Natalya to Challenge Ronda Rousey for WWE SmackDown Women’s Title

Natalya is the new number one contender to WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey.

The Hell In a Cell go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX Friday night featured a Six-Pack Challenge to determine Rousey’s next challenger. In the match, Natalya defeated Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, Aliyah, Shotzi, and Xia Li. Rousey sat ringside to watch the match.

The conclusion saw Rodriguez land the Tejana Bomb on Shotzi, but Baszler came from behind and applied the Kirifuda Clutch to her. Natalya then took advantage of the situation and snatched the pin from Shotzi. Rousey entered the ring after the match and squared off against her old tag team partner.

While Natalya was introduced as the new #1 contender, WWE has not confirmed a date for Natalya vs. Rousey as of this writing. On commentary, Michael Cole stated that the match will take place at a later date, but not at Sunday’s WWE Hell In a Cell event.

During Rousey’s first run with the brand, she and Natalya teamed on many occasions throughout 2018 and 2019. They battled on WWE RAW on December 24, 2018, with Rousey retaining the RAW Women’s Title by submission. in recent weeks, Natalya and Rousey have also worked together. Last week’s SmackDown edition saw Rousey and Raquel defeat Natalya and Baszler, while the May 7 non-televised WWE live event from Trenton, NJ began with Rousey and Raquel defeating Natalya and Baszler. Rousey and Raquel defeated Natalya and Baszler on last week’s SmackDown episode, while the May 7 non-televised WWE live event from Trenton, NJ opened with Rousey, Sasha Banks, and Naomi defeating Natalya, Baszler, and Charlotte Flair.

Here arehighlights from Friday night’s SmackDown: