Charlotte Flair Praises Jacy Jayne & Fatal Influence After WWE SmackDown Loss

WWE

Charlotte Flair has praised Jacy Jayne and Fatal Influence, despite suffering a loss on the recent episode of WWE SmackDown.

Having moved up to the main roster on April 24, Jacy Jayne would be in singles action against Charlotte Flair on the following week’s episode of WWE SmackDown.

Jayne would be victorious over Flair on the May 1 show, although it didn’t come without assistance from Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid, the other two members of Fatal Influence.

With a loss in the record books, Flair recently appeared on ESPN SportsCenter, where the match on SmackDown was a talking point, and praise for Henley, Reid and Fallon followed, saying:

“Here’s the thing, nobody likes to lose, even if it’s three-on-one. However, I am the fourteen-time Women’s Champion, that means I’ve lost thirteen times, but I’ve always come back better and stronger.

“Ultimately, I see a bright future for Jacy Jayne, Lainey Reid and Fallon (Henley). They made a big impact. I know it’s hard to come up, but people are talking, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do, even though they beat me, but revenge is in my future.”

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Flair didn’t elaborate on what form that revenge would take, with Henley and Reid yet to compete on WWE SmackDown.

A post-match attack on Flair would see Fatal Influence interrupted by Rhea Ripley, likely indicating the direction this feud could take.

The Difficulty Of The Main Roster Call-Up

Post-WrestleMania 42, it was bound to happen that NXT stars would head to the main roster, refreshing the line-up and igniting new feuds.

A move to the main roster, however, isn’t a guarantee that a former top star in NXT is going to find their footing on Raw or SmackDown.

Despite finding popularity on NXT, some stars don’t see their success translate into main roster success, with the likes of Adam Rose and The Ascension failing to captivate in quite the way they did on the black and gold brand.

Even Bo Dallas wasn’t given the opportunity to make the fans Bo-lieve for long, but found real success when he transitioned to the Uncle Howdy character and into The Wyatt Sicks, with all the members of that faction being among the recent WWE releases.

It could be argued that there is a creative disconnect between NXT and the main roster, with Raw and SmackDown designed to attract a more mainstream audience and having a much denser roster of stars. For new call-ups, they either land on their feet with a character that translates or find themselves repackaged and shuffled around in a quest to find the right fit for them.

While WWE programming, regardless of the show, is very much “sports entertainment”, NXT benefits from typically running from a fixed location – the WWE Performance Center – likely attracting a consistent audience that can be invested in the characters in a live setting.

Raw and SmackDown are both touring shows, emanating from different locations every week. While the audience watching on Netflix or other platforms may pull from WWE’s global reach, it’s still the live reaction that matters, and sometimes a star just doesn’t gel.

Fatal Influence certainly made their mark in NXT, and dropping them straight into a feud with Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley is an indication of the faith WWE creative has for all three call-ups. Hopefully their early success continues to translate into long-term gains.

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• wwe
• Charlotte Flair
• Smackdown
• Jacy Jayne
• Fatal Influence

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