SmackDown Women's Championship

The SmackDown Women's Championship, previously known as the Women's World Title was introduced by Nikki Bella on May 12th to replace the old WWE Diva's Title. It is the women's championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand.

## History

Nikki Bella first introduced the title to the SmackDown brand, wanting something more modern for the SmackDown women to fight for. Nikki escaped several title challenges from her sister, Brie, and Natalya, but was finally defeated by Natalya in a singles match on the first SmackDown episode of July. Natalya held the belt for over two months before losing it to Paige, who was making her SmackDown debut.

Paige made her first defense when she defeated Natalya in a rematch at No Mercy. When Daniel Bryan took control of SmackDown in November, he changed the name and look of the title to match the new Raw Women's Title. Paige's title reign continued, but not without hiccups. She lost twice to Becky Lynch, once by pinfall in a non-title match and the second by count-out with the belt on the line. She would make a successful defense to close 2016, defeating Emma in a triple threat match also featuring Alexa Bliss.

Paige's reign would come to an end, as at Elimination Chamber, she was pinned by Alexa Bliss in an excellent triple threat match also involving Charlotte. Alexa defeated Paige in a rematch a few weeks later to keep hold of the gold. On a special Women's Night on SmackDown, The Queen once again became number one contender. At WrestleMania, Charlotte became the new champion via Natural Selection. After Alexa Bliss was cost her rematch by Nia Jax, Nikki Bella would become Charlotte's first challenger, defeating Jax in a number one contender's match. At Backlash, Nikki came up short at reclaiming the championship. Next up was Bayley, who made her SmackDown debut by pinning Charlotte in a non-title match. She would do so again at Money in the Bank, defeating The Queen for a second time to complete her Triple Crown. That major accoplisment would be all for Bayley, who quickly dropped the belt to Emma at Battleground. The championship continued to change hands, as Alexa Bliss would then dethrone Emma at Summerslam, becoming a two-time champion. In a special Champion vs Champion match at No Mercy, Bliss was defeated by Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch.

One month later at Halloween Havoc , Alexa Bliss was defeated and destroyed by Nia Jax to lose the belt. Jax was completely dominant, easily beating Bayley at Armageddon and Charlotte at Royal Rumble . The Glamazon Beth Phoenix came out of retirement to challenge Nia at WrestleMania , but she too was dispatched as the dominant reign continued.  At Backlash , though, Jax's reign would suddenly come to an end, as Asuka arrived to SmackDown and quickly became champion. The Empress would retain against Ember Moon at Judgment Day , defeated Sasha Banks again at Money in the Bank and took down both Peyton Royce and Billie Kay in a triple threat match at Battleground . Her next challenger would be Kairi Sane, and in an all-Japanese war at Summerslam , the Pirate Princess became champion.

Sane and Asuka weren't finished, facing off again at Clash of Champions but this time with Sasha Banks added, who would be pinned by Kairi. Sane would defeat Charlotte Flair at Halloween Havoc , before facing off again with Asuka at Survivor Series . With both women in their homeland of Japan, Asuka would become a two time champion, submitting Kairi with an armbar. WIth their feud escalating, it was time for the rubber match between Asuka and Kairi Sane. It would be an Iron Woman match, and at Starrcade, Asuka would win out thanks to a late fall, getting her second title reign off on the right foot. Following that, Asuka would face Bayley, who had recently restored her friendship with Sasha Banks. Banks was in Bayley's corner at Royal Rumble, but it wasn't enough to topple "The Empress". Now beginning to pick up some steam as champion, Asuka moved on to settle a previous feud with Charlotte Flair. At Fastlane, "The Queen" tapped to the Asuka Lock. Kairi Sane was making a push to get one more shot at Asuka, but fell short earlier on that night, losing to Ember Moon. Ember was confident that she could be the one to take down Asuka, having grown as a competitor and learned plenty from Asuka herself in their previous match at Judgment Day. On Part 3 of WrestleMania III, Ember was able to survive the Asuka Lock long enough to pull off a shocking victory!

The loss of her title only seemed to invigorate Asuka, who vowed to get it back by any means necessary. She busted open Ember with a big roundhouse kick and was aggressive at every turn, but in a Two out of Three Falls match at Judgment Day, Moon would be the one to score two falls and retain her title. Moon would pick up a second title defense against Peyton Royce, before becoming the target of Sasha Banks. Banks was willing to do anything to reach the top once more, be it submitting her best friend Bayley to enter Money in the Bank, or attacking Moon with a kendo stick. Thanks to a tag team win with Bayley over Asuka and Kairi Sane, Sasha got her title match. At The Bash, thanks to interference from Bayley, Banks was able to take advantage of the damage done by the kendo stick and become a champion on SmackDown for the first time.

Sasha would not have Bayley for support in her next great challenge, as Asuka was still hunting the belt and her third title reign, and she would injure Bayley in the process. But the "Huggable One" would not stay out for long, interfering at Summerslam to help Sasha keep the gold. Bayley's interference continued to pay dividends for Banks, as that would help see her through a title defense against Nikki Cross on SmackDown. But the best friends would pay for it, as Banks was laid out by a DDT on SmackDown GM Edge's desk by Cross, while all of Bayley's inflatable tube men were knifed by Nikki. This led to a No Holds Barred match at Halloween Havoc, where Bayley showed her vicious side, headbutting Cross before putting her through a table to get the win. At this point, Edge had had enough on all the shenanigans in the women's division, and booked the two friends to face each other. Bayley vs Sasha Banks stole the show at Survivor Series, where Bayley was forced to tap to the Bank Statement, leaving her searching for answers. On the final SmackDown of 2019, Banks was forced to defend the title on her own against former dominant champion Nia Jax, and was able to get the win and retention via count-out.

## Title Reigns

 Natalya
 Charlotte