Charlotte vs Natalya vs Becky Lynch vs Lana vs Tamina Snuka [Elimination Match]

As SummerSlam is fast approaching, and it’s the time when our best and brightest will showcase their abilities, we can expect that Naomi will be defending her Smackdown Women’s Championship. But we also need a #1 contender. And so for Battleground, we have the remaining five women of the Smackdown division - Becky Lynch, Tamina Snuka, Natalya, Charlotte and Lana competing in one match together to decide. And it’s elimination rules!

Winner and #1 contender: Natalya

Thoughts:

We Smackdown fans haven’t been quiet about how we felt that this was pure filler for SummerSlam and the resulting match kind of was. It’s the third #1 contender’s bout we’ve gotten in about a month – featuring most of the same women at that. Just take out Lana, replace her with Carmella, add a ladder and you’ve got the same match from the last PPV. The match was okay in parts, but it was missing something for sure. I felt as if we skipped a proper opening and went straight to the middle. Suddenly everyone was down, and it was just Lana and Tamina in there with Charlotte. There seemed to be missing a big match opening – although I did pop for Lana throwing Becky into the announce table. The story of Lana and Tamina working together to take out Charlotte didn’t seem built up enough; a story could have been told from the start, but they didn’t convey that very well. And they picked the wrong two women to give the most ring time at the beginning. Lana I think is a great actress and a fine character – and she could probably be a decent wrestler one day. Tamina meanwhile is a decent character too, but the two of them are just not up to scratch. When I watched them dominating Charlotte, I just kept thinking of how differently Becky, Natalya or Carmella would have done it. The low points were Lana’s mistimed kick on Charlotte, and Tamina’s weak looking suplex. Both women have their strengths, but they weren’t played to at all in the match.

I wasn’t a fan of the rapid eliminations one after the other – first Tamina’s out, then Lana, then Becky. For one, it robbed Becky of a lot of ring time. For two, it prevented the match from really getting going. Don’t get me wrong – a mediocre 2017 match is still better than most of the stuff that came from the Diva Era – but the standards have been raised to a higher degree. Probably my only real ‘I loved that’ moment of the match came when Natalya jumped in, ran over Charlotte’s back and dropped her. The timing there was perfect. Everything else was just ‘meh’.

But we did get two very nice storylines brewing from this match – which admittedly was more about stepping towards future shows. Tamina got eliminated by Becky, while Lana did nothing. Lana may have just been too out of it to help. Or she may have been thinking of her own title opportunity. Whichever it was, I don’t think either option will sit well with Tamina. The Ravishing Russian is going to have to answer for her mistake on Smackdown. And Natalya of all people got the win. Natalya. The eternal supporting player. The spare part. The workhorse of the division. Granted in the last year, she did slip through the cracks when it came to the other Smackdown women. But she was involved in a MOTY candidate with Nikki Bella earlier this year, and she has settled into a nice role as the hammy heel. Her last title match was June of last year, and it’ll be interesting to see how she fares against Naomi. I didn’t have her down as a potential winner, but I’m very glad that it wasn’t someone more obvious like Charlotte or Tamina. Naomi and Natalya have impressed me with their chemistry in the past, and I very much look forward to seeing them duke it out on a bigger stage.

Grades time!

*Technical Ability: The match was rather ragged, with some very cringey moves from Tamina and Lana. The veterans fared better of course, but still a patchy match. 12/20

*Chemistry: No one really had any here. Even Charlotte and Natalya’s memorable chemistry from the past felt a little watered down. 10/20

*Creativity: Not a lot of that either, and the rushed eliminations were pretty predictable. Even the finish was rather weakly thought out. 10/20

*Personality: Lana thankfully shined in this area, as did Natalya. Charlotte…why must you continually forget that you’re meant to be a good guy out there? You made such progress last week. 14/20

*Overall Entertainment: Decent show but pretty forgettable. 14/20

Final Score: 60%

As we draw closer to SummerSlam, both our Women’s Champions have targets on their backs. Alexa Bliss was pinned in a tag match last week, and seeks retribution for it now – facing Bayley in singles action. The Smackdown women have a big #1 contender’s match to prepare for on Sunday at Battleground - but first a taster of Charlotte taking on Becky Lynch. You can bet the other women won’t be too far away either.

