WWE Hell in a Cell 2019 preview: SmackDown Women’s Championship match

Bayley will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair at WWE Hell in a Cell on Sunday.

It looks like WWE is waiting until the very final minute to announce the entire Hell in a Cell match card. Ahead of Friday Night SmackDown‘s FOX debut only three matches — The Fiend Bray Wyatt versus Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns versus Luke Harper and Erick Rowan and Becky Lynch versus Sasha Banks — had been finalized.

Now, we have a fourth, with WWE announcing post-SmackDown that Bayley will be putting her SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line against Charlotte Flair on Sunday. It’s a logical choice for the match, with Flair and Lynch recently teaming up against Banks and Bayley, most recently on Friday night when Flair picked up the submission win over Bayley.

Plus, these Four Horsewomen’s stories have long intertwined, making Flair the obvious challenger for Bayley at Hell in a Cell. Still, it feels a bit slapdash — the Flair-Lynch partnership has been an uneasy one borne of necessity more than anything, and nothing all that particular has gone down between her and Bayley in the same way the Banks-Lynch feud has gotten both physical and personal.

But Flair is currently positioned as an ally to Lynch in Lynch’s saga with Bayley’s best friend Banks and, ultimately, that’s all WWE really needs in order to establish this match for Sunday. And besides, with SmackDown‘s move to FOX, it was only a matter of time before Flair returned to the blue brand’s title picture.

It might be cynical to say that FOX likely prefers Flair as their WWE show’s champion over Bayley, but it’s also believable as a motivation for both booking this match and the potential outcome of Flair once again being champion. That could prove interesting, however, for Bayley’s and Banks’ relationship going forward should Banks best Lynch for Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship, depending also on what happens in the impending draft, set for Oct. 11 and 14.

Regardless of the motivations or the last-minute (and predictable) booking, Flair challenging Bayley does make sense. And after Sunday, we should have a better idea of where the top of the women’s division stands as well as how the volatile dynamics being built between Bayley, Flair, Banks and Lynch will play out.