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Tonight's SmackDown Live ended up leading to a last minute change that no one expected.
In a shocking turn of events, Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka to win the SmackDown Women's Championship! The duo had an incredibly entertaining match, with Charlotte doing exactly what she did at WrestleMania 34, and make Asuka tap out in the middle of the ring to win the SmackDown Women's Title.
Let's take a look at 5 reasons why this unreal scenario unfolded on tonight's SmackDown Live.
#5 Remember how Charlotte went in?
Charlotte Flair didn't win a #1 contender's match, the Royal Rumble or absolutely anything else to make her way into the triple threat match at Mania. She was handed the opportunity by Mr. McMahon on an episode of Raw, with Vince replacing Becky with her.
With the match gaining tons of coverage and mainstream attention, WWE has come up with this tactic to make it feel as if Charlotte is a legit contender for the Raw Women's Title at WrestleMania after she just managed to defeat one of the most badass women on the SmackDown roster.
#4 WWE seems to have given up on Asuka
Asuka made 'The Man' Becky Lynch tap out at the Royal Rumble PPV, and vanished off the face of the earth for weeks on end.
She once held a 6+ year undefeated streak, which was broken by Charlotte at WrestleMania 34. Since then, The Empress of Tomorrow has done nothing of worth on the blue brand.
After becoming SmackDown Women's Champion a few months ago, Asuka wasn't heavily featured. She was slated to face one of four women who was going to compete in a #1 contender's match tonight, but we ended up witnessing Asuka lose the title.
It seems now that WWE has completely given up on Asuka, making her tap out again to Charlotte and robbing her of a well-deserved chance to compete in a title match at WrestleMania.
Asuka is sure to compete in the Women's Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35, now that she is out of the title picture.
#3 Makes Becky's possible win mean more
All the signs are pointing towards an eventual win for The Man to close WrestleMania 35. The entire buildup to the triple threat match has been focused on Becky Lynch's journey towards the main event of WrestleMania.
The Irish Lasskicker has garnered tons of mainstream attention on the way, with being the most mentioned female wrestler on Twitter, leaving Ronda and Charlotte behind. The final visual of Becky holding both the red and blue Women's Titles as 80,000 fans cheer, would be one for the ages.
#2 The titles are probably getting unified
It seems that WWE is cleaning up the clutter they have created by introducing two separate Women's titles for both brands.
Come WrestleMania, we might see both the red and the blue belts get unified into one, with the winner of the match raising both belts above her head to close out WrestleMania. After The Show of Shows is done and dusted with, we might get to see the women on both brands compete for a single Women's Title, either being represented by both belts, or a newly designed belt altogether.
#1 Making Ronda look strong even after a loss
WWE has made Ronda Rousey look strong ever since she debuted in WWE last year. Ronda hasn't been pinned as of this moment and WWE might want to keep this streak alive for a while.
We could possibly see Charlotte Flair successfully defend the SmackDown Women's Title early on in the show. This way, she enters the main event not being 100%. The match ends with Becky Lynch taking out Ronda and getting a win by making an exhausted Charlotte tap out in the middle of the ring.
Ronda loses, but still remains unpinned and this could lead to a Summerslam match between Becky Lynch and Rousey. Also, with both Becky and Charlotte holding belts, and Sasha-Bayley possibly coming out of WrestleMania still the Tag Team Champions, could we see an eventual 4 Horsewomen reunion, with everyone holding championship gold?
What was your reaction on seeing this absolutely shocking title change on tonight's SmackDown Live? Where is this leading to? Sound off!
