The Smackdown go-home show for the much-anticipated Money In The Bank Premium Live Event saw WWE Women’s Champion Asuka defend her championship against Charlotte Flair and Bayley put her Money In The Bank Ladder Match spot on the line against Shotzi.
BAYLEY DEF. SHOTZI
With both women showing distaste on social media after their match was cut the week prior, Bayley defended her spot in the Money In The Bank Ladder Match against Shotzi after her DAMAGE CTRL teammate IYO SKY accepted Shotzi’s challenge on her leader’s behalf. Though Bayley played her usual heel role in this bout, the United Kingdom crowd wasted no time singing the infamous “Hey, Bayley!” chant dating back to the “Role Model’s” time in NXT. An opportunistic Shotzi fought hard to gain entry into the Ladder Match busting out a Jumping DDT and Corner Shiranui, but a distraction from IYO and an eye rake from Bayley would secure the win for the Role Model to keep her spot in the Women’s Money In The Bank match.
Writer’s Thoughts: A lot of fans shared their sentiments with Bayley and Shotzi regarding their match being cut last week, so it was a good move on WWE’s end to have the match the following week right before the Money In The Bank event took place. Although Shotzi would have inevitably been the risk taker of the Ladder Match with her “balls to the wall” attitude and style, the Ladder Match lineup could also benefit from a veteran like Bayley who could help lead the less experienced competitors (in terms of Ladder Match experience) to perform.
ASUKA DEF. CHARLOTTE FLAIR – WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
With a historic rivalry dating back to their first battle in 2018, Asuka and Charlotte Flair competed in the first defense of the newly introduced WWE Women’s Championship the night before Money In The Bank. Though Adam Pearce banned a vengeful Bianca Belair from ringside, “The EST” kept a close eye on this match by securing a front-row seat ticket. Charlotte and Asuka had a fair share of strikes, delivering chops and kicks to one another early on.
After a moonsault to the outside, Flair would go for a Running Big Boot to “The Empress” before Asuka would dodge and put Bianca in her place to take the boot from “The Queen”. An irate Belair would then hop the barricade and deliver a vicious attack on Asuka causing a disqualification. Charlotte, unhappy with how her title match ended, had a verbal back-and-forth with Bianca for causing her the win before brawling with her as well. Bianca would then deliver a K.O.D. to Asuka and Charlotte on the announce table leaving “The EST” to stand above her rivals.
Writer’s Thoughts: This is a side of Bianca Belair that we haven’t seen since NXT. I think a heel turn is unnecessary in this case as Bianca is still a crowd favorite. Rather, a more motivated and passionate face Bianca could be what she needs to recapture her championship gold. On the other hand, Charlotte and Asuka’s match was quite good given the time it had. A possible rematch in the future on a Premium Live Event (perhaps with Bianca included for a Triple Threat) could be what’s to come for the WWE Women’s Championship picture on Smackdown.
For more coverage on this episode of Smackdown, be sure to check out Women’s Wrestling Talk’s official Smackdown Post-Show Live Stream!
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