On paper, the SmackDown Women’s Championship match at Backlash looked pretty one-sided. Charlotte Flair is the most decorated female wrestler of the modern era. Carmella only wore the belt into this match because of the Money in the Bank briefcase and The IIconics.
Skeptics wondered whether Mella would even be able to deliver in a pay-per-view (PPV) one-on-one match, and the early booking in Newark on May 6 made it look like there might be something to that. The Princess of Staten Island took a little bit of The Queen’s offense and immediately tried to utilize the champion’s advantage to take her belt in a countout loss. But Flair wouldn’t allow it.
The next flurry of offense from Charlotte provided an opening for Carm, though. Again chasing her opponent, the challenger slid out to the floor... and right into a kick to the face.
.@CarmellaWWE can RUN, but she can't HIDE from #TheQueen @MsCharlotteWWE... #WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/raNP6bCvmN
— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2018
The champ slowed things down, and used the opportunity to heel it up and scream a lot of trash.
.@CarmellaWWE is all day, every day
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) May 7, 2018
➡️ https://t.co/ePt5TzD6sU pic.twitter.com/GjuUsKlg7T
A big reverse drop kick put Flair back in the driver’s seat...
The perks of being #GeneticallySuperior...#WWEBacklash @MsCharlotteWWE pic.twitter.com/7jJ8Aar0SV
— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2018
... but Mella again had an answer, side-stepping another boot on the apron so she could pull her down back-first on the apron. That and a Code of Silence couldn’t keep Charlotte down, however.
Opportunistically following up a missed moonsault with a kick to the leg, Carm got the last laugh. She followed that with a roll-up. While she didn’t convince anyone she’d be delivering five (or four) star matches in the future, Mella did prove she wouldn’t be a one-hit wonder as Women’s champ.
Get complete Backlash results and coverage of the entire card here.