On Saturday night’s WWE Network special event from Toronto, Ontario, Charlotte defended the WWE Divas Championship against Natalya. It was the first match of the night that had the possibility to cause some major waves and alter the card of WrestleMania. Natalya could have been that Roadblock for Charlotte (and by extension, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch), forcing a fatal four way match at WrestleMania.
That didn’t occur, but it should have. Natalya is such a good wrestler and is so likable that she essentially stays over enough with the crowd that a surprise win over Charlotte would actually work. Plus, the fact that it would have occurred in Canada would have received that extra pop that would be a great way to start off what would only be a three-week title reign.
There’s honestly very little merit in having a long consecutive run as champion. The amount of title reigns doesn’t matter either; it’s all about what you do while you are the champ. Natalya winning the title would accomplish two goals: One, it would be a thank you for helping the current crop of young girls before they came up to the main roster and give her the chance to defend the title in a meaningful match at WrestleMania. Two, it breaks up Charlotte’s reign just a little bit and freshens it up so she can have a proper last few months as champion.
What they are probably planning for WrestleMania is Banks winning on a big stage and going into the spring defending it against the former champ. It will effectively end Charlotte’s reign in a lackluster manner. Her entire reign and defenses have been centered on using her father to gain the advantage and his interference has often led directly to the end of a match. The end of her time as champion should come with Ric Flair not in her corner.
Not in the way you might think, however. If you really want to amp up the boos for “baby Flair”, she herself needs to dump him after he accidentally costs her a match. Not a title match, but one that really upsets Charlotte. If she berates the old man and kicks him to the curb, the crowd will hate her that much more and it will be even more meaningful when she loses the title for real.
