Bayley Wins SmackDown Women's Title After Cash-in on Charlotte Flair at WWE MITB

Bayley cashed in the WWE Money in the Bank briefcase she won earlier in the night to become the new SmackDown women's champion by defeating Charlotte Flair on Sunday.

Flair had received help minutes earlier from Lacey Evans to extend her own record by beating Becky Lynch to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, marking her ninth reign as women's champion on the WWE main roster.

The Queen entered WrestleMania 35 as SmackDown women's champion after surprisingly beating Asuka for the title, but her reign was fairly short-lived, as Lynch beat both her and Ronda Rousey in a winner-takes-all match for both the SmackDown and Raw women's titles at The Show of Shows.

Lynch's victory rendered her the champion of both brands, and she began calling herself Becky 2 Belts. While that represented a good branding opportunity, it also made her public enemy No. 1 among the rest of the women's division.

While Evans was the first to target The Man with an eye toward winning the Raw Women's Championship, The Queen eventually emerged as a contender for the SmackDown belt.

Flair pointed out that while Lynch technically beat her at WrestleMania, she was not pinned or submitted. Instead, The Man beat Rousey with a crucifix pin, which left The Queen without a championship.

Flair announced her intention to challenge Lynch for the SmackDown women's title, but Bayley also wanted to be involved in the championship picture after going from Raw to the blue brand in the Superstar Shake-up.

That led to a match between Flair and Bayley for the No. 1 contendership, and The Queen came out on top to earn a match against her former friend at Money in the Bank.

After Bayley's strong showing against Flair, Lynch wanted to give her an opportunity in a non-title match. She beat The Huggable One in that bout, but the celebration didn't last long, as The Queen attacked Becky 2 Belts and reminded her that her reign was in danger.

As if a match against Flair wasn't daunting enough, Lynch also had to worry about pulling double duty with a Raw women's title match against Evans, which may have given The Queen a distinct advantage.

While there is no question Lynch had Flair's number in the months leading up to Money in the Bank, it was fair to wonder if The Man had bitten off more than she could chew.

Flair took advantage of that fact to win the SmackDown women's title yet again, but Bayley rushed to the ring as The Queen and Evans were beating up Lynch. After leveling the odds, she shifted her focus to an overzealous Flair.

After an extended period of contemplation, Bayley turned in the briefcase for a title shot and quickly delivered a top-rope elbow to a knocked-out Flair to secure the SmackDown women's title for the first time.

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