What’s the story?
The next event on the WWE pay-per-view calendar is WWE Backlash, a SmackDown Live exclusive show that comes to the WWE Universe live from Rosemont, Illinois on Sunday, May 21.
Cageside Seats is speculating that the women of SmackDown Live could well find themselves shunted into a six-woman tag team match on the show, as part of the current storyline involving Charlotte Flair and The Welcoming Committee.
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The SmackDown Live women’s division received a major freshening up as part of the post-WrestleMania 33 superstar shake-up. Alexa Bliss and Mickie James left the show and were replaced by Tamina Snuka and former four-time RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
Charlotte pretty much walked into a SmackDown Women’s Championship match upon arrival, which did not please Natalya and Carmella.
Natalya and Carmella subsequently joined forces with Tamina to form The Welcoming Committee, and the trio, along with James Ellsworth, have made life a misery for Charlotte Flair ever since.
The heart of the matter
The arrival of Flair on SmackDown Live has seen Naomi and the championship take somewhat of a back step. The focus in the division is clearly on the bitterness of Carmella, Natalya and Tamina, along with Becky Lynch’s refusal to join The Welcoming Committee in their fight to make Charlotte Flair’s life a living hell.
Becky attacked the trio this week on SmackDown Live, but was beaten down for her troubles.
As such, a six-woman tag team match makes sense for WWE Backlash. Presumably this would see Lynch and Flair team with current SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi to take on all three members of The Welcoming Committee, with Ellsworth on the outside. The aim must be to cement Charlotte’s face turn and continue to get the new trio over as a heel faction.
Backlash is already beginning to feel like a transitional pay-per-view, with fresh challengers stepping up to vie for the WWE Championship (Jinder Mahal) and SmackDown Tag Team titles (Breezango) respectively. A six-woman tag team match fits the bill.
What’s next?
Backlash takes place two weeks on Sunday, and as such, fans can expect the card to come together over the next couple of episodes of SmackDown Live. So far, only three matches have been announced for the show with Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler likely to become the fourth.
The show could benefit from multiple women’s matches, so it remains to be seen whether WWE throws all of its eggs into this one basket.
Author’s Take
There is a certain inevitability about Charlotte Flair winning the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship during 2017, an inevitability that is matched only by her eventual heel turn against Becky Lynch.
The aim of this match should be to get Carmella, Natalya and Tamina over as much as possible, and if that is successful then SmackDown Live will have a fine women’s division on its hands.
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