Bayley vs Alexa Bliss

Winner: Bayley

Thoughts:

A tidy encounter between Bayley and Alexa. Far more enjoyable than their far-too-short match at Extreme Rules and quite satisfying. There were lots of little moments that really showed the chemistry between the two – such as Alexa rolling back while Bayley rolls forward to clothesline her. Perhaps Bayley was getting a little worried that management appear to be favouring Sasha now, and she’s putting extra effort into her Raw matches. And I have to say, I loved how Sasha took out Nia. Rather than just a generic ‘babyface makes the save’ moment, the spot they did was really creative. It looks like they’re doing their best to restore what damage was done to Sasha’s character last year. But now Bayley now has two victories over the champ. Sasha likewise didn’t lose her title match at Great Balls of Fire - so with a #1 contender’s match next week, things are falling into place for SummerSlam. But where does this leave Ms Nia Jax? Either as a fourth competitor in the match, or else in Alexa’s corner. I’m not entirely sure which one I’d prefer. I’d honestly rather Sasha just face Alexa by herself at the PPV. Sometimes WWE can go too far by trying to include everyone in the title picture. Alexa and Sasha are two very over stars who could tear the house down if given twenty minutes on the big stage. I feel a singles between them is worth of the SummerSlam card. After all, Trish vs Lita wouldn’t have been quite as special if WWE had been desperately trying to cram Molly Holly, Victoria, Jazz etc into all their bouts too. Poor Emma and Dana though; a potential storyline hinted at on the Great Balls of Fire kick-off show, possibly continued on Main Event and now forgotten on Raw. They’re really not bothering with those girls, are they?

Smackdown

Charlotte vs Becky Lynch

Winner: Becky Lynch

Carmella antagonises Naomi.

Thoughts:

Smackdown delivered quite a nice show. In spite of their Battleground match being a rather repetitive one, the build for it this week has been fun. Starting with the match between Charlotte and Becky, it was probably their best yet. I remember at last year’s Royal Rumble they had an absolutely dreadful showing – with the main flaw being Charlotte not looking like she could keep up. A year or so later and their chemistry is significantly better. The reversals and grapples were each a thing of beauty. I almost wish they would get a higher profile showing, just to demonstrate this great chemistry. Sadly the one flaw was Charlotte’s behaviour. Last week I praised her for finally acting like a face in the ring. This week she regressed into her old tricks. Maybe she realised the crowd would automatically side with Becky? Maybe she just forgot? Maybe she just felt it was better to give the match a de-facto heel? I was happy to see Becky pick up the win, because it made her look very good out there. Charlotte is at the point where she’s already established as the four-time champion who had an undefeated streak on PPV. Her getting wins doesn’t usually do anything, since we’re so used to it. She put Tamina over last week, and Becky this week. So it shows that Smackdown’s booking team are wisely using her kayfabe legitimacy to elevate the girls who don’t have enough of it themselves. And it does help with hyping up Sunday’s match. The cards seem to be stacked in Tamina’s favour – what with her recruitment of Lana. We could however see a swerve where Lana fails to help Tamina win – and thus suffers punishment next week. In any case the match is one we don’t normally get, and I will enjoy seeing what the girls have to offer.

Mickie James vs Emma

It feels like forever since the women were given a match on good old Main Event. That’s not something to complain about – as it means they’re being featured on the main shows – but we’re happy to have them all the same. Emma made her second return of the year a few weeks ago, having been taken out with a back injury, and she’s ready to prove herself once again. Her opponent is the long time veteran Mickie James.

Winner: Mickie James

Thoughts:

An okay match. Since the B-shows aren’t exactly a haven for the women like they used to be – and they’re actually getting time on the main shows – it makes sense that there’s less urgency to perform on them now. Mickie and Emma is a match we haven’t seen before, so it was good to get something fresh. There were some good parts – namely Mickie’s kicks, the powerbomb to take control and a few minor exchanges that were fun. Mickie is very good at what she does. She’s not as spry as Sasha, Becky or Bayley – but she plays her character well and wrestles as good as she did ten years ago. Unfortunately there didn’t seem to be much chemistry between her and Emma. The latter did her moves well, but she seemed stuck on slow motion. Playing a face was her default role for so many years, but I thought she grew into her heel role on NXT quite nicely. Now? In this match here, it felt like we were getting the Emma who didn’t seem comfortable. Granted she has been injured, but I really want to see more of that ruthless Emma we came to love. There is something special about her in the ring – both with her wrestling and her character – so I would love to see her tap into it for the main roster crowd to enjoy. Sadly she takes another loss, and with Alexa being the top heel, I don’t see that changing. We did however see Dana watching from backstage – so that does give me some hope of WWE picking up the story they started back when Emma first returned. Whether the story makes it to Raw or Main Event remains to be seen.

