The Queen vs the Princess

October 7th, 2019 - Bakersfield California - Monday Night Raw

Raw returns from commercial with Mike Rome standing in the ring for the official in-ring championship match introduction. “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one-fall…”

“ONE FALL!” Is echoed by the fans.

“Aaand is for the 24/7 Championship!” The fans pop and cheer. Between all the controversy surrounding her as well as her fierce dedication and protectiveness of ‘her baby’, Carmella has transformed the comedic sideshow into a mainstream championship. Stephanie McMahon would be the first to disagree with the point but there’s no denying that the 24/7 Championship had never been defended in the opening segment before Carmella started carrying it around.

“Introducing first… the challenger… from the Queen City… CHARLOTTE FLAIR!” Charlotte has removed her Flair robe and is now in her blue and teal ring gear. She steps out of the corner and stands with her arms spread wide as she prepares to soak in the adoration of the fan but instead receives a loud chorus of boos. Even though Charlotte is fighting to bring dignity back to the WWE Women’s Division, she’s receiving a mostly negative response from the fans. That is likely the result of teaming with Stephanie McMahon. There’s nothing that turns the WWE Universe against a superstar faster than aligning with the infamous McMahon family.

“Aaand her opponent… she is the reigning 24/7 Champion... the Princess of Staten Island… CAAARMEEELLAAAA!” Carmella turns around in the corner and moonwalks out into the middle of the ring. Unlike Charlotte, she receives a resounding ovation from the crowd as a chant of her name breaks out.

“MEL-LA! MEL-LA! MEL-LA! MEL-LA! MEL-LA!”

There it is out in the open for everyone to see and hear. The woman who is seeking to save the women’s division and restore its dignity is the one being scorned by the WWE Universe. Meanwhile, the woman who Stephanie McMahon claims is ‘destroying it’ is more over than she’s been in her entire career. Even though the majority of the WWE Universe has likely seen Carmella naked at this point… there’s no denying that the Princess of Staten Island has become a full-blown star. It’s only been a week since Carmella’s controversial leap into the limelight and so it’s far too early to put her on par with other recent controversial heroes such as Daniel Bryan and ‘the Man’ Becky Lynch. But one can only speculate that if she continues on her upward trajectory that Carmella might eventually be considered on par with those figures.

Charles Robinson is the referee for this championship match. He raises the 24/7 Championship over his head then passes it off to the ring announcer as he leaves the ring. The referee calls for the bell and this match for the 24/7 Championship is officially underway.

Carmella and Charlotte meet in the middle of the ring for a traditional lock up. But the taller and stronger Charlotte quickly gains the upperhand and then with one hard shove she sends her slim opponent with the dyed blonde hair rolling backwards across the ring. Carmella winds up sitting on the mat while Charlotte stands tall in the middle of the ring.

The Queen spreads her arms wide and gloats to Carmella, “Like I said: SHOW ME!”

But while Charlotte is busy showboating, Carmella springs back up off the mat and pops Flair right in the face with a hard forearm. Charlotte is rocked by the sudden strike and backpedals a couple steps while the fans cheer for Carmella in not taking any of Charlotte’s crap.

Charlotte quickly recovers and comes back with a Flair-style chop.

“Woooo!”

The customary ‘Woooo’ from the fans is more of an automatic reaction than anything else. It isn’t that they are supporting Charlotte but rather a conditioned response that they’d give anyone. Carmella proves this when she comes back and delivers a chop of her own and receives an even louder reaction from the fans.

“WOOOOO!”

And like that the chop battle is on. Charlotte and Carmella square off in the middle of the ring and begin trading knife edge chops. The fans are getting a workout as the two blondes tee off with a barrage of blistering chops. But it’s still early in the show and the crowd is still hot so the fans are more than up to the task. After eight chops and eight accompanying ‘Wooos’, Carmella finally breaks the cycle and ducks under latest attack and shuts Flair down with a hard knee. Charlotte doubles over and Carmella runs to the ropes looking to gain some momentum for a running strike but as Mella comes off Flair surges back up and LEVELS her with a running big boot. Carmella goes down and Charlotte is once again left standing tall.

