The December 30 episode of WWE Smackdown was touted to be one of the biggest episodes of the entire 2022 if not the biggest. John Cena returned to action to feature in a match against his bitter rival and successor in the WWE, Roman Reigns. Cena wasn’t the only returnee of the evening as Charlotte Flair also found her way back to WWE TV after a hiatus of almost eight long months.
Following Ronda Rousey’s successful defense of the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship, Flair showed up and issued an immediate challenge for the title to the woman who took the title away from her back in May. Despite the denials by Shayna Baszler, Rousey agreed to participate in the second title match of the evening and the decision turned out to be a fatal one for her.
WWE Smackdown: Charlotte Flair Makes Incredible History Upon 2022 Return
Rousey put up a tough fight already that night to overcome Raquel Rodriguez but she couldn’t do the same in the impromptu match as she lost in just under two minutes after Flair rolled her up using a handful of tights to become the new WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion. Thus, it marked the beginning of her 14th title reign, as well as in the WWE.
Charlotte was originally planned to make WWE Smackdown return in summer
There have been some rumors about Charlotte Flair possibly coming back to WWE Smackdown for the past several months which finally happened in the final TV taping of 2022 but under different circumstances. While creative had been working on ideas for Flair’s return, Wrestling Observer Radio did reveal that Flair’s original comeback was slated to take place sometime over the summer but it eventually got pushed back.
Initially, the speculations were that Flair will seek redemption for Ronda Rousey for beating her for the WWE Smackdown Women’s Title at Wrestlemania Backlash. It could have happened around Summerslam but that wasn’t the case. Later, rumors also suggested that Flair may end up winning the Royal Rumble match to get herself booked against Bianca Belair at Wrestlemania 39 which isn’t the case, either.
Rather during her impending return, Charlotte Flair kept an impressive track record intact of title wins across the NXT, RAW, and WWE SmackDown brands, starting from her inaugural title win on NXT in 2014, each year. By the time she retires, she should become the single most dominant female wrestling personality of all time.