Vanessa Borne vs Jayme Hachey

It’s time for Match 2 of the qualifiers for the Mae Young Classic tournament. Newcomer Bianca Bel Air already qualified, defeating Aliyah to do so. Another newcomer Vanessa Borne - formerly known as Danielle Kamela – will attempt to qualify two. She steps into the ring with indie talent Jayme Hachey.

Winner: Vanessa Borne

Thoughts:

And this tournament’s second match gets underway…and for the second time I’m left feeling let down. Vanessa Borne was thankfully less botchy than Bianca Bel Air’s disastrous performance, but she still didn’t impress. A look at her background states that she is a former dancer and cheerleader, and actually got some training under Rikishi and Gangrel at Knokx Pro Entertainment prior to being signed. So she has about a year’s worth of training – and it shows. Everything about her seems to be -50%. Her entrance for one; there was some personality shown but not enough. She made gestures as if she’d taken notes and was following a plan – raise arms, preen, gesture to crowd etc. There was a look but no character to go with it. Contrast with the recently debuted Lacey Evans, who is just as green but is in full control of her character. For a former cheerleader and dancer, her athleticism was pretty patchy. Any athletic spots she did either looked mistimed or half-assed. There was nothing really impressive at all. I can understand that she’s been injured for a while too, but it just goes to show that these NXT girls are too green to be given spots here. The decision to put Bianca Bel Air over Aliyah was a dumb one, and while Vanessa got through the match without botching, I’m not exactly keen to see her in action again. Just about the only solid moment was the double chop to the chest; that got a pop out of me. Jayme Hachey felt pretty bland out there. Not bad, significantly more solid in the ring than Vanessa, but not exactly a good showing for her either.

Great Balls of Fire came and went, as did our Women’s Championship match. Alexa Bliss managed to wriggle out of the show still with the title around her waist, beating Sasha Banks via count-out. On Raw the two will meet in the ring once again – Alexa teaming with Nia Jax and Sasha teaming with Bayley. The Smackdown ladies will be in tag team action as well, Becky Lynch teaming with Charlotte to take on the duo of Natalya and Tamina Snuka.

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax

Winners: Bayley & Sasha Banks

Thoughts:

I did have my little sigh when I realised it would be a rematch from last week’s tag. However that disappointment went away pretty quickly. After all, the wrestling was good. I enjoyed the match and I thought it kept the momentum from the PPV going – so why complain? During the Golden Era of 2002-2004 we did see a lot of tag matches comprising of Trish and Jacqueline against Molly Holly, Jazz or Victoria – with Ivory occasionally thrown in there too. And the matches were still fun to watch. So I sat back and just enjoyed the great wrestling. Sasha and Alexa really killed it, selling the animosity from the PPV. Unlike last week, where they gave away their bout in the tag match, here they wisely kept the two apart. Alexa and Sasha did come to blows briefly, but the story was entirely on keeping them apart, and it really worked. Bayley and Sasha worked very well as a unit – and I was loving how the two of them switched tack to try and take out Nia. Bayley vs Nia was a good match we have seen before, and they delivered again as the respective number twos of their teams. Nia really made me pop with how she threw Sasha out of the ring. It looked like it hurt (in a good way). The Women’s Champion also made me pop with her slap to Bayley – and the crowd popped too. Sadly she did mar it with the bad landing on Twisted Bliss, but sure we can’t have everything now. Bayley picked up a clean-ish win over Alexa, which does raise eyebrows. Are we getting a triple threat now – with Alexa hoping to pit Bayley and Sasha against each other? Or is the storyline going to stay Sasha/Alexa but with different layers? Either way, it’s a twist and I’m fine with it.

