Six women will fight for the new title. Every active in-ring worker in Smackdown's women's division will be in this match. It will be Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Carmella. No Maryse. She has not wrestled since returning this year. Eva Marie, of course, has her suspension. Most fans would probably have dreaded her being in this match, anyway.
Being the first person to hold a new title is a major piece of history. You want to get the title lineage off on a good foot. You should put the title on someone that has the major overness to deserve it, has already made a great impact to deserve it, or someone that is at least pretty much guaranteed to be given a legendary career following that big moment. This is the kind of accomplishment that likely gets someone into the Hall of Fame, so it would be nice if that person also has other things going for him or her to make it even more clear that this is a legend.
Go back a few weeks to Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor to crown the first Universal Champion. Both of them would have been good options. Seth Rollins has made an impact in his WWE career. He was a part of one of the best stables in WWE history. He was the first member of that stable to become WWE Champion. He held two titles at the same time for a while. He never officially lost the WWE Championship during that first run. And he has continued to be treated as a big deal since returning this year. Had he won the Universal Championship, it would be another big accomplishment on his resume. Finn Balor, on the other hand, had just debuted on the main roster. Nevertheless, I think the WWE would have put in work on him to make him a legend. His injury has ruined that, for now. Regardless, my point is that both guys had things going for them.
This women's match this Sunday does not feature six women that all have things going for them to make them all worthy or likely to win. That is just the truth. I will talk about all of them, from least likely to win to most likely.
Alexa Bliss is a diva. She is there for her looks. She has improved in the ring in NXT, but none of her matches really blow me away, aside from about two spots or so. She is not the only diva in the match, but she is just too new and has not been given great focus. She does not seem like someone the WWE is really ready to invest in yet, although I do see even smarks loving how hot she is.
Natalya is a female wrestler. In this era, you might hope someone like her gets the title. Coincidentally, Natalya was in the last match to crown an inaugural Champion in the WWE women's division. She lost to Michelle McCool 8 years ago in a match to crown the first Diva's Champion. And she will probably be losing again. Fans know by now that Natalya is not really going anywhere. She had one mediocre title run and has not done too much before or after that. She is not way over. If the WWE loses their minds and puts the title on her this Sunday, I am not confident it would be the start of great things for her.
Naomi is someone I think deserves a title run one day. She has been around for years. She can be fun to watch, albeit not the greatest in-ring worker. Regardless of that, I think there are some fans that will be very happy if she wins. I just do not think she needs to be the first woman to hold this new title. Again, this major piece of history should go to someone that is very over, is already established as a top player, or is likely to be pushed great after the win. Naomi does not fit in any of those categories. But it would be nice if she gets a title run later on.
Carmella is only ahead of those other women because she has better individual focus on her heading into Backlash. She turned heel recently and has been attacking Nikki Bella. She looks like Charlotte. Charlotte looks like Michelle McCool. I don't want to make it sound like I'm being insensitive to Michelle McCool. I know she is dealing with cancer. But all these women just have this droopiness to them. It hurts their charisma as performers. They have all had issues connecting with the audience. Michelle McCool had a huge gimmick and made history numerous times, but never really became beloved during her time in the WWE. Charlotte just seems robotic at times. People say Carmella turned heel because of her inability to connect with fans as a face. Both Michelle McCool and Charlotte made history by becoming inaugural titleholders. Will the third member of this sorority follow their lead? Carmella does not deserve it at all. The only way I could see her winning it is to feud with Nikki Bella, but since major history is on the line here, I don't see things being booked like that.
Becky Lynch might just be the smark favorite to win. She is the only member of the Four Horsewomen on Smackdown and the only woman out of them to never hold a title in the WWE, including NXT. It just sounds amazing to have her be the first woman to hold this new Smackdown Women's Championship. Like Naomi, I would like to see Becky win it one day. If Eva Marie was the sixth woman in this match, not Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch would be the last woman I bring up and the woman I say deserves it the most and is likely to get it the most. But that is not how things are working out. Becky Lynch has her fans, but she is not A+ over. She has also not had that big career. What you have to ask yourself, if they give her the title, will they follow through properly with her? Raw has been the division where female wrestlers get featured better than the divas. Becky Lynch looks like she is already taking a backseat to face Nikki Bella. If they give her the title now, I do not imagine them giving her the career someone that makes big history should get. In which case, they might as well not do it at all.
Nikki Bella is the favorite to win. I would say she should win. It has nothing to do with John Cena or reality shows. Unlike any of the other women in this match, Nikki Bella has been pushed as a top star on the main roster. She held the butterfly title longer than anyone else. She is not an A+ player in terms of overness, but the positive reaction she got when she returned at Summerslam must have been surprising even to the WWE. Why shouldn't they try to capitalize on that? They did it with Roman Reigns last year to get the title on him right after it seemed fans were on his side. Most importantly, she is someone you know the WWE will not toss aside like a mediocrity eventually. Smackdown is the brand that does not treat women's wrestling as seriously as Raw. Having Nikki Bella be the centerpiece there would be good for a change of pace. And if she is the centerpiece, she might as well make history this Sunday.
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