15 WWE Title Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
7. Charlotte Flair = Wannabe Babyface (WWE SmackDown Women's Title)
Title Change: WWE put Charlotte Flair over both Becky Lynch and Carmella at SummerSlam 2018. By winning, Flair secured the old SmackDown Women’s Title and was supposed to be a popular babyface going forwards, but fans looked sideways at one another and said: 'Yeah, sod that!'.
Why It Backfired: Lynch, who was meant to be heel and despised for being such a sore loser on the night, was cheered wildly by the audience at SummerSlam instead. Honestly, what a pop her attack got - you'd have thought 'Stone Cold' had marched out to flatten everybody with a few stunners before sinking some beers and soaking the canvas/ropes/turnbuckles/front rows with them.
That Charlotte kicking led to the creation of Becky's ‘The Man’ character, and the rest is history. Looking back, it's amazing that WWE thought Flair could be baby and Becky the villain. By her own admission in interviews, Charlotte has always had a silver spoon appearance to the fanbase, so they were never going to choose her over the plucky underdog tale of Lynch.
She'd travelled the world to go from rags to riches, whereas Flair had lucked into the biz due to her father's surname. Hardly accurate or fair (to Flair) at all, but that's how many people looked at their contrasting stories. 2018 showed that Charlotte was never going to be an accepted 'good guy'. Fast forward to 2025 and WWE are still bashing their heads against a brick wall with that one.
Creative got lucky by twisting into Becky's newfound attitude at just the right time. It wasn't planned and it wasn't what they even wanted to happen by accident, but yes. Sheer luck and a testament to Lynch's connection with hardcores won out.