Smackdown

Charlotte & Becky Lynch vs Tamina Snuka & Natalya

Winners: Tamina Snuka & Natalya

Thoughts:

Smackdown served us up a tag match just like Raw. It was fun from a wrestling perspective, though there was one major weak link. I’ve said this time and time again, but Tamina sticks out like a sore thumb. Especially when put in the ring with workers like Becky and Natalya. Her selling, her movements and execution all looked slow, sluggish and sloppy. She doesn’t look like she can even keep up with them. I cringed every time Becky clearly had to slow herself down to let Tamina catch up. I did get impressed by her in the two ladder matches, but she’s not cutting it in legitimate wrestling bouts now. They teased her feuding with Naomi last week. If she’s going to get a title shot, I expect her to step it up and try to at least match the hard work the others have been doing. Yes she’s older and she came into WWE with little experience, but it’s more than possible to improve. One woman I was impressed by however was Charlotte; for the first time since her arrival on the blue brand, I’m finally buying her as a face. She’s clearly worked on her behaviour, because I enjoyed her in the ring. The double team with Becky, the little ‘ssh’ gesture and her acting on the apron were all good touches – and they felt natural. I liked seeing Charlotte becoming more playful, as opposed to pompous. And it was admittedly nice to see her be the one to put the other team over. We’ve now got another #1 contender match for the next PPV. I really wish they’d just crown challengers for Naomi on Smackdown, and have the title matches on PPV. It does feel like filler at this stage. I have no idea who will win this, because there’s no way in H-E-double hockeysticks that Tamina deserves a SummerSlam title match after her performance here.

Alexa Bliss* vs Sasha Banks [Raw Women's Championship]

WWE served us up the luridly named Great Balls of Fire last night, promising us a Women’s Championship match to go along with it. Alexa Bliss has been the champion for two months now, enjoying plenty of success since joining the Raw roster. Two weeks ago she witnessed a Gauntlet match to crowd her new #1 contender – and it’s The Boss Sasha Banks. She tapped out to the Bank Statement on last week’s Raw, so it remains to be seen if lightning strikes twice.

Winner and STILL Raw Women’s Champion (via countout): Alexa Bliss

Thoughts:

I can remember the summer of 2014 very well. I remember hearing a report that a match between two NXT women on a house show got rave reviews, and even a standing ovation. Those women were Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks. Both at very different points in their careers; Alexa had just debuted on NXT television as the sparkly fairy princess, while Sasha was still very much in Charlotte’s shadow and putting over all the other women. They made it to TV of course, but those matches were short and hardly memorable. Alexa did get a title shot against Sasha while she was NXT Women’s Champion, but again she was still quite green. Now look at where they are; both multiple champions and the top two women on Raw. I wasn’t entirely as excited for the match as I should have been, mostly due to WWE’s half-assed attempt at a go-home show this past week. But this match was a nice surprise. It wasn’t too long, it wasn’t too short, it wasn’t trying too hard to be epic, and wasn’t lacking in anything in particular. It was a fun, spirited encounter that showcased what this generation of women wrestlers are all about.

The reports of real life heat have circulated around the internet since the spring. Whether they’re true or not, Alexa and Sasha did their darn hardest to make them seem true. Both women seemed to have brought a stock of extra fire in keeping with the theme of the PPV; from that stiff dropkick Sasha did in the opening, to Alexa’s brutal forearms this felt like a fight. If the real life heat rumours are true, then credit is due to the both of them for being professional and giving us an entertaining bout. The heat between Charlotte and Sasha was reportedly legit during their NXT feud – and at times it did seem as though their matches were more like routines that had been learned off by heart – but the chemistry here was the sort that just only appears when workers are on the same wave length. Just add Alexa to the list of women that Sasha works so well with. With regards to The Boss, I feel that sometimes she doesn’t get enough credit for how good a babyface she is. She is a great heel, yes indeed. But she is also a great face. It’s not like when Paige or Charlotte do it and they feel watered down; Sasha brings that right amount of badassery to still be a threat, while with enough virtue to make us root for her. And her selling…I cringed after she took that bump on the apron.

Speaking of which, I loved the psychology behind this match. Not just the obvious – Sasha having suffered back problems in the past – but the other layers to the story being told. It felt like there was a logical reason for everything each woman did. Alexa choosing to do the dislocated arm trick made perfect sense, because she’s already been beaten by Sasha. Alexa knows she can’t overpower her or match her tenacity – so The Boss must be outsmarted instead. Sasha played off the spot very well – showing that small bit of virtue, demonstrating that even she wouldn’t go after someone who may be seriously hurt. And her immediately trying for the Bank Statement made perfect sense from a story perspective; if Alexa is going to fake a dislocated arm, then she must have all manner of tricks up her sleeve, and it’s best to end things early before she can try something even more drastic. Even the count-out end worked; Alexa slapping Sasha to stop her from leaving the ring and breaking the count.

