When Charlotte Flair captured the SmackDown Women’s championship last night (Nov. 14), it not only created the latest change to one of the previously announced red vs. blue title bouts for Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV), it created an opening on Becky Lynch’s five person elimination tag team.
Rumors prior to the show pointed to Natalya, the woman Flair beat for the title, being swapped into Charlotte’s spot on Team Blue. But that’s not how WWE played it - at least not yet.
Tom Phillips announced we would learn who replaces the new champ on Nov. 19, and WWE.com is playing up the reveal, too.
So... how mysterious is this mystery partner?
You have to think if it was going to be Natalya, they would have done that quickly. While finding herself on the outside looking in at a ‘Big 4’ PPV is a bummer for the former champ, teasing her as the secret weapon would be a pretty big let down.
Most of the speculation has focused on Paige, who’s been rumored to return for injury for a little while now, and was even reported as being set to appear on this past Monday’s Raw. Before that story went around, everyone was saying the former Divas champ was bound for SmackDown. Landing on Team Blue would make at least one rumor about the Brit correct, and get a big response from the crowd in Houston.
The longest shot being discussed for the spot is Nikki Bella. The Fearless One’s schedule is clear after being eliminated on Dancing With The Stars, she’s been talking about coming back in the new year anyway, and her fiance was a last minute addition to SmackDown’s men’s side... There’s been no one with sources going on record about a Sunday Bella surprise, but if WWE wants a big name no one is expecting, and Nikki is cleared and ready to go, it would probably be the biggest splash with mainstream and crossover audiences.
The rumors should start rolling in soon enough, and we’ll find out for sure on Sunday.
Until then, give us your guesses below!