The Queen Keeps Pounding: Charlotte Flair Brings 'Queen City' Pride to WWE as Her New Era Takes Shape

The Queen Charlotte Flair pounded the Keep Pounding drum for the Carolina Panthers during their highly anticipated Sunday Night Football primetime matchup with the Detroit Lions. A Carolina native, Charlotte fired up the crowd before the game, pounding the massive drum as part of an ongoing tradition.

The Panthers have hyped it as the Queen in the Queen City, as Charlotte, North Carolina, is known as the Queen City because it was named after Queen Charlotte, wife of British King George III. The 14-time world champion has ties to the city that is also her namesake.

Who Is Charlotte Flair?

Charlotte is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) royalty. Born Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr, she is the younger daughter of Richard Morgan Fliehr, more popularly known as Ric Flair, who boasts a career spanning decades in professional wrestling. Three of Ric Flair's children have wrestled, but Charlotte is arguably the heir to Ric's wrestling legacy.

Charlotte's older half-brother, David, is a retired wrestler who won the WCW United States Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship. Her younger brother, Reid, trained in wrestling on the independent circuit but died from a drug overdose in 2013 at the age of 25. Ric's eldest child, Megan, never wrestled and lived a private life.

Her invite to the Panthers game wasn't just due to her massive wrestling popularity. Charlotte has intimate ties to the city where she was born. She has said her WWE name was connected to Charlotte, North Carolina, where her father Ric Flair was historically billed from.

At the start of her wrestling career, she was billed from "The Queen City". Eventually, she became known as Charlotte the Queen.

Homecoming

She proved to be a lucky charm for the Panthers, who defeated the Lions, 32-26. The Panthers called it a homecoming for their Queen.

'Hey, Panthers fans! The Queen is home and I'm here at Bank of America Stadium. Keep pounding and make sure you wear black tonight. Woo!' Charlotte told the fans before the game.

Charlotte was then seen rolling up her sleeves to hit the six-foot Keep Pounding drum, a Panthers tradition dating back to 2012. 'Keep Pounding' has become a battle cry for the Panthers since 2004.

Back then, legendary linebacker and coach Sam Mills was battling terminal intestinal cancer. In January 2004, Mills delivered an unforgettable pre-game playoff speech where he told the players to never give up and to 'keep pounding.'

What's Next for the Queen

After collecting 14 world championships as a singles wrestler, Charlotte has been slowly transitioning into a tag-team role and, more importantly, a mentor role. She and Tatum Paxley will face Fatal Influence on WWE SmackDown on Friday (US time) for the Women's Tag Team Championship.

'I'm traveling all the time. I'm seeing different crowds. It's different. To have people of their caliber watch over me, I couldn't be more thankful for the position that I'm in,' Paxley said of her mentors, Charlotte and Alexa Bliss.

'Every single week, like both of them, they're just making sure I have what I need, that I'm good to go. They've just been the best people to me ever, and I'm so thankful for them,' Paxley also said.