The thirty-third Royal Rumble is in the books and for a third year, WWE’s women’s division delivered an excellent match. In the end, Charlotte Flair survived to become this year’s women’s Royal Rumble winner. That is undoubtedly a controversial decision for some fans, but she kind of needed the win.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Everyone calm down. Yes, WWE has given Charlotte way more opportunities than anyone else in the division. It still probably burns many of you up that she beat your favorite superstars when they could’ve used the accolade more. Just hear me out.

Flair has been in unfamiliar territory ever since WrestleMania 35, where she was one of the first women to headline the event. In the months that followed, she has seemed directionless.

She keeps flip-flopping between her heel persona and a reluctant protagonist. In addition, most of her feuds in the last year haven’t amounted to much. More importantly, she started to look like just a part of the crowd.

“The Queen” didn’t appear as special anymore. She didn’t even look as driven as she usually does. For example, it looked like she was going through the motions at TLC. That’s not something you want from the woman positioned as the best of her generation.

Flair alluded to this herself during her appearance on After the Bell last month. “I feel like The Queen is held to a different standard,” she said. “Unless I’m not out there doing above extraordinary or having the greatest match ever, it’s like ‘what’s happening?'”

This isn’t to say Charlotte Flair needs to remain at the top of the division to be effective. Also, more title reigns and accomplishments won’t add depth to her character. However, she needed something new to remain relevant and she’s at her best when she’s motivated to prove herself.

Case and point, her match with Trish Status at SummerSlam 2019 was a great way to give her something tangible other than a title win. Flair looked great in that program as an obstinate flagbearer for this era of women’s wrestlers. Frankly, she and Stratus stole the show.

Moreover, similar passing the torch moments have minted stars of old. One could argue the push to make her a living legend comes off contrived. Still, no one can deny the fact that Charlotte is one of the best women’s wrestlers ever. It would be foolish not to utilize her talent and star power as much as possible.

Unfortunately, the perception that she is just handed everything is still so prevalent. This admittedly makes her 2020 Royal Rumble win hard to swallow. Asuka fans still have a bad taste in their mouth following last year’s title win a week before WrestleMania. There certainly isn’t much anyone can say to defend that move and it soured her title match that followed.

Many also believed she didn’t need to be in the historic main event with Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey. So, they’re understandably disappointed that she will get another big moment on “The Grandest Stage of the All.” After all, there are so many talented women on the roster who deserve that same chance.

Just to be clear, several other participants in the match on Sunday could’ve used the spotlight more. With that said, Charlotte Flair is one of the biggest stars in the company. So, she needed some kind of storyline heading into WrestleMania.

Honestly, the problem isn’t that Flair remains in the title picture. The bigger issue is that we’re conditioned to believe there is only a finite number of spots for women at “The Show of Shows.” That’s something that has to change.

Women finally got to compete in the main event last year. That was amazing but a true step forward would be to feature several women’s matches. One or two obligatory showings aren’t enough anymore. Furthermore, it unfairly pits the brightest stars in a corner for earning one of those spots.

Some fans didn’t want to see Charlotte Flair win the Royal Rumble. But it would be hard to argue that anyone on the roster has been as consistent. For that reason, she was an easy choice. We can’t wait to see who she will challenge at WrestleMania 36.

What do you think? Drop a comment below and be sure to check back with Bell to Belles for more WWE news.