Report: Backstage Friction Between WWE Raw & NXT Over Charlotte Flair

Earlier this year, Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36 to become a two-time NXT Women's Champion. The Queen held on to the belt for 63 days before dropping it to Io Shirai at NXT TakeOver: In Your House and Ripley has found herself out of the title picture for much of 2020. The Nightmare recently admitted to Lillian Garcia that she lost her confidence following the match against Flair.

According to Fightful Select, there were internal struggles between Monday Night Raw and NXT over Flair's run on the black and gold brand. Any plans NXT had for The Queen often had to go through Raw first and their ideas would frequently be shot down.

Rhea Ripley was originally scheduled to retain the NXT Women's Title at The Showcase Of The Immortals, but the winner was later changed to Flair. There was also a big push within NXT for Bianca Belair to be added to the feud sooner than she was so Flair could lose to Ripley without being pinned.

There doesn't appear to be much sympathy for NXT creative, though. One Superstar on the black and gold brand told Fightful the creative team "should have known what they were getting into" when they booked Flair's NXT run.