she’s looking forward to locking up with. She named Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, and Bianca Belair. “Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, and I’m sure Bianca Belair wants a rematch,” Flair said. “I haven’t really thought about that yet. It’s crazy, a whole new group of girls. Everyone knows that I’m probably the most competitive person in the locker room, so I’m going to want to have the best division.” Regarding her look at WrestleMania 36, the interviewer noted that Flair tries to wear a special robe to tell a story on The Grandest Stage of Them All each year. She was asked about the robe she wore this year. Flair revealed someone new made her robe this year, but she believes it was her best yet. “My favorite color is purple,” Flair said. “A new person made my robe for WrestleMania, so I was a little nervous. I wanted to look like the evil queen with my favorite color, and they did that. It was by far my best robe, I think.” Flair said she felt a little more pressure at WrestleMania 36 as this was Ripley’s first match at a WrestleMania event. She was asked how this match compared to others she’d had at WrestleMania. “I think I felt a little more pressure because, one, this is her first Mania,” Flair said. “This is my fifth. She really had nothing to lose. I wanted to go out there and elevate the NXT women’s championship because it was the first time it was ever being defended on WrestleMania. I wanted to do it justice. I never faced Rhea before, other than a couple minutes on SmackDown without a storyline build. I thought, ‘How do I want to take this audience on a roller coaster and make people believe Charlotte Flair was going to win the NXT women’s championship?’”

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Former WWE superstar CM Punk was a guest on the No Sports Report show where the Chicago Savior revealed he finds it difficult to enjoy pro-wrestling in an empty arena setting, which has been the state of the business recently due to COVID-19. Punk states that he could easily watch a legitimate pro-sporting event like hockey or MMA without fans, but doesn’t think it translates well inside the squared circle.

I would be able to watch hockey or UFC or Bellator, any kind of mixed martial arts fight when there’s no people in the crowd because it’s a sport. With pro wrestling, I find it completely impossible to watch with no crowd. The audience is the 100% – and this is more evident than ever now – driving force behind what wrestlers do in the ring. When I wrestled, that was my boss.

He continues…explaining that the fans are what drives the emotions, storylines, and characters in wrestling, and without them it becomes obvious that it’s a “worked art.”

A lot of people have their favorite wrestlers and debate who’s on the Mount Rushmore or greatest of all time but the thing that separates the greatest wrestlers from the okay guys is that when there in the ring, they’re the bosses, they’re in charge, but the truth to that is, the audience is in charge,” Punk said. “The audience boos and cheers who they want, they tell you if they like the moves, if they are emotionally invested in the match that tells you where to take it. You can manipulate them but they can also manipulate the match. Without all of that, I don’t know what we’re doing. It lends credence, in my opinion, to everyone who argues that wrestling is just a stage fight, it’s a stimulation, its predetermined acrobatics. Without the audience, without the emotion and the adrenaline, that’s what I feel like I’m watching, I feel like I’m watching a video game.

Check out the full interview below. (H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)

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