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What’s the story?
Hell in a Cell will be one historic pay-per-view for Natalya, the SmackDown Women’s Champion, as she defends her title against Charlotte Flair.
Natalya is also set to have the most number of pay-per-view matches for any woman and break the record held by the legendary Trish Stratus.
The champion shared her views on this incredible feat and also added that she wanted to have an Iron Man (Woman) match against Shayna Baszler.
In case you didn’t know…
Natalya and Charlotte have a lot of history between them and it will come as no surprise that the pair has squared off for three other WWE titles prior to this battle for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
Baszler, for her part, was great at the Mae Young Classic event and is touted for a full-time slot in the WWE.
The heart of the matter
The SmackDown championship match will be Natalya’s 44th in a pay-per-view event and the champ felt she was lucky to have taken part in the WWE and also thanked the company for the push that women’s wrestling has gotten in recent years, as she spoke to WWE.com.
"It’s a huge honour because Trish Stratus is somebody that I absolutely idolize and look up to. She’s a huge reason why I’m here today."
She also added that this is the best work of her career and the champ is finally hitting her stride.
Natalya highlighted that she would like to face Shayna Baszler as the former MMA fighter has impressed the champ a lot, and added that Baszler is her ‘dream’ opponent.
“I would love to go toe-to-toe with her in a WWE Iron Man Match and put our submissions to the test. She would be a dream opponent for me."
What’s next?
With Hell in a Cell taking place in a few hours, the championship fight between Natalya and Charlotte will be one of the matches to keep an eye on.
It would not be a surprise seeing Charlotte picking up the title as the championships have been changing hands a lot these days and this could keep this feud going on for a while more.
Author’s take
It has been a bit of a resurgence in the career of Natalya in recent years as the former member of The Hart Dynasty has grown from her role of managing Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to becoming champion again.
Overtaking the record held by Trish is certainly one of the crowning achievements for any woman in the WWE and hopefully, Natalya will add a few more matches in pay-per-views under her belt.
The women’s revolution in the WWE is in full swing and thankfully there are a number of quality wrestlers coming through too with Baszler close to joining the WWE, there will be a number of big matches soon with even an Iron Man match, as suggested by Natalya.
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