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Carmella will put her SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line against Charlotte Flair at the WWE Backlash PPV on Sunday.
“The Princess of Staten Island” cashed in her Money In The Bank contract to win the title from “The Queen” on SmackDown Live in April, though the victory probably wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for an attack minutes earlier from The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce).
The Australian duo teamed up with Carmella in a losing effort against Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Asuka in the main event of SmackDown this week, opening up the possibility that they could be at ringside for Sunday’s match.
In this article, let’s take a look at five possible finishes to the SmackDown Women’s Championship encounter at Backlash.
#5 Charlotte Flair wins the title by making Carmella tap
After making her wait 10 long months to successfully cash in her Money In The Bank contract, would WWE really have Carmella lose the SmackDown Women’s Championship just three weeks after winning it?
Probably not, which is why this is the only possible finish in this article which results in Charlotte Flair regaining the title that she previously held for 147 days.
“The Queen” wins most of her matches by using her trusty Figure Eight submission, so if the unthinkable happens and, for whatever reason, The IIconics aren’t there to save Carmella, then expect the champ to tap out to the move on Sunday.
#4 Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville interfere (no contest)
The women’s division on SmackDown Live is more stacked than ever following the Superstar Shake-Up, with as many as eight women realistically in contention for Carmella’s title right now.
It has already been confirmed that Mandy Rose will face Becky Lynch next Tuesday, so it's not impossible that she, along with Sonya Deville, could get involved in Sunday’s match if Becky appears at ringside to support Charlotte Flair.
If that happens, expect an all-out brawl to ensue between the majority of the SmackDown women’s division, leading to a no contest or disqualification.
Granted, it would be an underwhelming finish to the match, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see it happen to begin the build to the multi-person Money In The Bank ladder matches in June.
#3 Charlotte Flair wins but Carmella retains
It’s clearer now more than ever that WWE sees Charlotte Flair as the biggest female star that the company has (excluding Ronda Rousey), so it’ll be interesting to see how she’s booked moving forward if she’s not in the SmackDown Women’s Championship picture.
One possibility at Backlash is for her to win via count-out or disqualification, possibly due to interference from Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, meaning she can pick up the victory but Carmella can retain her title.
Again, this would be a disappointing finish to the match, but it would continue the rivalry between Charlotte and The IIconics while also allowing someone else to challenge Carmella for the title in the short-term.
#2 Asuka inadvertently costs Charlotte Flair
Asuka is too good at what she does to be without a meaningful storyline, and right now she’s essentially playing the role that used to belong to Naomi as one of Charlotte Flair’s two allies (Becky Lynch being the other one).
For a couple of weeks, that’s fine, but “The Empress of Tomorrow” deserves to be involved in a major storyline of her own after Backlash, so how about she accidentally costs “The Queen” in Sunday’s match to revive their feud from WrestleMania 34?
Perhaps Asuka tries to strike Carmella when the referee’s back is turned but she inadvertently connects with Charlotte, allowing the champ to retain with a quick roll-up?
#1 Carmella wins thanks to The IIconics
There’s an unwritten rule in WWE storytelling logic that goes as follows: when two people face each other a few days before a PPV, the winner of the match on Raw/SmackDown Live will go on to lose the match at the PPV.
Well, this past week on SmackDown, Charlotte Flair, Asuka and Becky Lynch defeated Carmella and The IIconics in a six-person tag match. So, going on past WWE logic, that suggests that Carmella will win the match at Backlash.
The most likely method of victory is via interference from Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, who could help the SmackDown Women’s champion retain her title before continuing their feud with Charlotte in the weeks leading up to the Money In The Bank PPV in June.
