Charlotte Flair Wins WWE SmackDown Women's Championship

There was a big title change this week on SmackDown Live, as Charlotte Flair defeated Natalya to win her first SmackDown Women's Championship.

The challenger prevailed after a ten minute match, forcing Natalya to submit to a Figure-Eight Leglock. Afterwards, she got on the microphone and dedicated the victory to her father - only for the Nature Boy to make a surprise appearance and celebrate with his daughter.

https://twitter.com/RicFlairNatrBoy/status/930626787796750336

The result of the match means another last minute change for this Sunday's Survivor Series pay per view, with Charlotte now facing Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss in a brand vs. brand showdown.

Alexa tweeted immediately after the result, and had some choice words for the new champion:

https://twitter.com/AlexaBliss_WWE/status/930625158192291840

Natalya's removal from the match is the latest in a series of surprising changes ahead of the November 19th show. Last week, Jinder Mahal lost the WWE Championship to AJ Styles on SmackDown, meaning that Styles will be Brock Lesnar's new opponent.

Also, yesterday on Raw, Triple H's shock return saw him replace Jason Jordan as the fifth member of Team Raw.

Charlotte's win makes this her first reign as SmackDown Women's Champion. She is a four time Raw Women's Champion - although first won it before the brand split at WrestleMania 32, when it was simply known as the WWE Women's Championship.

Charlotte is expected to compete at Starrcade, WWE's revival of the old WCW pay per view, at a special house show on November 25th. It will take place in her home state of North Carolina.

There's no telling whether Natalya will now fill in for Charlotte's vacated place on the Survivor Series women's team, although this seems like the most likely course of action. It's unlikely that Charlotte will pull double duty, as she is now in the non-title champion vs. champion match with Alexa Bliss.