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WWE Superstar Charlotte Flair has won the SmackDown Women's Championship from Asuka two weeks before her highly-anticipated match between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 35.
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The title change took the place of a fatal four-way match between Naomi, Carmella, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville that was going to determine the number one contender for Asuka at WrestleMania, but the plans were changed before the show as reported by Fightful Wrestling.
Many fans believe the title changed hands tonight in order to have both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships defended in the main event, but that may not be the case.
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WWE announced the plan to make the Raw Women's Championship the main event yesterday before Monday Night Raw, but most of the focus heading into WrestleMania was on Lynch and Rousey despite Flair always being the Superstar WWE wanted the focus on.
The original plan after last year's WrestleMania was for Flair and Rousey to face each other at WrestleMania in a singles match, but Lynch's ever-increasing popularity lead to WWE including her in their WrestleMania plans.
With her victory tonight, Flair become the second eight-time champion in WWE women's history and ties WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus for the all-time record.
In addition to being the longest reigning SmackDown Women's Champion, Charlotte now has the most reigns with the title at three - surpassing the tie held by Lynch, Naomi and Raw Superstar Alexa Bliss.
The title change caused an uproar on social media with fans not understanding why Asuka wasn't allowed to defend her title at WrestleMania after losing the championship to Flair at last year's event.
Asuka's victory at the TLC pay-per-view and the Royal Rumble had some fans thinking the company was trying to rebuild her after the fallout after losing her streak and losing matches to Carmella last year, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
