Charlotte Flair Understands Why Ric Flair's WrestleMania 24 Retirement Never Lasted

It's rare to see any career in professional sports end with the perfect dose of closure. But at WrestleMania 24, Ric Flair did it. However, just a year later, The Nature Boy unraveled what appeared to be the ideal retirement.

Few understood Flair's motives for coming back to the ring, including his daughter. But now that Charlotte Flair has a few years in the business, she gets it.

During an appearance on the Chasing Glory podcast, Charlotte discussed her initial reaction to her father coming out of retirement for a brief stint in TNA.

"When he retired in '08, he really had a hard time, which I'm pretty sure is public knowledge. And I couldn't understand why he just couldn't go out on a high note," Flair admitted. "You retire with Shawn Michaels, you have the biggest retirement ever; I mean the weekend just seemed to be so magical, being in Orlando. And it was hard after that. I couldn't understand, like, 'Dad, why are you having such a hard time? Live your life. You had an amazing career.'"

However now that Flair understands what it feels like to be a WWE Champion, she understands that walking away from that lifestyle would be tough, if not impossible.

"But now being a part of this business, and understanding there is nothing like being in the ring. There's nothing like being the main event, or feeling the crowd or the rush, or getting ready backstage and the camaraderie. Yes, the travel is hard, and you're away from your families, but there is nothing like what we do I think anywhere else. And he did this his whole life. I've only done it a couple of years. So now I understand his choices and decisions, and why he couldn't walk away, and why he still is who he is," she said.

Flair also discussed the easy parallels fans drew between her in-ring persona and her father's. While Flair knows the comparisons will never stop, she often felt misunderstood.

So obviously, he didn't leave until I was graduating high school. But when I first started in this industry and understanding what the dirt sheets are and being in the public eye, and being available to public scrutiny through social media; people making fun of me for being just like my dad really got to me," she said. Because by the time I got to the WWE, he had been married four times. So, yeah, it really bothered me. Because obviously I don't like to give negativity life or respond, but I always looked at what people were saying, and thought like, 'But you don't know why, or what I went through,'" she said.

[H/T Wrestling Inc.]