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It was revealed ahead of last week's episode of SmackDown that Bayley had suffered an ACL tear that would keep her out of action in WWE for around nine months.
The injury meant that Bayley's match at Money in the Bank against Bianca Belair had to be canceled. The star was scheduled to face Belair and "I Quit" match for the SmackDown Women's Championship, but the title defence was moved to SmackDown, and Bayley was replaced by Carmella.
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Sonya Deville announced that the former Women's Champion would be the one challenging Belair on the first episode of SmackDown since the return of the WWE Universe. Recent rumors suggest that WWE could be planning some huge surprises over the weekend and these could begin on SmackDown.
The Women's Division on SmackDown is a competitive place at present which opens up a number of possibilities for this match. The following list looks at just five potential finishes.
#5. Carmella wins the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Carmella has been given a golden opportunity following Bayley's injury and the former Champion's new attitude could be the difference in this match.
Carmella has only won two matches in 2021 and was recently pinned by Liv Morgan after it was revealed that she would be part of the Money in the Bank ladder match. "The most beautiful woman in all of WWE" has since been taken out of the contract ladder match, so this could be her only shot at the title.
Carmella won the SmackDown Women's Championship back in 2018 after she became the first woman to cash in the Money in the Bank contract. Over the past three years, Carmella has fallen down the pecking order in WWE and this could be her way of climbing back.
The former champion has always found a way to come out on top when she needed to and could have a plan B in this match if things didn't go her way. Knowing that she won't have a chance to win the Money in the Bank contract this year if she fails could be enough motivation for Carmella to pull out all the stops and become a two-time SmackDown Women's Champion.
#4. Bianca Belair retains the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Bianca Belair defends the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship on SmackDown against Carmella. Belair was expecting to defend her Championship against Bayley at Money in the Bank on Sunday night, but following her ACL injury, Bayley was forced to drop out of the match.
Whilst Belair has only had a week to prepare for this match, The EST of WWE has already beaten some of the best in WWE since she arrived on the main roster last year.
The current SmackDown Women's Champion is one of the best female wrestlers in the company at present and should easily be able to find her way past Carmella so that she can celebrate her win in front of the WWE Universe.
The EST of WWE was only promoted to the main roster back at WrestleMania 36 last year, which means that this will be Belair's first main roster match in front of live fans, so she will be wanting to start off in the best possible way and leave quite the impression.
#3. Toni Storm debuts on WWE SmackDown and helps Carmella pick up the victory
Carmella was able to become the first woman in WWE to hold the Money in the Bank briefcase because James Ellsworth interfered in the match on her behalf.
"The most beautiful woman in all of WWE" then went on to win the SmackDown Women's Championship the following year after The IIconics attacked Charlotte and allowed Carmella to cash in.
Carmella had Reginald by her side earlier in the year, but since his move over to RAW, the former Women's Champion hasn't had a lot of luck.
Last week on SmackDown it was revealed that Toni Storm was heading to the blue brand and tomorrow night could be the perfect time for her to make her debut.
This week's episode will be the first in front of a live audience in more than 16 months and is expected to be full of shocks and surprises.
It would be interesting to see Storm make her debut and align herself with Carmella in the same way that Doudrop is currently aligned with Eva Marie over on RAW.
#2. Sasha Banks returns and makes it clear she wants a rematch for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Sasha Banks hasn't competed on WWE programming since WrestleMania when she lost her SmackDown Women's Championship to Bianca Belair.
The Boss and The EST of WWE main evented the first night of WrestleMania, but Banks came up short and was then rendered speechless on the post-show episode of SmackDown.
Her former best friend Bayley has stepped into the Championship picture in her absence, but now that The Role Model is injured, it could be time to call The Boss back.
Banks is one woman in WWE who has a claim to that Championship and will be seething that her opportunity has been given to Carmella, who has won just two matches in the past seven months.
It's unclear where Banks has been since WrestleMania but this would be the perfect time for her to make her return, interfere in this match and push for an opportunity at the Championship on Sunday night at Money in the Bank.
#1. Bayley interferes in the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship match and reveals she isn't actually injured
Bayley's recent injury has caused WWE to call up several NXT talents to the main roster as they scrambled to create a plan B following her ACL tear last week.
It's interesting to note that Bayley's injury came just days after Charlotte and Rhea Ripley played out an injury angle heading into their match at Money in the Bank. Bayley could have seen this and decided to play mind games with the SmackDown Women's Champion ahead of their bout.
It has been announced officially by WWE that Bayley suffered an ACL tear, but this could all be part of her plan. This way Belair will be forced to work a Women's Championship match on SmackDown but Bayley could interfere to ensure the title doesn't change hands.
Less than 48 hours later, Belair would then be forced to defend her Championship again at Money in the Bank, and in an "I Quit" match, this would give Bayley a huge advantage.
