WWE Planned On Bianca Belair And Charlotte Flair Clashing At WrestleMania
WrestleMania 39 is less than five weeks away and at the time of typing this, only three matches have been officially confirmed. Two of those three matches are for WWE's top Women's Championships. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley for the SmackDown Women's Title, and Bianca Belair defending the Raw Women's Title against Asuka.
Charlotte Flair And Bianca Belair
Turns out when WWE first started piecing together its WrestleMania card, those matches were going to be very different. Particularly the Raw Women's Title match. While Belair was always going to remain champion until the show of shows, her opponent was supposed to be Flair. However, those plans changed when WWE decided to have The Queen win the blue brand's title on her first night back.
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According to a report from Fightful Select (via Cultaholic), back in November, the plan was to have Flair return to Raw, not SmackDown, and go after Belair. Apparently that plan was scrapped due to Ronda Rousey who was presumably supposed to be champion for longer before Flair's return was changed. That may have meant Ripley choosing to face Rousey at WrestleMania instead.
What About Rhea Ripley?
How exactly the pieces of that original plan would have fallen into place remains unclear. Again, the most logical path for Ripley would have been her path remaining the same but Rousey being the one at the end of it. That doesn't necessarily work for the Flair and Belair plan unless Flair would have been in the Elimination Chamber match Asuka won to earn her spot opposite the EST.
The reshuffle has led to Ripley vs. Flair and Belair vs. Asuka now cemented in place for WrestleMania. Rousey now appears to be on track to face off for the Women's Tag Titles on The Grandest Stage of Them All. The Rowdy One has already been taking shots at Damage CTRL who will be defending their titles against Becky Lynch and Lita on Raw tonight.
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