WWE Money in the Bank 2018 Match Card Predictions Version 4.0

Carmella (c) vs. Asuka For The SmackDown Women’s Championship

Weirdly enough, I worry in the back of my mind that Carmella could pull off another major upset here and defeat Asuka to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship, but am I actually worried? I mean, as head-scratching as it might be for Asuka to suffer a fluke loss to Carmella, The Princess of Staten Island has been absolutely brilliant as the champ. So while I want nothing more than for Asuka to win the title and kick Carmella’s head off, I also don’t want Mella’s reign to end. When wrestling fans are conflicted about who they want to win, that’s a sign both performers have been doing a tremendous job.

The above tweet is a reminder that, of course, Asuka could win and Carmella could retain the title to help extend this feud to Extreme Rules, where Asuka could really do some damage to the so-called “Princess”. That could be the right move here, since Asuka is fresh off of defeating Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose in a handicap match and wouldn’t immediately face one of those two at Extreme Rules. The IIconics are natural feuds for Asuka following a title victory, whereas Charlotte, Naomi, or Becky Lynch would be SummerSlam-worthy feuds (with the issue there being that all three of those women are babyfaces…right now, at least).

In the end, I’ll take Asuka here, but I’m not exactly confident that she’ll win the title. I think she should, but, man, Carmella has impressed me so much over the past month.

Prediction: Asuka