“Is that all you’ve got!?” Charlotte shouts down at her.

Carmella slowly gets back up and warily eyes her opponent. Charlotte didn’t even bother going for a cover. The Queen is toying with her. But Stephanie McMahon called Charlotte Flair the greatest of all time for a reason and Carmella knew that beating her wouldn’t be easy.

Charlotte advances on Carmella and slowly backs her into one of the corners. She lunges to grab the champion but Carmella ducks under her arms and slips around her. Charlotte spins around and Carmella tees off on her with a series of forearms that knock her back against the turnbuckles. She takes a step back and then follows up with a series of kicks that repeatedly drive the Queen back into the corner. She grabs the rope beside her and jumps onto the middle rope then launches herself off and uses the extra height to land a kick to Charlotte’s collar. Charlotte staggers out of the corner and Carmella quickly slips around her and hoists herself up onto the top rope. Flair turns around and Carmella wraps her legs around her head and goes for her signature hurricanrana out of the corner but Charlotte reaches out and grabs the top rope on both sides of her to keep herself rooted in place and blocks the move. The Queen counters by Carmella’s waist and lifts her off the top turnbuckle and onto her shoulders then spins around AND DRIVES CARMELLA DOWN TO THE MAT WITH A POWERBOMB! Charlotte remains sitting and simply presses her arms down onto Carmella’s shoulders for a very nonchalant pin attempt.

“ONE!”

“TW—” There’s still plenty of fight left in Carmella and she manages to kick out before two.

Charlotte pushes Carmella’s legs off of her and stands back up. The Queen still isn’t taking the Princess of Staten Island seriously. Meanwhile, Carmella crawls for the ropes and tries to recover. She’s disappointed that her last barrage of offense ended so badly for her. She literally had Charlotte on the ropes but the taller blonde had overpowered her and shut down her offense with a devastating counter.

Carmella takes too long recovering and Charlotte is on her before she can get back to her feet. She whips Carmella across the ring but the champion leaps into the air after she comes off the ropes and takes Charlotte down with a running dropkick. “YEEEAAH!” The crowd pops as Mella begins to gain some momentum again. She gets back up and goes after Charlotte but the Queen overpowers her and whips her toward the corner. But as she approaches the corner, the fleet-footed Princess of Staten Island leaps up onto the top rope then launches herself off in the opposite direction for a flying crossbody. But Flair sees it coming and ducks down as she runs underneath her. CARMELLA CRASHES AND BURNS! The 24/7 Champion staggers back up and turns around only for her challenger to nearly turn her inside out with a huge spear. “BOOOOOO!” The cheers from before become boos as Charlotte Flair once again stands tall over Carmella. The Queen has again shown her superior in ring skills after shutting down another burst of momentum from the controversial 24/7 Champion.

Once again, Charlotte doesn’t bother going for the pin yet. She’s still just toying with Carmella and is looking to make an example out of her. Instead she grabs Carmella by her arm and her leg and drags her closer to the corner. The nine-time champion turns and climbs up onto the top rope and briefly stands perched on the top rope with her back to Carmella before she launches herself off with a graceful backflip and one of her signature moonsaults. BUT CARMELLA ROLLS OUT OF THE WAY! Charlotte crashes down the mat and practically bounces back up onto her knees as she clutches at her chest. Carmella pushes herself up and levels her kneeling opponent with a low angle kick. SUPERKICK! “MEL-LA! MEL-LA! MEL-LA!” The fans cheer wildly at the sudden momentum shift and Carmella throws herself on top of Charlotte and goes for the pin.

“ONE!”

“TWO!”

“THR—” Charlotte barely manages to kick out in time!

Carmella rolls away and Charlotte sits up. The two blondes lock eyes. They, as well as the fans, know that Carmella was less than a second away from pinning Charlotte just now. Charlotte was taking Carmella lightly but has now received a huge wakeup call.

“Fine,” Charlotte says as she stands back up. “Now you have my full attention. Show me what you’ve got!”