6 New WWE Directions After Battleground 2017

5. Natalya Will Challenge Naomi

Charlotte Natalya
WWE.com

As things stand, neither Charlotte Flair nor Becky Lynch will be in the SmackDown Women's Title picture come SummerSlam. That spot belongs to Natalya after she won a Fatal-5-Way female match at Battleground and dissed Naomi by refusing a handshake. Right now, we're heading for Natalya vs. Naomi one-on-one.

This is a bit of a shift for the SmackDown women's scene. It was expected that Flair might win the match on Sunday and become Naomi's top challenger, but she was knocked out and pinned by Natalya. Even more notably, Charlotte didn't even pin or submit anyone else involved in the match either; all she did was lose to Nattie.

WWE have decided to show patience with Charlotte's babyface run. That's likely a good thing, because she'd realistically have to turn heel again in order to work a program opposite someone like Naomi (otherwise, the reigning champ would be blown out of the water by a stronger character).

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.