The finish was pretty logical. Sasha isn’t an underdog like Bayley, and a clean win over her would do more harm than good for the feud. They haven’t been feuding long enough for there to be anything personal between them yet. This rivalry still needs to be developed, and a count-out victory is a more than reasonable step to follow from. Overall this match wasn’t a MOTY candidate or anything close to five stars. But it was a fun showcase for two top women, and a very good opener to what could be the hottest feud of the year. We also saw Dana Brooke and Emma exchange words on the pre-show. I doubt that’ll be the hottest feud of the year, but a passable one is more than possible.

Grading time.

Alexa Bliss* vs Sasha Banks

*Technical Ability: Super stiff looking strikes and other moves. 17/20

Great Balls of Fire is fast approaching, and we’ve got a Raw Women’s Championship match to look forward to. Alexa Bliss defends it against The Boss Sasha Banks. But before that, she must face the Boss in tag team match. Sasha naturally teams with BFF Bayley while Alexa recruits Nia Jax. Over on Smackdown, Lana will receive her third championship opportunity in a row against Naomi. We will also hear from the official Ms MITB - Carmella.

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Nia Jax & Alexa Bliss

Winners: Sasha Banks & Bayley

Thoughts:

Not overwhelmingly good build-up to our title match, I must say. The Gauntlet match last week was something different and I enjoyed how they crowned Sasha the #1 contender that way. But this is how they give her momentum? It’s starting to feel like a rinse and repeat scenario of the months leading up to WrestleMania - where it was Sasha/Bayley vs Charlotte/Nia every other week. Besides that, it felt like a bad move to put Sasha and Alexa in the ring so suddenly. This is the big title match we’re supposed to tune in at the PPV to watch – so why give it away for free on Raw? A better story would have been for Alexa to try and keep her distance from The Boss. It would also tie into her attempts to recruit Nia as a bodyguard. But they just had a standard tag match. They all worked decently together, but that’s a given these days. And what is up with how Bayley was booked? Are they trying to make her look weak? This is almost as bad as when AJ Lee had to sell being knocked down by the Big Show (except he barely tapped her). Let’s ignore the fact that NXT Bayley withstood a 30-minute Iron Man match and took it to Asuka. Not two weeks ago did she make a triumphant return and go through several women at once. This week she’s out after a little bump into the security wall? They really don’t know what to do with Bayley at the moment sadly. But I digress. With Sasha getting the clean win over the champ, that gives her the momentum she needs heading into the title match. Alexa’s still on a roll, so I don’t expect her to drop the title yet. She and Sasha can probably still have a good feud, and I’m sure they’ll do good things in the ring at the PPV. I just wish I was more excited for it. And I also wish the likes of Dana, Mickie and Emma were featured this week.

Smackdown

Naomi* vs Lana [Smackdown Women's Championship]

Winner and STILL Smackdown Women’s Champion: Naomi

James Ellsworth is suspended.

Thoughts:

At first I rolled my eyes at seeing Lana being granted another pointless title match. But it was absolutely the right decision to make. I don’t know about all of you but Lana was selling her defeat in a different way than usual. She didn’t sell it as if she were a joke heel getting her comeuppance. She sold it in a way that evoked sympathy from the crowd. She’s a trained actress, so I feel as if she was hinting at a face turn there. Tamina arrived on the scene and bossed her around. I imagine we could see the start of a storyline where Tamina bullies and antagonises her, building up the audience’s sympathy for the Ravishing Russian. Lana is pretty green in the ring, and a face role might be easier for her. Plus the silly dancing character would probably work better as a fan favourite. I’m not sure how a feud with Tamina will work out for Naomi though. True they have history from their Team BAD days but pushing Tamina isn’t exactly a strong idea. She’s only a step up from Lana in terms of ring ability. But we shall see, we shall see. And the glowing title belt? Love it!

I also loved Carmella’s segment. I make no secret of the fact that I’m championing her 100% as Miss MITB, and I’m going to keep doing so unless she turns into Eva Marie overnight. Having Ellsworth taken off TV will be interesting to see. Their pairing hasn’t been traditional in the same way as Charlotte having her father at ringside per say. Carmella has never had any problems getting wins, until the MITB match. But with his interference there, it leaves her credibility in question. When she heard she’d be stripped of the briefcase, she got him the H out of there at once. It’s definitely got the makings of an interesting program; Carmella has a briefcase that could get her the Women’s Championship if she strikes when the champ is down. But she also has people questioning whether she earned the case on her own merits. So if she cashes in when Naomi is weakened, is that not just proving everyone else’s point? I look forward to seeing how Carmella evolves as Miss MITB.

