WWE Clash of Champions 2017: What we learned, takeaways, future projections
By Luke Norris
Lumberjack Match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Natalya
What we learned: We learned here that WWE has finally decided to stop using the word “lumberjill” for these women’s lumberjack matches, so I’m calling that a win right off the bat. Otherwise, we learned that lumberjack matches just need to stop. There hasn’t been a good win in a long time, and this was no exception.
Charlotte Flair and Natalya are two of the best in-ring performers the WWE women’s division has ever seen and certainly don’t need the lumberjack gimmick thrown in to put on a good show. They’ve put on great matches in the past and probably would have done so again, but the distraction of everyone at ringside kept that from happening. I also don’t remember a time where the lumberjacks all got their own entrance, but with just six matches on the card, I suppose you’ve gotta fill time somehow.
This was a mess from the beginning. At no point did this feel like an important title match, and the only intriguing part of the lumberjacks being there was the chance that Carmella might try to cash in her Money in the Bank contract, which she actually did tease at one point before being tossed out of the ring before she could officially get it in. After all the nonsense, including a moonsault where it seemed that nobody wanted to actually catch Charlotte, Natalya tapped out to the Figure Eight to end things.
What’s next: I didn’t expect Natalya to win here, and I’m glad they’re not going the route of passing the title around like has been done in the past. I’m not exactly sure what route they’re going to take with Natalya given that promo following the match, but it is a little interesting, certainly more interesting than anything that happened in the actual match. The crying could use some work, though. As for Charlotte, she’ll get a new contender and has to keep an eye on Carmella before things get rolling for her long-rumored program with Ronda Rousey and the Four Horsewomen of MMA, which I still think is going to happen as WrestleMania season gets underway.