Charlotte Flair recently made her debut on SmackDown Live, and it wasn’t long before she found herself in the title hunt for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. The Observer notes WWE has big plans for Charlotte as a babyface. She is set to be the face of the women’s division on SmackDown Live. But, there are already a few problems with that.
The problems Charlotte is facing have nothing to do with her ring ability or pedigree. Both of those factors are on point. The issue is coming up with a legitimate opponent for Flair. Her push is compared to the likes of Alundra Blayze or Wendi Richter. WWE wants her to be the person who is thought of first in regards to female wrestling. But she doesn’t have anyone who can stand up to her.
Her most likely opponent at this point would be Natalya. But that is all they really have. If Charlotte is going to make it in a big babyface role she must have different people to face on a regular basis. Tamina has the size, but WWE hasn’t taken a chance on her yet. Carmella is relegated to an almost comedy role as long as she has James Ellsworth by her side. It would be too easy to picture Charlotte running through any of them, including Ellsworth.
WWE can always pair Charlotte Flair back up with Natalya. The two had an amazing program in NXT that ended with a match which all but made Charlotte’s career. But other than Natalya, there is no real heel competitor to step up to Charlotte on SmackDown at this time.
One problem WWE has when booking Natalya as a heel is the fact that she has so many fans from Total Divas who love her. On Total Divas she is portrayed as a cheerful person in a sympathetic light. She’s shown to be a company girl who will do anything to please her boss, even if it means she has to be hated.
Hopefully they’ll figure something out with this new group. Nattie, Tamina, Carmella and Ellsworth might need to lean on the old “power in numbers” game for the time being. But don’t expect WWE to give up on Charlotte Flair as a face just yet, because she is money.
[…] Reports are WWE might not have a SmackDown Women’s Title defense at Backlash. Instead, WWE might book a six-woman tag match of some kind with Charlotte, Naomi, and Becky vs Nattie, Carmella, and Tamina. This will be a good chance to build the heels up if WWE lets them win. After all, they’re having trouble figuring out who Charlotte can face on SmackDown. […]