Aliyah vs Bianca Bel Air

The Mae Young Classic has officially started, and the first qualifying match sees NXT’s resident cutie and The Cat’s Meow Aliyah taking on a newcomer called Bianca Bel Air.

Winner: Bianca Bel Air

Thoughts:

Wow, not a very good match at all. I wouldn’t even call it a match. It seemed more like a demonstration of various moves and holds for Bianca – with varying degrees of success. If I could tell anything about Bianca Bel Air from this showing, it’s that she is far too green to be given a spot in this tournament. Aliyah is far from a perfect worker herself, but she’s been wrestling for four years and can work a decent match that can even be quite good if she’s with the right woman. She was clearly holding back and limiting herself to make up for Bianca’s greenness. She kept her offence to mostly basic clotheslines, strikes and elbows – and Bianca bumped horribly off the ones she did early on. She sold the wheelbarrow victory roll awkwardly too. All of this adds up to a worker who is not ready yet. When she was on offence, it was a bit better. There were still glaring problems with how she applied her holds however; she didn’t make it look like she was actually working a body part or something. It looked more like she was demonstrating the positions you would be in to apply the hold for real. Aliyah isn’t exempt from criticism either. It’s the same thing with her – lack of personality. At least early on. She acted like a jobber and was treated like one in the opening moments of the match. She did thankfully fire up as the match went on, but she needs to step it up. That’s the one area where Bianca outshone her. She does have a good look and I imagine she’s a good character. But she is far too green to be in this tournament. Working shorter bouts or tag matches on NXT would have been a much better way to introduce her on TV.

Apologies for the lack of NXT the last two weeks, but we’re getting a double dose of reviews. Last week’s NXT saw the much awaited return to the ring of Ember Moon – who is now medically cleared to compete and did so with one half of the Iconic Duo Peyton Royce. And on this past week’s NXT, Asuka will have to make up for the title match that never was against Nikki Cross. They brawled all around the ring and the arena, so it’s only fitting that they be given a Last Woman Standing match!

Ember Moon vs Peyton Royce

Winner: Ember Moon

Thoughts:

I’m always relieved when our NXT girls get plenty of time to actually wrestle – and that’s exactly what they got here. This match wasn’t showy or overly lavish. It was a nice length and allowed two nice talents to showcase their abilities. I make no secret of the fact that I think Peyton is the unsung heroine of NXT. Even when she was jobbing to the established women, she produced fun and enjoyable matches – and always left me wanting to see more. While Billie Kay still looks a little awkward in a heel role, Peyton is born for this character. Every time I see her in the ring, I want to beg the NXT higher ups to pull the trigger on her – because she could become a breakout star. She controlled the match and used a psychology that was simple but so effective. Even in her little things, like the way she elbowed Ember’s shoulder to add some extra pain in the submission. She never gets enough credit for how gifted she is in the ring. The spot of the match was Peyton’s spinning heel kick to counter the handspring. But don’t worry, folks. I didn’t forget the other woman in this match. I’m a big fan of Ember too, and I’m happy that her injury wasn’t serious enough to keep her out for too long. She hasn’t missed a trick and looks as fiery and explosive as ever. I think people tend to get too hard on Ember when it comes to how she’s been presented. It’s not a knock on her; she wrestles good matches and does her best with what little she’s been given. It’s the booking and lack of character development for her that’s prevented her from really reaching the heights of which we know she is capable. It was the same for our Women’s Champion – who tore the house down whenever she wrestled but never got anything good from week to week.. NXT did something right with Asuka over the last few months, so I want them to do the same with Ember.

