Charlotte Flair, Smackdown Title
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Charlotte Flair Not Expected to Defend Smackdown Title at WrestleMania

In shocking fashion, WWE pulled a major audible on the recent episode of WWE SmackDown Live. Despite promoting a four-way number one contender match pitting Naomi, Carmella, Sonya Deville, and Mandy Rose, to determine who will face Asuka in a women's championship match at WrestleMania 35, those plans were suddenly scrapped.

In exchange, Charlotte Flair was given an opportunity to win the championship, and a title match against Asuka happened to kick off SmackDown. In the end, Charlotte was able to defeat Asuka and become SmackDown Women's Champion once again. Charlotte continued to be the kryptonite to Asuka, as she also was the one to break her streak last year at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.

This decision to crown Charlotte champion caused an uproar from the WWE Universe on social media, as many felt that both Asuka is continuing to be poorly utilized, as well as the SmackDown Live Women's Division now being left out of the WrestleMania 35 card.

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To make matters worse, it looks like the title is simply going to be a prop for the purpose of making billboards and the match overall look better, since WWE announced that it will make history by being the first women's main event in WrestleMania history.

On a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer (h/t Wrestling Inc.) stated that the decision to make Charlotte the champion was not made until the day of the show. The feeling was that it would not be of any importance if Asuka faced anyone from that #1 contender list, and Charlotte carrying the title into WrestleMania has been talked about before the decision was officially made on SmackDown Live.

As of now, there are no plans for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship to be defended in the triple threat main event. Bleacher Report notes that the big ending could see Becky Lynch winning Ronda Rousey's Raw Women's Championship in the triple threat match, which would have all members of the Four Horsewomen with a women's title, as Bayley and Sasha Banks are the Women's Tag Team Champions.

Read more WWE news and rumors here.