The story of Becky Lynch battling back to earn a shot at Carmella and the SmackDown women’s championship took a turn when Charlotte returned and put herself right into the picture. Instead of Carmella vs. Becky, it became Carmella vs. Becky vs. Charlotte, and it went down at SummerSlam tonight (Sun., Aug. 19, 2018) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Carmella tried to sow seeds of dissent within Tea-Generation X early on but Charlotte wouldn’t let Becky lose sight of the fact that “this is competition” and they’re here to wrestle and win a title. They largely held true to that. To her credit, Carmella was spectacularly annoying throughout most of the match, making clear exactly why literally everyone wants her to lose the title to someone they actually like, be it Becky or Charlotte. Triple threat rules: Carmella wasn’t just here to be annoying: But also, Charlotte wasn’t messing around either: They did a bunch of interesting near falls, where everyone was breaking it up for everyone else and they were all presented like legitimately strong threats to win the match. In the end, Becky appeared to have Carmella on the verge of tapping with the Disarmher but Charlotte used it to her advantage, hitting Natural Selection and pinning Lynch just after. After, the two friends hugged. Becky seemed okay with the result. She was not. Lynch snapped, throwing a beatdown Flair’s way and leaving her in a heap on the floor: As Becky walked out with her head high and Charlotte cried, the crowd chanted “you deserve it.” Get complete SummerSlam results and coverage of the entire card here.<doc-sep>With SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella wearing Charlotte Flair’s “Diva” criticism as a badge of honor, it might be time for her to lose the title. When WWE booked Carmella to cash in her Money in the Bank briefcase and beat Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship last April, the company knew what they were going to get out of the second-generation wrestler. They knew that she wasn’t going to have catch-as-catch-can classics. Frankly, expecting an average championship match out of Carmella would have been asking too much. No one expected her to turn into a credible top women’s wrestler the second she scored the title-clinching pinfall. She had a simple job: troll the audience by being annoying as possible while playing on the fans’ perception of her as a worker. So far, it has worked. Months of portraying an obnoxious, aggravating, Staten Island Princess finally manifested itself last Tuesday on SmackDown Live, when the reigning SmackDown Women’s Champ stood face-to-face-to-face with the two women who will challenge her for the title at SummerSlam: Flair and Becky Lynch. Photo by WWE’s Twitter While the Flair/Lynch subplot got some shine in the opening segment, the exchange between Flair and the Carmella toward the end became an interesting talking point. Flair’s soliloquy began with the usual babyface bullet points: she derided Carmella for winning her matches using underhanded means, noted that she couldn’t hang with anyone in the women’s division (a bit of a stretch, but not entirely inaccurate), criticized her for digging up James Ellsworth to help her beat Asuka, and stated that those transgressions were why the fans don’t respect her. Flair, however, saved the sharpest barb for last: If you didn’t click on the video, Flair said that Carmella was “a ‘Diva’ living in a women’s era”, playing on the idea that Carmella exhibits many of the characteristics that were commonplace among female wrestlers prior to 2015 (at least on the main roster). Of course, being the image-conscious villain that she is, Carmella embraced the criticism during the segment (and later on Twitter) while implying that she was more attractive than Lynch and Flair. This was good heel heat for Carmella. They know what she was saying is ridiculous. I think people are reading into this too much, so I'm probably going to avoid responding to most of the quotes/replies to this. — Daily DDT (@FanSidedDDT) August 15, 2018 I thought that this was a good way for Carmella to build heel heat for SummerSlam. It makes perfect sense that her character would insult her opponents with that sort of jab. After all, Carmella, in-storyline, is obsessed with the aesthetic value of things, including her championship reign. Carmella is also far from the first wrestler to have an act based around his or her looks. Heck, Impact Wrestling is somewhat doing the same thing with Scarlett Bordeaux as “The Smoke Show”. However, I will echo what my colleague Chelsea Marcus penned about Bordeaux’s gimmick several weeks ago: WWE needs to tread lightly with this. The simplest way to avoid controversy would be to have Carmella lose the title to either Flair or Lynch at SummerSlam. In storytelling, no matter how long the narrative takes, the hero(es) triumph over the antagonist(s) with few exceptions to the rule. Unfortunately, WWE far too often frays from this path; their history is littered with storylines where the dastardly heels get the last word. Remember in 2003 when Triple H suggested that Booker T couldn’t win the world title because he was black and pinned him with a Pedigree and a 10-minute tea party in between? How about when Michelle McCool made fun of Mickie James’ weight for months back in 2009? Guess who won that feud (spoiler: it wasn’t James)? What about Alexa Bliss calling James old or teasing Nia Jax for her size? All of those feuds ended the same way: the heel went over and was proven right in the end. Carmella using Divas-era tropes to draw the crowd’s ire is fine. However, WWE has to make sure that a character that subverts the strides that the women’s division has made while taking potshots at her contemporaries’ perceived lack of beauty (which is inconsequential in a wrestling match) receives her comeuppance. Furthermore, WWE can’t let a character like that participate in a featured match at Evolution, a show meant to illuminate how far women’s wrestling in WWE has come, in October. WWE has gotten as much as they can out of the first Ms. Money in the Bank’s inaugural Women’s Title run. It’s time that they cashed in on that equity this Sunday with a title change.