What if Asuka makes the SummerSlam Women’s Championship Match a Fatal Fourway?

WWE booked Becky Lynch to go on a tear in recent months, beating most heels on the SmackDown Live roster. As such, it was a little surprise that she was ultimately put in place to challenge Carmella for the Women’s Championship at SummerSlam, and many even pegged Lynch as a favorite to take the title.

The landscape of the match and Lynch’s chances shifted drastically, however, when Charlotte Flair returned to action and was promptly added to the match to make it a Triple Threat.

Rumors abound that WWE may not be done making alterations to this championship bout. Asuka is conspicuously without a match for this Sunday’s big show, and now that it’s already a three-way match, the question becomes whether WWE might expand even further to a Fatal Fourway featuring the four biggest names in women’s wrestling from the blue brand. This article looks at five potential outcomes if that were to be the case.

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#5 Asuka wins

If WWE adds Asuka to the title match, there's a real chance she'll be there to win.

There’s no shortage of fans that expected Asuka to ride the wave of momentum from her Royal Rumble victory to unseat Charlotte for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 34. From there, many thought that Asuka would tear apart Carmella when she challenged the original Ms. Money in the Bank for the belt.

Asuka is notably missing a main roster title win, and at the risk of losing the special aura WWE had so carefully cultivated for her via her undefeated streak and dominant run with the NXT Women’s Championship.

So, we might get Asuka’s moment here at SummerSlam, benefiting from the electricity of being a surprise addition to the match, and finally making good on her potential. Moreover, if she wins, the last minute choice to put her in the match would give everyone involved a logical enough reason to seek a title shot in the aftermath.

#4 Carmella escapes

Three challengers could be enough to get in each other's way and facilitate Carmella retaining.

Asuka making the SmackDown Women’s Championship match a Fatal Fourway wouldn’t guarantee her the win. Indeed, there’s another logic WWE might apply—that in Carmella’s four greatest challengers coming after her at once, and particularly with the surprise addition of them to the match, they could cancel out one another’s efforts.

Particularly with James Ellsworth back out of the equation, any given one of Carmella’s challengers could reasonably be considered a kayfabe favorite to unseat her. Might Asuka be the difference maker to break up the Asuka Lock or Charlotte Flair’s Figure Eight, thus ultimately allowing Carmella to steal a pin from someone? If WWE is seeking to prolong Carmella’s reign, having more challengers get in each other’s ways could be a way of getting there.

#3 The Carmella experiment ends

This may be the end of Carmella's time as champion.

WWE openly broadcasted the fact that Triple H and WWE management saw something in Carmella back in NXT, including airing footage of him saying as much to Enzo Amore and Big Cass when he explained why she wouldn’t be called up to the main roster with them. Lo and behold, after both members of the tag team she was affiliated have been released, Carmella is reigning as a champion.

While she does have some charisma and athleticism, Carmella is not a wrestler’s wrestler that Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, or Asuka is. If WWE did want to pull the plug on the experiment of her as champion, in favor of one of those superior talents taking the title, it would be a fitting end to see one of the challengers the Princess of Staten Island has narrowly survived finally give the heel her comeuppance in this high profile match at SummerSlam in New York.

#2 The road is paved for Becky Lynch to turn heel

Asuka stealing her spotlight could be enough to make Becky Lynch go bad.

Becky Lynch was traveling a fairly conventional route when she earned her shot at Carmella’s SmackDown Women’s Championship. She beat the other contenders and went on to make Carmella herself tap in non-title action. So it was that she very clearly deserved the number one contendership.

Charlotte Flair’s path to this match is a little less clear, and if Asuka were to be added, things would be even murkier for her. After all, if we’re to understand them as heroes in this story, couldn’t they have waited for their turns, and let Lynch have her one on one title shot?

The best villains are typically the ones with understandable motives that then blow things out of proportion and turn bad. If Lynch doesn’t win the title at SummerSlam, she’ll have a very legitimate gripe against her face counterparts and a perfect setup to turn heel. This move would be even more beneficial for Lynch and WWE at large, because, with Flair and Asuka occupying the top female face spots on the brand, Lynch could get a much better spotlight after going bad.

#1 Asuka vs. Charlotte 2 at Survivor Series

Charlotte Flair and Asuka could be on a collision course for a rematch.

For WWE to make Asuka surprise addition to this match would carry a heavy suggestion that she’s there to win the title. If this comes to pass, there’s a very clean, logical reason for Charlotte Flair to seek another match with her.

The original confrontation between the two at WrestleMania resulted in a good match, but also a short one that left many fans wanting more. It would make a great deal of sense to revisit this issue at another big four PPV. Give Asuka the autumn with the belt, and then she’s due for another confrontation with The Queen.

It will be interesting to see what would happen with an Asuka vs. Flair rematch. Another win for Flair would reestablish her dominance and may well be the set up for her rumored encounter with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. If Asuka were to win, then there’d be a reason to anticipate an eventual rubber match between the two, and possibly the other rumored WrestleMania match—a Flair-Rousey-Asuka Triple Threat some had theorized when Asuka was the favorite to beat Flair at WrestleMania 34.