WWE: Carmella should be a transitional Women’s Champion

“The Princess of Staten Island” should have a fun reign as WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion, but it shouldn’t last very long.

On the post-WrestleMania SmackDown Live, Carmella finally cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Charlotte Flair to become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. Although I thought that she would be better served to lose the title match, she has the tools necessary to be a fun heel champion.

Like RAW’s Alexa Bliss, Carmella is a good talker and her character–an image-conscious Staten Island “princess”–is easy to hate. It helps that the SmackDown women’s roster is filled with quality babyfaces like Flair, Asuka, and Becky Lynch that Carmella can play off of.

However, there are legitimate reasons why the second generation star shouldn’t have a long title reign. I think that giving Carmella an extended run with the belt could negatively impact it’s stature.

Will fans take her seriously as champ?

I hate to continue to harp on this, but the primary reason why Carmella shouldn’t hold the title for long lies in her booking. Since her call-up in the summer of 2016, WWE has portrayed Carmella as a cowardly villain that struggles to win matches on her own. There was no reason to take her character seriously as a wrestler.

For instance, Carmella spent most of 2017 relying on James Ellsworth’s shenanigans or help from her “Welcoming Committee” stablemates to win matches. Ellsworth even controversially retrieved the white and gold briefcase for her in the first-ever women’s MITB ladder match (which, for the record, was a dumb decision). He also helped her win the do-over match on SmackDown Live. After kicking Ellsworth to the curb (coinciding with his release), she spent the rest of the year bumbling through her cash-in attempts, especially during the build to WrestleMania.

WWE does nonsense like this all the time. They always think that giving a wrestler a championship automatically wipes away all of the writers’ sketchy booking decisions. They tried this with Jinder Mahal last summer and it, uh, didn’t work that well. This happens with every Money in the Bank winner as well, and the result is always the same: they get a lukewarm champion that the fans don’t see as an in-ring threat.

There is always room for yellow-belly antagonists as champions in wrestling. Heck, The Honky Tonk Man basically set the template with his record-setting 454-day Intercontinental Championship reign. However, these types of champions have a short shelf life. If a chicken heel holds a belt for too long, it could damage the credibility of the title. That’s what WWE runs the risk of doing if Carmella holds the gold two or three months longer than she should.

Can her wrestling hold up?

Of course, it’s hard to cast someone as a dominant wrestler when his or her abilities don’t match up. Therein lies the other issue: Carmella simply doesn’t have the in-ring skills to be a long-term champion yet.

Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t terrible in the ring by any means. On the contrary, Carmella has improved significantly from her time in NXT. She bumps well, is rarely out of position, and does the three or four signature moves she has competently. However, she has only gotten to the level where a more seasoned wrestler can carry her to a decent match. That skill level is good for someone who occasionally challenges for the title on a B-level pay-per-view, not someone who holds the Women’s Title for an extended period of time.

I know that wrestling skill isn’t the “be all end all” in WWE, and the quality of the other women’s wrestlers ensures that Carmella will have passable matches. But after watching Flair and Asuka put together a very good match at WrestleMania, moving the title to Carmella seems like a bit of a step-down for the belt.

Will it matter?

Based on character work alone, Carmella should have an entertaining spell as champion. She will fulfill the duty that all heel champions should have: make fans want to see her lose the title. Her promos and personality should grate on fans’ nerves enough to make them despise her.

But this shouldn’t last long. SmackDown has way too many viable competitors to leave the title on someone that the company seemingly had no interest in pushing as a top-level wrestler. Kayfabe-wise, championships in wrestling should signify who the best wrestlers in the company are.

Next: Is Velveteen Dream Ready For The Main Roster?

A lengthy Carmella reign (with this character anyway) does nothing to preserve that ideal. Of course, I would also be happy if I was proven wrong and Carmella has a memorable extended title run filled with great matches and the great promos everyone knows she can cut.