Charlotte Flair And Andrade, WWE's Newest Power Couple, Get Engaged
(CBSNY/CBS Local) -- The sports entertainment world has a new power couple. As the world fixated on Time Square and prepared to usher in a new year, WWE Superstar Andrade was preparing to enter a new chapter in his life as well. He was ready to pop the question to his girlfriend and leader of the WWE women's division Charlotte Flair.
Shortly after calendars flipped to 2020 word broke that Flair said yes. Actually, she said "siiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!"
New Year's Eve 2019 was a far cry from their date a year ago where the couple communicated through Google Translate.
News of their engagement traveled quickly throughout the wrestling world, with fans and fellow wrestlers offering their congratulations. WWE also extended its best wishes to the happy couple on New Year's Day.
While the 33-year-old Flair may be sporting a new diamond on her finger there is plenty of gold in the relationship. She is a 10-time champion while Andrade, 30, is the current United States Champion.
The couple have the blessing of Flair's legendary father, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. The two-time WWE Hall of Fame member commemorated the occasion with his well wishes on Twitter.
"Congratulations to my beautiful daughter (Charlotte) and an awesome young man (Andrade) on their engagement," the elder Flair wrote. "So happy, so proud! What a way to start 2020!"
The big news caps a whirlwind year of romance for the pair, who made their first official public appearance as a couple around the time of WrestleMania last April. Since then they have been inseparable and traveled the world extensively together for both WWE and for pleasure.
Flair and Andrade are the second pair of elite WWE Superstars to pledge to tie the knot in recent months. Seth Rollins and Flair's longtime rival, Becky Lynch, announced their engagement in August, just months after going public with their relationship.
Real-life romance is nothing new in pro wrestling, as love has been in the air in WWE for years. Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Stephanie McMahon became the gold standard for sports entertainment power couples when they wed in 2003. John Cena and Nikki Bella were headed down the same road prior to calling off their wedding in 2018.
Other couples on the current WWE roster include Rusev and Lana, who are still very much an item despite their storyline split, Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella, The Miz and Maryse, and Jimmy Uso and Naomi. Andrade's on-screen manager Zelina Vega is married to Aleister Black.
>>READ: Latest from the world of Pro Wrestling
News & Notes
The same-sex storyline involving Lana and the returning Liv Morgan appears to be ruffling the feathers of SmackDown brand Superstars Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.
In the closing moments of Monday's Raw, Morgan returned following a months-long absence to spoil the Jerry Springer-esque wedding of Lana and Bobby Lashley. During her surprise return, she confessed that she and Lana had been involved in a relationship and begged her not to marry Lashley. But instead of running into her arms, Lana attacked the former member of the Riott Squad setting up a feud going forward.
Shortly after the show went off the air Deville and Rose seemingly aired their displeasure on social media.
"Welp... my mind is blown," Deville tweeted.
"No words ...," Rose quickly followed.
"I know my friend I know," Deville replied with a mind-blown emoji.
There had been plans last year for Deville, who is openly gay, and Rose to do a same-sex storyline of their own. The plot had been one of the focal points of the latest season of the reality show Total Divas.
All signs pointed to WWE moving forward with the idea, as the pair teased being more than friends on several occasions, but the trigger was never pulled completely. Although the storyline had been dropped, both women hoped to revisit it at some point.
Chuck Carroll is former pro wrestling announcer and referee turned sports media personality. He once appeared on Monday Night RAW when he presented Robert Griffin III with a WWE title belt in the Redskins locker room.
Follow him on Twitter @ChuckCarrollWLC.