Over the past year, WWE has rebranded and restructured the WWE Women’s division with Charlotte at its core. Sasha Banks has been waiting in the wings for the right time to challenge Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship and many believed that she was the best choice to defeat her, become the new champion, and the top female star in WWE.
At Wrestlemania 32, over one-hundred thousand people believed that Sasha Banks would be walking out of Dallas the new WWE Women’s Champion. Alas, the WWE Universe was disappointed and Charlotte’s title reign continued past Wrestlemania, but it led most to believe that her title reign would last until WWE Summerslam.
The assumption became that Charlotte would defend and finally lose her WWE Women’s Championship to Sasha Banks at WWE Summerslam. It had been rumored as the plan for months , but WWE called an audible and booked The Boss vs. The Champ on the first Raw of the brand extension along with the title change. As a result, Sasha Banks is the new WWE Women’s Champion, but the WWE fans are curious why WWE decided to book the title change only a few short weeks before WWE Summerslam .
According to a report from Wrestlezone.com , there was a specific reason why WWE officials decided to book the WWE Women’s title change three weeks before WWE Summerslam. It was noted during the most recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that a possible reason for the title change was due to Charlotte needing time off from WWE programming.
If that was the case, Banks defeating Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship on Raw made a lot of sense. However, it has been confirmed that Charlotte will not be taking time off from WWE. In fact, her schedule over the next several weeks is said to be “brutal.” It was also said that WWE was planning the title change for WWE Summerslam until very recently.
The real reason why WWE decided to give Sasha the biggest moment of her career on Raw instead of at WWE Summerslam is because it was decided that Raw needed a huge moment after the WWE Draft to start off the brand extension properly and to establish Monday Night Raw as the brand where anything can happen.
Of course, there is no question that Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte will go on as planned for WWE Summerslamafter their stellar match on Raw .However, it will be The Boss defending the WWE Women’s Championship in a rematch against Charlotte rather than be the long-awaited title win for Sasha Banks that the WWE Universe has been clamoring for since Wrestlemania 32.
WWE making the decision to book the Women’s title change a few weeks early presents a lot of opportunities for Sasha Banks and Charlotte to expand their feud in new ways now that WWE programming doesn’t have to wait three more weeks for the title change. For example, the rematch could have a stipulation to give the match an extra boost since it is extremely unlikely that The Boss will lose the WWE Women’s Championship less than a month after winning it for the first time.
In the short-term, Raw’s title change was a great moment for Sasha Banks, the WWE Universe, and for the Raw brand. In the long-term, it will be remembered as a major moment for women’s wrestling. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte on Raw was a clear sign that women’s wrestling in WWE is not only of a much higher standard than it ever has been, but the Women’s division deserves to be judged on the same level as any male division.
[Image via WWE.com]