A title match between Charlotte and Natalya is planned for tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live in Charlotte’s hometown. Reports from Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com suggest that Charlotte will be winning the title from Natalya to go on and compete against Alexa Bliss at Survivor Series.
If Charlotte winning the title from Natalya has been the long-term plan for tonight, WWE has worked well to keep it under wraps as Alexa Bliss continued to prepare and promote her match with Natalya last week on RAW:
Alexa has changed her tone however as she was featured in an interview last night that saw her almost prepare to lose as she claims the Survivor Series match to be unfair, due to the limited time she has to prepare for her opponent.
It is also possible that Alexa Bliss could be at SmackDown Live, along with other RAW superstars to witness the title challenge. If this is the case, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Alexa interfere with the match as SmackDown Live has done previously on RAW shows.
Compared to the overall impact on Survivor Series, this could be another change that sees WWE balance out the face and heel bookings within the champions matches. Jinder Mahal was set to face Brock Lesnar, but was replaced as AJ Styles won the WWE Championship from him last week on SmackDown Live.
The main problem that would be encountered, when having multiple ‘heel vs heel’ matches, is a neutral crowd/environment; the purpose of having a face and heel competitor is to create an atmosphere and to give the crowd a side/superstar to cheer and boo.
Therefore WWE has appeared to introduce more champions late in the day, who are faces, to even everything out, with Charlotte fitting the bill.
Opinion:
WWE has a recent history of making late changes to PPV cards. This has been due to health, as well as superstars walking out, but it seems as though anything is possible now.
Also, watch out for Carmella at SmackDown Live and Survivor Series, she needs something else to happen that enables her to cash in her Money In The Bank contract, and this week could present multiple opportunities.