<doc-sep>Carmella defends her SmackDown Women's Championship in a triple threat match for the first time this weekend, which also happens to be the first ever women's triple threat match in the history of SummerSlam. Carmella has had the help of James Ellsworth at both Money in the Bank and Extreme Rules but after he was fired from SmackDown Live a few weeks ago, The Princess of Staten Island has been forced to go it alone and is now aware that she doesn't have to be pinned to lose her Championship this weekend when she steps in the ring against two former Champions. Charlotte Flair is a six-time Women's Champion whilst Becky Lynch was the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion after she won the title at Backlash in 2016, but hasn't been able to lift the Championship since. Tension is running high between Tea-Generation X members Charlotte and Becky and right now it's unknown which woman could come out on top. #5 Charlotte makes history Charlotte Flair has dominated the Women's Divison for the past three years If Charlotte Flair is able to pick up the win at SummerSlam she will become the first woman since Trish Stratus to become a seven-time Women's Champion. Charlotte has dominated WWE ever since she arrived back in 2013 and her accomplishments inside the ring speak for themselves. The one stumbling block for Charlotte is the fact that Becky Lynch is in the ring with her and she has been Flair's friend for so long now that she knows her strategy and her moveset backward so it could be a hard match for her to come out on top in this weekend. Carmella has also already beaten her twice and is a scrappy Champion so it's not wise to count her out either. 1 / 5 NEXT<doc-sep>Ronda took on Alexa Bliss in the Women's Championship FREE for news on the biggest players and tournaments SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up forfor news on the biggest players and tournaments When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler (Intercontinental Championship) The first match of the night had some history begin it, with Dolph having beaten Seth back on June 18 in the Intercontinental Title. However, this time Seth brought Dean Ambrose as a back-up in an explosive rematch. In the final moments, Rollins countered Ziggler’s superkick with one of his own and used a Stomp to secure his victory and second Intercontinental Championship. The New Day vs the Bludgeon Brothers (SmackDown Tag Team Championships) In this tag team match, the Bludgeon Brothers Erick Rowan and Luke Harper faced off against The New Day's Big E and Xavier Woods. The New Day came out victors over The Bludgeon Brothers, thanks to a disqualification. Kevin Owens vs Braun Strowman (Money in the Bank briefcase) Kevin Owens had grown tired of Braun Strowman taunting him, so challenged him for the Money in the Bank Briefcase. Braun had the upper hand from the get-go, knocking Kevin down with a running powerslam to keep hold of the briefcase. WWE: Ronda Rousey reflects on SummerSlam title win Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Carmella (SmackDown Women’s Championship) This three-way match was explosive, with any of the three ladies able to take home the championship. Charlotte used Natural Selection on Becky to break up the submission and managed to score the pin. Charlotte won, becoming SmackDown Women’s Champion once more. Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) This was Samoa Joe’s first time competing for the WWE Championship title, but not the first facing AJ Styles. After an explosive incident with a steel chair following comments from Joe, Styles found himself disqualified. Daniel Bryan vs Miz Both Daniel and Miz took each other on with real venom in this match, with repeated warnings from the referee. Some questionable tactics from Miz after he was handed brass knuckles by Maryse from outside the ring, but shockingly Miz came away the champion. Rollins was victorious over Ziggler in the Intercontinental Championship Constable Baron Corbin vs The Demon Finn Balor Finn Balor had been possessed by a demon for this match, facing off against longtime foe Constable Baron Corbin. The demon granted Finn some extra strength, managing to beat Baron in the same amount of time his creepy entrance took. Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Championship) Two amped up wrestlers, with Jeff Hardy’s painted face including eyeballs painted on his eyelids to scare Shinsuke Nakamura. Jeff attempted the Swanton to the apron, but after Shinsuke moved the move backfires on him. After this Jeff was easy pickings - with Shinsuke taking the win. Roman Reigns defeated reigning champion Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship<doc-sep>
Charlotte Flair won the SmackDown Women's Championship, but the only thing fans can talk about was the heel turn by Becky Lynch to end the post-match segment. This part of the show began with Flair making her entrance first debuting a pink robe followed by Becky Lynch who came to the ring with a much more colorful attire then usual. The Champion, Carmella, made her way down to the ring also covered in pink via her new sweatsuit and in-ring gear. The story of the night was Carmella using the competitiveness of Flair and Lynch to drive a wedge between them and secure the title in the midst of the confusion. As corny as her tactics were, Carmella's game plan proved effective as she managed to isolate Flair and Lynch at various points in the match. Carmella focused majority of her offense on wearing down Lynch with different slaps and holds until Flair entered the ring and booted Lynch in the face. Flair would regain control and set up for a Figure 8 until she was pushed into the ropes and kicked in the face by Lynch. The Lass Kicker would ascend the ropes and hit a double dropkick from the top rope before getting back to her feet and laying out Flair and Carmella. Lynch went to the top rope again, but Carmella would hit her in the face and counter with a head scissors for a nearfall. Carmella attempted a similar head scissors spot with Flair, but The Queen countered with a modified facebuster before locking in the Walls of Jericho and eventually locking in the Figure 8 until it was broken up by Lynch who came off the top rope. With both women on the outside, Carmella shocked the world hitting an good-looking Suicide Dive followed by Flair's Moonsault from the top rope. Flair would drag Lynch back into the ring and attempted Natural Selection, but was countered with the Dis-Arm-Her. Carmella would knock Flair out of the ring and tried to attack Lynch, but was caught with the Dis-Arm-Her and used the ropes to break the hold - only for Lynch to lock the Dis-Arm-Her back in. Lynch almost had the match won, but Flair hit Natural Selection and pinned her best friend to win the SmackDown Women's Championship for the second time. Flair and Lynch would embrace in the middle of the ring to the chorus of boos from the fans in Brooklyn, but the crowd would change their tune after Lynch finally snapped and attacked the new champion. After throwing her across the announcement table, Lynch walked out adorned by cheers while fans chanted "You Deserve It!" as she left the arena. This match was the best match of Carmella's reign and set up a much more interesting program for the title as WWE builds towards Evolution.