Currently in WWE as champions, we have Bianca Belair as the Raw Women’s Champion and more recently Charlotte Flair crowned as the SmackDown Women’s Champion. Flair made her return at the end of December and became a 14-time women’s champion after defeating Ronda Rousey in quick fashion. Rousey had just retained the gold against Raquel Rodriguez before Flair’s return and challenge.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, the plans we saw played out were adjusted and not originally what was going to take place. The match between Rousey and Rodriguez on the Dec. 30 episode of SmackDown was originally planned for the Royal Rumble event. This was the plan as of early December. The move was made to add Rousey vs. Rodriguez as well as Flair’s return and victory to add more to the Dec. 30 show. This show also had John Cena.
In addition, several changes have been made due to this change. At the same period, Flair was tentatively scheduled on a “suggested matches” list to wrestle Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship while Ripley was set to take on Rousey. This was when Rousey was still champion.
Fightful adds that those familiar with the situation state that Rousey was presented with several creative options, but they didn’t work out. The decision was made to move the title match with Rodriguez to that Dec. 30 episode and put the gold on Flair.
Fans have not seen Rousey since she dropped the title and Flair has been feuding with Sonya Deville. A Raw Women’s Title match has been booked for the Rumble event between Belair and Alexa Bliss. A SmackDown Women’s Championship match has not been booked for the Rumble event at the time of this writing.
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