WWE Knew About Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton Tension Before SmackDown Promo Went Off-Script

The drama between Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton isn’t cooling off anytime soon—and now we’ve got more details on just how messy things got behind the scenes after their tense SmackDown promo.

Fans are still reeling from the April 4 segment that aired live from Chicago, where both stars went way off-script and took some brutally personal shots. Stratton came in hot, throwing lines like, “You’ll always come second to your father,” and “What is that record? 0-3?” referencing Flair’s divorces. Then Flair fired back with the now-infamous line: “Is that why Kaiser’s in my DMs?”

While WWE quickly scrubbed the more savage parts from their digital recaps, the full version is still live on the USA Network’s YouTube and social media accounts. But the segment did more than go viral—it exposed some serious tension backstage.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the heat between Flair and Stratton didn’t start on the mic. Dave Meltzer revealed, “There have been problems between the two for about two weeks. So people knew about it.” He added that things were rocky leading into the segment, and “both of them went off the rails.”

Meltzer also called out WWE’s handling of the situation, pointing to a clear double standard. “If this same thing had happened in AEW, the blame would still probably go on the people in the ring, but it would largely go on Tony Khan. You’ve had two weeks to figure this out, to get these people on the same page.” Instead, WWE sent them out there and the segment exploded.

While Meltzer said Flair is “probably deservedly” getting more of the blame, “they both are getting blamed for it.” Sources have noted that Stratton was pushing back after feeling overshadowed in their previous promo, and when the live Chicago crowd sided with her this time, things escalated fast.

WWE has yet to address the promo publicly, but the internal reaction has been strong enough to cause concern. No physical altercations were reported, but multiple talents and staff believe the segment got far more personal than intended—and it showed.

With WrestleMania around the corner, the big question now is whether WWE will lean into the real tension or play it safe. One thing’s for sure: this isn’t your standard scripted promo war anymore.

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