With Roman Reigns unifying the WWE and Universal Championships and The Usos looking to do the same with the Raw and SmackDown tag team titles, it has me pondering the “what if” scenarios for the other belts.
In part 1 of this discussion, I broke down how I could see that tag team situation playing out. Now, it’s time to turn our attention to the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
The Current Situation
At the moment, the titles are on Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair. The former just won the title at WrestleMania after having dropped her previous championship to Becky Lynch, rounding out that storyline. Flair, on the other hand, narrowly retained her title and is set to face Ronda Rousey once more at WrestleMania Backlash.
I’m assuming the game plan is for Rousey to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship there. FOX would want a big name like Rousey to hold the title and show up as regularly as possible for ratings, Flair’s held it long enough and the way the story is being told, it’s the fitting end (well, Hell in a Cell will be).
Nothing at all indicates there will be a unification on the horizon, thankfully. However, if WWE goes ahead and enjoys unifying the other two sets of titles, Vince McMahon may be thinking to himself “Why don’t we just do this with the rest?”
How Would a Unification Go Down?
If Rousey wins, I don’t think we’d get Rousey vs. Belair. We’d have to see Lynch win the Raw Women’s Championship back from Belair to set up that Lynch/Rousey rematch, which would likely take place at something like Survivor Series. Supposedly, that’s the plan for WrestleMania for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, with Big Time Becks moving over to the blue brand in the draft (and likely, Flair going over to Raw to balance things out). I’m thinking Belair/Flair is also the plan, but we’ll see about that.
Rousey/Lynch for both belts would have to happen earlier than WrestleMania under this theoretical because WWE would be antsy to just merge everything. They wouldn’t be willing to wait an entire year. Plus, with titles merging at or before Survivor Series, there wouldn’t need to be any “champion vs. champion” brand warfare matches and the event would revert back to the lesser format from the past of just random pairings like “Team The Miz vs. Team Dolph Ziggler” and whatnot.
Rousey would almost assuredly be the unified champion. She’s the big name they’re hinging on, Lynch already did it with “Becky Two Belts” and Flair would draw too much criticism.
Branding the WWE Women’s Championship
Obviously, getting rid of one of these titles would mean there would be no need for the Raw and SmackDown distinction anymore. It wouldn’t be a case where just one of those would stick around and be defended, as the dual-show setup demands no Raw/SmackDown qualification.
WWE would simply create a new belt design without the red or blue. It would likely have a white strap, the standard red swoosh in the WWE logo, similar to this design, but possibly with a black background so the logo doesn’t get too blended in.
More Focus on the Women’s Tag Team Division
Having only one women’s champion would create a boom for the tag team division. Since there would be only one major title to write storylines for, more women would be paired up to avoid falling into a void in the singles division.
As there would be one less title to fight for, WWE would also find itself wanting to give belts to some other talent that were primed for the spotlight, and would have nothing else for them to do than to hold the tag team gold.
Imagine how someone like Sasha Banks is already holding the tag team titles with Naomi right now. The same would be the case for Bayley and others who have had their runs, while WWE focuses on the pet projects of the moment. Say goodbye to another title reign for Natalya, for example, as her chances to win the title would be cut in half.
But eventually, even the tag team division wouldn’t suffice. Knowing WWE, another belt would be created to compensate.
A Women’s Midcard Championship
WWE—or, rather, Vince McMahon—does not care all that much for tag team wrestling. It’s been well documented and examined. He prefers singles stars paired up, rather than actual tag teams. That way, you know them as “Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan” rather than “Livv for Brutality” and there is an increase in stock to two people’s notoriety, instead of a unit.
In some ways, it’s logical. Other times, it’s just annoying. But it is guaranteed WWE would not last too long before getting antsy to give another championship to a singles star.
I would imagine a year into having one women’s world champion, a midcard title would be created. That way, they could experiment with giving the belt to someone they like, but aren’t entirely sold on having carry the division.
For example, you’d see someone like Raquel Rodriguez hold this while she established herself to reach the level of the big names like Lynch, Flair, etc.
What would they call it? Some would suggest the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. In my mind, they would use the opportunity to create something new for the sake of keeping it fresh. It wouldn’t be the Divas Championship, either, as there is too much negativity associated with that term.
I don’t think it would be the WWE Evolution Championship, either. That would make it seem as though the Superstars are going through evolutions themselves, as if they’re Pokemon, or imply that the title operates under rules that are ever-changing.
My guess is they’d call it something like the WWE Empowered Championship and hype it up for PR purposes as something that symbolizes the strength the women’s division exhibits. If that’s too much of a mouthful, the WWE Power Championship could be the case. I hate it, but this isn’t what I would do; it’s what I think WWE would do. That evokes the “girl power” phrasing, too.
A Harder Path to 16 Titles for Charlotte Flair
One last point of discussion would be that half the titles would mean half the opportunities not just for someone like Natalya to get another run, or for a newbie to break through the glass ceiling, but also for Flair to rack up her world title accolades.
Granted, Flair would win the midcard belt at least once. They’re checking everything off her list. If she doesn’t win Money in the Bank at some point, I’ll be shocked. But they’re assuredly getting her to 16, if not 17. She’s at 13, and once she drops it to Rousey, it should be at least a few more months before she’s up for another run.
Winning 3 or 4 more titles doesn’t seem too crazy for Flair, but it’s more than most people get in their entire careers. Flair isn’t going to be wrestling for another 20 years. She’ll hang the boots up eventually. So long as there are other people like Rousey, Belair, Ripley, Lynch, Banks, and more to potentially carry the responsibility of champion, WWE would have less of a reason to put the title on Flair. She’s well past the point of “needing” the title outside of the 16 time number to reach.
Unless WWE would go rapid fire and have her win it and drop it a few times in a row just to boost the tally, there would be more of a chance she wouldn’t reach that milestone than how she currently has two belts up for grabs with the brand split setup.
Will It Happen?
My best prediction is no. WWE very quickly took one of the belts away from Becky Lynch when she had both. It’s not sustainable in the long run. I don’t even think Roman Reigns is keeping both titles unified past SummerSlam.
It all depends on The Tribal Chief. If that works out in a way WWE enjoys it, the women’s titles and the brand split as a whole will be on the chopping block. That remains to be seen.
Would you want WWE to unify the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
