Charlotte Flair wins WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair is the new SmackDown Women’s Champion.
In a match that wasn’t announced in advance, Charlotte defeated Asuka on tonight’s SmackDown to win the title. The finish of the match was Charlotte submitting Asuka with the Figure Eight.
Charlotte will now enter the WrestleMania main event as SmackDown Women’s Champion. She’ll face Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match at the show.
A backstage interview with Lynch aired before Charlotte vs. Asuka, with Lynch saying that Charlotte doesn’t bring anything to the WrestleMania match. On commentary, the announcers acted surprised that Charlotte vs. Asuka was happening. Corey Graves speculated that Charlotte used her influence with the McMahon family.
Charlotte, Rousey & Lynch vs. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan) in a six-woman tag match has been announced for next week’s Raw, which is the go-home show for WrestleMania. There’s a stipulation where Charlotte, Rousey, or Lynch will forfeit their WrestleMania spot if they betray their team against The Riott Squad.
A fatal four-way match between Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Naomi, and Carmella had been advertised for tonight’s SmackDown. The winner was supposed to challenge Asuka at WrestleMania.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.