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WWE SmackDown: Could Naomi Defeat Natalya?

By Kevin Parvizi

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After turning aside Carmella on last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live, could Natalya lose her championship to Naomi this week?

At SummerSlam, many people expected WWE SmackDown Live‘s Naomi to successfully retain her title against Natalya, only to have Carmella cash-in her Money in the Bank briefcase on “The Glow”. The logic seemed to make even more sense after Baron Corbin lost his Money in the Bank briefcase after John Cena costed him in his cash-in attempt on WWE Champion Jinder Mahal.

Instead, Natalya got her feel-good moment, defeating Naomi for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in what was an excellent match. After a rocky start in her new heel character, Natalya has come into her own as a “bad guy”, and the paranoia she’s displayed early in her reign has made for excellent, if not subtle, television. Naomi played off of this two weeks ago, cutting a promo on Natalya in which she said that Natalya would have to defend her title against Naomi on Sept. 12, due to Naomi invoking her rematch clause.

I said earlier this week that the WWE will likely drag out Carmella’s run with the briefcase, having her compile losses before finally cashing in for a big pop. After Corbin lost his briefcase, it would be a travesty for Carmella to lose hers, too, especially since she is the first female briefcase winner.

For Carmella to cash in, though, she would likely have to do this against a babyface. Although she and Natalya have an interesting dynamic in which Carmella is always trying to sneak behind her, including when she teased turning on her in a tag match before James Ellsworth spilled the beans, it may be more natural for her to steal the championship away from a face.

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If the WWE would like to hot-shot the title onto Carmella quickly to spice things up, which is not recommended, then Naomi’s rematch with Natalya on Sept. 12, could be an excellent chance to move things forward.

I like the storylines developing with Natalya as the champion, but Naomi is a more compelling champion. She held onto the title for quite some time after recapturing it in her hometown at WrestleMania 33, but she really made that championship her own during that period of time.

Naomi became a true star with her entrance and take-all-comers attitude, and she began to show so much more confidence on the mic.

Watching more verbal back-and-forth between Carmella and Naomi could be awesome, because Carmella is one of the best talkers in the business.

The WWE likes to give the fans with their championships, with the exception of the two world titles, and we’ve seen plenty of those swerves on SmackDown Live this year. Naomi taking the title right back from Natalya could be one of those, because when Natalya won the title at SummerSlam, it seemed like the WWE booked themselves into a corner.

I mean, Natalya certainly deserved the moment, and she’s put in some great work this year (I loved her feud with Nikki Bella). But it just feels like there could be so much more potential left in a real Carmella/Naomi feud, where Carmella finally prevails (before getting into a fiery feud with Becky Lynch, but that’s just my fantasy booking there).

Next: Who Were The Best WWE Superstars This Week?

Hopefully, Naomi and Natalya get some time to follow up on their solid match at SummerSlam, because SmackDown Live will be jam-packed with plenty other big events. Tye Dillinger and AJ Styles are poised to fight for the United States Championship, the Usos and the New Day figure to work some magic in their street fight, and, of course, Vince McMahon is coming to get into a shouting match with Kevin Owens (I hope).