What's Next for Charlotte Flair After Emotional WWE SmackDown Title Win?

The Queen reigns again. Charlotte Flair battled past Natalya on Tuesday night to claim the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.

The win resets the top of the blue brand's women's division. It shifts a major match at Survivor Series. And it clears the path for a scavenger.

Natalya was all set to march into Sunday's Survivor Series pay-per-view as champ. But like Jinder Mahal and The Shield, a title match before the big event spelled her doom. Flair forced her to tap out. The Queen soon celebrated a win in her hometown on the stage with her father in a touching, moving moment.

Flair won't have long to savor that victory, though. 

As the new champ, she has also earned the right to face Raw women's titleholder Alexa Bliss at Survivor Series in Houston. And while Natalya vs. Bliss would have been good, this bout is bigger. Flair and her next foe are the only two Superstars to win both the Raw and SmackDown women's titles. 

Flair will be the favorite in that match.

Flair has yet to lose to Bliss in singles action. Not counting tag team action, Charlotte is 4-0 against The Goddess of WWE, per CageMatch.net.

WWE seems to value Flair more and to believe she's a higher tier star. That points to a win coming her way on Sunday to continue the pattern.

After Survivor Series, Flair will settle in as a keystone for the SmackDown brand. Former WWE star Bully Ray talked up her importance to the women's division on Busted Open radio:

And judging by how the company booked her on Raw, she will be front and center as that division gets more spotlight. Expect her and her enemies to main event SmackDown more often. Count on her being treated as a top-tier talent, not just the ruler of the women's division.

Danger lurks as Flair reigns, though.

Carmella threatens to cash-in in her Money in the Bank contract at any moment. Flair being champ makes that possibility more likely to happen sooner. 

Credit: WWE.com

A heel-on-heel cash-in against Natalya wouldn't have had nearly the emotional power of what's possible with The Princess of Staten Island breaking Flair's heart. The Queen is riding an emotional high. She has returned to the mountaintop. Everything seems to be rolling her way. 

That's the perfect time to insert Carmella and her briefcase.

She is bound to rip the gold from Flair's hand before long, igniting a feud between them. So not long after the title celebration for the second-generation star fades out, Flair will have to fight to regain her crown.