Charlotte Flair’s surprising SmackDown title win is needed shakeup for women’s division

Few expected Charlotte Flair to pop up on SmackDown and walk out with the title, but it comes at a needed time for the women’s division.

The last WWE SmackDown of 2022 came with a huge surprise. Charlotte Flair returned to the brand, not only to stake her claim as the biggest star in the women’s division – but she walked out as the WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion. Flair’s eventual return was expected, but this outcome wasn’t at the top of the bingo card. Perhaps this moment signals a shift in the WWE main roster women’s division which is necessary for success in 2023.

Flair is one of the few individuals who has consistently received the booking of a main event draw, regardless of gender on the main roster. Her return to SmackDown helps a women’s division that was struggling to gain momentum within Ronda Rousey’s title run. Some of that is attributed to Rousey’s performance as champion, plus the booking that hits the rest of the division. Shockingly, taking the title from Rousey and putting it back on Flair almost admits to both of those points.

WWE needed Flair’s return. Outside of Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch, the women’s division struggled to find new stars in recent years. Even as fans started to get behind Liv Morgan, booking decisions quickly cut into her momentum. The same happened to Rhea Ripley early in her main roster run, and she’s only just now reaching a higher status that’s come through an extensive rebuild. These are examples that show there was a needed shakeup within the women’s divisions of both shows and with the Royal Rumble a few weeks away, now is the perfect time to implement that plan.

What this does to the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania season

Heading into the Rumble, Becky Lynch was on the list of favorites to win with the expectation that she would challenge Rousey to set up a rematch to their WrestleMania moment of 2019. That’s no longer the case with Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN Wrestling tweeting that his sources state “people close to Lynch feel the match has lost its luster and should’ve been one on one at WrestleMania 35 when Ronda was at her apex.”

Removing that match from the game board heading into Rumble creates some interesting possibilities. Wrestling News Co reported that Rousey versus Ripley was planned for WrestleMania 39. Ripley is another favorite to win the Rumble so does that mean Flair versus Ripley is planned for the show? That would be an interesting rematch since it was Flair that halted all of Ripley’s momentum the first time, and a heel Ripley looking for revenge on a face Flair fits that narrative.

But what does this do for Bianca Belair? Ripley was seen as the perfect challenger for Belair, with the promotion going as far as hinting at the match time and again. If that isn’t the case any longer, who steps up to face Belair? A new, darker version of Asuka? What about a returning Naomi – who was reportedly supposed to face Belair before she and Sasha Banks walked out back in May. This is an opportunity to elevate someone up the roster with a strong feud against a dominant champion and it will be interesting to see who the company selects.

The build up to the Royal Rumble is an important time for WWE. This pushes the run into WrestleMania and helps fuel interest in the biggest show of the year, but also in what happens immediately after. If Triple H can develop interesting storylines and characters that help build interest in the women’s division, then he will take a large step in correcting the damage that was done in recent years. The women’s division needs this timely shakeup.