WWE Hell in a Cell 2017: Preview and Predictions

Smackdown. Photo by WWE.com

SmackDown Women’s Championship match: Natalya (c) vs. Charlotte Flair

Since defeating Naomi at SummerSlam to become the SmackDown women’s champion, Natalya has proven that she deserves to be considered amongst the elite in women’s wrestling. No surprise there.

Charlotte on the other hand has recently returned from a two-month absence from WWE television during which she took care of her ailing father, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Upon her return, she was immediately thrust back into the women’s title picture.

Once you start to put the pieces of the puzzle together, it becomes clear that Natty may have simply been a transitional champion; Charlotte needed a heel to defeat and Naomi didn’t fit that bill. It goes without saying that Charlotte is the cream of the crop when it comes to overall performance and Hell in a Cell should be one more opportunity to prove it.

This week’s tag team match in which Charlotte and Becky Lynch took on Natalya and Carmella ended with Charlotte tapping out to the sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. It would be hard to imagine a scenario in which the crown jewel of the division doesn’t make up for that loss and come out on top this Sunday.

The wild card here is the possibility of a Carmella cash-in.

What better way to create legitimate heel heat than to have Carmella ruin Charlotte’s shining moment – especially given the circumstances of her two-month absence – by stealing the title from her?

Of course, the probability of a cash in is always low, but this seems like a perfect opportunity that WWE should not squander.

Prediction: Charlotte defeats Natalya to become the new SmackDown women’s champion; Carmella then cashes in and defeats Charlotte to become champion