WWE Women's champions Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair were reportedly involved in a "backstage confrontation" after a segment on Friday Night SmackDown in which they swapped championships amid being selected by opposite shows.
PWInsider.com reports Flair and Lynch exchanged "loud words" over Flair disrespecting Lynch by "trying to make her look bad" during the live segment in which Flair -- the then-RAWWomen's champion but recently drafted to SmackDown -- and Lynch -- the then-SmackDown Women's champion but recently drafted toRAW-- were booked to hand over their new show's respective titles to each other.
The report confirmed the situation "was heated but did not get physical" between the two top stars.
Flair reportedly "voiced concerns" about her character potentially looking weak during the segment prior to the show's live broadcast, which WWE attempted to air as originally planned.
During the live broadcast, Lynch attempted to grab the title from Flair, who instead pulled it away and threw it on the ground, which reportedly varied from WWE's script.
On-screen authority figure Sonya Deville demanded Flair retrieve the belt and hand it to her, which Flair did, before Deville asked Lynch to hand over her title, which she instead shoved at Flair.
Initially, PWInsider reported that Lynch shoving the title wasn't planned, however, clarified that it was, but occurred "differently" after Flair dropped the belt intentionally.
Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT reports "no one involved" with the segment "was happy about the title switch and it was debated throughout the day" prior to SmackDown's live broadcast.
Additionally, McCarthy reports that Lynch and Flair -- who were once very close friends during their run in WWE'sNXTdevelopmental system and their inital years on the main roster -- have had a strained relationship "for some time," which sources close to the situation said stemmed from Lynch calling Flair "plastic" during a promo several years ago.
McCarthy also reported WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was unhappy that Flair left the "gorilla position" outside the stage entrance without talking to him following the on-screen incident.
Flair was also reported to be in Orlando Saturday to support her fiancé, Andrade El Idolo, during the live taping of WWE's competitor All Elite Wrestling's flagship programDynamite.
It's worth noting that El Idolo --who was granted his release from WWE earlier this year-- tweeted "FU... WWE" on Friday night, which not only coincided with the initial reports about Flair but also the airing of a taped AEWRampage match between himself and Pac, which was followed by a post-match segment that also included Malakai Black and Cody Rhodes, all of whom were previously employed by WWE.
El Idolo has since deleted the tweet but shared another featuring a photo of himself and Flair which states, "The Queen and My QUEEN. I love you @McCharlotteWWE #AlwaysByYourSide."
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