WWE Smackdown: Ronda Rousey drops Women’s Title to surprise returnee

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In what marked one of the most shocking incidents of WWE in 2022, Ronda Rousey is no more the Smackdown Women’s Champion. A surprise return from Charlotte Flair took the title off her shoulder.

As seen on the final episode of Friday Night Smackdown on FOX for this year, Ronda Rousey successfully defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain her SmackDown Women’s Championship in one of the three marquee matches of the evening.

Rousey vs Raquel

Taking advantage of her injured arm of Raquel, Ronda tortured her throughout the match and then finally submitted her by applying the Arm Bar, hanging from the top rope and then on the mat.

Charlotte Flair walks out with new music

After the match, Charlotte Flair walked out on the ramp with new music and new gear to send the WWE fans present at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida into a frenzy.

Charlotte was quick to challenge Ronda for the title which was accepted despite her bestie Shayna Baszler’s denials. Baszler tried to slow down the pace of the match from outside as Ronda was war-torn from her earlier match against Raquel.

However, Charlotte took her out and delivered a Spear on Ronda only to be punished by an Arm Bar. Charlotte cunningly countered with a roll-up and hold onto it grabbing the tights to pin Ronda and win the Smackdown Women’s Championship.

The crowd went absolutely crazy following this happening as Charlotte celebrated with her newly won title. Soon, Michael Cole noted Charlotte Flair to be a 14-time champion in WWE who obviously made history one more time.

The second-generation wrestling talent has the most number of title wins in WWE women’s division history. Besides, now she is just two more title wins away from touching his father Ric Flair’s 16 world championship wins.

We haven’t seen Charlotte since WrestleMania Backlash premium live event in May. On that night, she dropped the Smackdown Women’s Title to Rousey in an I Quit Match.

After the match, WWE announced that Charlotte had suffered a fractured radius in a kayfabe manner to write her off the television. In reality, she was away to get married to AEW wrestler Andrade El Idolo.

Over the past several months, the top WWE female superstar made several social media posts hinting at her impending return to TV. She was also spotted training with a couple of NXT Superstars suggesting that the happening was imminent.

Previously, Charlotte Flair was speculated to return and possibly win the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble Match but those plans have since changed as her re-insertion has changed the title picture of the Smackdown female side.