WWE SmackDown Preview: Crowd returns, Roman Reigns in trouble, top babyface puts title on the line (July 16th, 2021)

#4 Bianca Belair puts her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line

Carmella will have a big opportunity on WWE SmackDown tonight

In an unfortunate turn of events, last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown confirmed that Bayley had sustained a serious injury. As a result, she has been ruled out of in-ring action for nine months. She was initially supposed to challenge Bianca Belair for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

Can’t wait to miss the first show in front of fans again. I blame YOU for this. Thanks a lot pic.twitter.com/ETOhRyeYkj

— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) July 16, 2021

The title match was removed from the card after Bayley’s injury was made public. Subsequently, it was confirmed that Belair would defend her title against Carmella on WWE SmackDown tonight. The creative team had to look for an immediate replacement, and Carmella seemed like the best choice. She now has a huge opportunity to put up a credible fight against the champion in front of a live audience.

#SmackDown Women's Champion @BiancaBelairWWE is headed to Houston this Friday!But um hello?! @CarmellaWWE is set to challenge the EST of WWE in hopes of becoming the new SmackDown Women's Champion!Who ya got?https://t.co/xi9Ecv7w88 pic.twitter.com/AaLRNTLYcx

— WWE (@WWE) July 15, 2021

Bianca Belair is being pushed as the top babyface on WWE SmackDown, and she has the potential to craft a memorable title reign on the Blue brand. She is not expected to lose her title tonight. However, we hope to see a good match that will ultimately help shift the narration towards other challengers on WWE SmackDown.