WWE Clash of Champions: Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair must main event

The first match for Clash of Champions has been set: Bayley will defend her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against The Queen, Charlotte Flair.

During last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Charlotte Flair was a guest on WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, Alexa Bliss’ talk show segment – A Moment of Bliss – alongside her partner, Nikki Cross. After pulling in the ire of Bayley after calling her and her SmackDown Women’s Championship an “afterthought” while boldly calling herself the face of the brand, The Queen grew even bolder by challenging The Hugger to a title match at the next Pay-Per-View: Clash of Champions.

Naturally, Bayley accepted and we now have our first title match booked for the PPV. A match that, in all honesty, should main event that PPV. Truth be told, Bayley needs to main event that show so that both her and her title can remain relevant.

While Charlotte’s goading last night worked as good heel heat, the 9-time Women’s Champion was not wrong in saying that Bayley’s reign has felt like an afterthought. While it started off hot with a big Money in the Bank cash-in and then a pair of back-to-back title defenses against Bliss that vindicated Bayley from their past feud, the reign slowly faltered during her feud with Ember Moon.

Fans struggled to remain interested in the storyline – which, really, beyond Ember being the challenger and Bayley being the champion, there was no storyline – and their match at SummerSlam received by far the worst reaction of the night. Fans didn’t care and are slowly losing interest in Bayley’s run.

A main event on PPV could help add some luster to both the championship and the Superstar holding it. Bayley has yet to main event a PPV yet. Becky Lynch and her Raw Women’s Championship has, Seth Rollins has done so multiple times, but Bayley hasn’t. Neither has Kofi Kingston during his WWE Championship run, but at least fans are still hot for his storylines. Fans can’t say the same for Bayley.

A main event PPV is just what Bayley needs to get crowds invested in her as a champion. Even better, Charlotte has enough history with Bayley as a challenger to justify a main event spot. Win, lose, or draw, Bayley just needs the main event spot.