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Carmella will challenge Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship on the July 23 episode of WWE SmackDown in Cleveland, Ohio.
Belair retained her title against Carmella on this week’s SmackDown in a match that was announced six days before the show. Following the episode, Carmella complained on Twitter that she needed more time to prepare for a match which had so much riding on it.
The SmackDown post-show, Talking Smack, featured a backstage interview with Belair, who agreed to an immediate rematch against Carmella:
“Typical Carmella, like you [interviewer Kayla Braxton] said,” Belair said. “She had six days to prepare. People love going on Twitter talking about how they’re not bothered when they are, which is fine. She got in the ring with me tonight, so all I can say is I’m a fighting champion and I don’t back down from anything. She wants a rematch? Let’s do it again next week. I’m all for it. Let’s do it.”
Asked to clarify if a rematch is going to take place, Belair confirmed she is happy to grant Carmella another title opportunity next week. Moments later, Talking Smack host Kevin Patrick announced that the match had been made official.
Reason why Carmella is challenging Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair was originally due to defend her title against long-term rival Bayley at WWE Money in the Bank on July 18. However, Bayley suffered a serious injury while training last week, ruling her out of in-ring action for nine months.
The finish to the Belair vs. Carmella match saw the SmackDown Women’s Champion use her ponytail to whip Carmella. She then followed up with her Kiss of Death finisher to seal the victory.
Belair has held the SmackDown Women’s Championship since defeating Sasha Banks in the main event of the first night of WrestleMania 37. Meanwhile, Carmella has not held the title since losing it to Charlotte Flair in a Triple Threat match – also involving Becky Lynch – at SummerSlam 2018.
Please credit Talking Smack and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
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