Asuka* vs Nikki Cross [NXT Women's Championship; Last Woman Standing]

Winner and STILL NXT Women’s Champion: Asuka

Thoughts:

Can you say ‘Match of the Year’? Well certainly a candidate anyway. I praised the triple threat match from Takeover as being the first NXT match in ages to properly capture the magic we used to feel whenever the Horsewomen went at it. This took the good points from that and escalated them to the extreme. It blew the Alexa Bliss/Bayley match at Extreme Rules out of the water at the very least. I should preface by saying that I’m not normally a fan of Last Man (or Woman) Standing matches. Much like Iron Man matches, they’re hard to do right. The typical wrestling match holds its tension around near-falls and potential pins – most of which are fast paced moments. Last Man Standing matches require you to wait to see if the person will stay down for a ten count. Essentially it’s like a match where you can only win by getting counted out. So it is really hard to make those types of matches interesting or exciting. Whenever the TNA Knockouts have done one, the result has usually been pretty dull (see a terrible Madison Rayne vs Mickie James match from back in 2011). But we’re talking about one woman who was touted as the best worker in the company not too long ago, and another who on the indies proclaimed herself ‘Best In The Galaxy’. This was full tilt, balls to the walls action as soon as the bell rang. It felt like a fight, and the Last Woman Standing stipulation actually added to it – rather than detracted. Maybe it’s down to the way the match was put together, or how the women sold it – but waiting for one of them to get up before ten was edge-of-your-seat stuff. Although the result was known, due to it being taped, and anyone savvy on wrestling booking knew Asuka would be walking away with her title – damn if the match didn’t make you question whether Asuka might just have an off-night. Nikki was booked excellently coming out of this. This was definitely how they should have booked Ember going against her back in April – and she should be booked this way in their presumably upcoming feud. I feel like this will be Asuka’s last successful title defence. She has nowhere to go after beating Nikki like this. The next encounter will be the one to finally unseat her. If the booking is good, Ember will come out of it finally looking like a top woman.

The last week saw a massive power struggle in the Raw women’s division. Seven women all can’t decide on who should be the one to challenge Alexa Bliss for the title at Great Balls of Fire. So what is the solution? A #1 contender’s match! Nia Jax, Bayley, Emma, Dana Brooke, Mickie James and of course Sasha Banks will compete in a Gauntlet Match to determine Alexa’s next challenger. Meanwhile the Smackdown women will have a Money In The Bank rematch – as all five women who were in the ladder match will compete in another to determine the true Ms Money In The Bank. Rematches are the order of the day as Naomi once again puts the Smackdown Women’s Championship up for grabs against Lana.

Gauntlet Match To Crown the #1 Contender

Winner and #1 Contender: Sasha Banks

Thoughts:

What an unexpectedly great showing. I did expect to get a #1 contender’s match, but I had a few fears that it would end up a mere battle royal or something uninspired like that. I suggested a Gauntlet Match last week not expecting to get it – but that’s exactly what we got. What a great idea; it allows for every woman on the roster to be featured in a way that a battle royal doesn’t really allow (you’re often too busy trying to figure out who’s who before they get eliminated). We rarely see Gauntlet Matches in the women’s division – usually because they require more time than the bookers would be willing to give – and I enjoyed it. Bayley vs Nia was a tidy encounter. We’ve seen them go for much longer on NXT, and they’re very familiar with each other in the ring, so they entertained for a few short minutes. Bayley did look quite decent coming out of this. She wasn’t squashed and she wasn’t dominated. Nor was she too overpowering. She looked like the underdog and left with her dignity. Mickie vs Nia was probably my favourite of the mini-matches – Mickie really pulling off some nice kicks. The crowd really popped for them. My favourite moment of the match was when Nia countered the DDT. She too looked okay coming out of the match – putting up a decent fight against Nia.

Dana Brooke? Poor girl. She was a joke as a heel and seems to have slid into that role again as a babyface. I don’t think it was a good idea to job her out so quickly against Nia. And it was even less of a good idea to do the same to Emma. I get that Emma is a heel and so shouldn’t be put too long against Nia, but this is the second time she’s been jobbed out since her return. Is it punishment for getting injured? Boy I hope not. Overall I think the decision to have Nia last the whole match probably wasn’t the best. I would rather have seen Emma pick up two early wins just to look credible – and then have Nia appear and dominate. There was certainly room for time to give the others a bit more. While I did love the work between Nia and Sasha, it did go on a bit. I enjoyed it overall, but I would have preferred some focus given to Emma.

Sasha winning was what I expected, but it was handled in a good way. Sasha’s character suffered a huge setback in the debacle that was her feud with Charlotte – and all the hot potatoing of the title. Having her be the winner of the Gauntlet served to put her over as The Boss we all know and love – and remind everyone that she is the badass of the division. I even loved how she took it to Alexa after the match. This feud has been anticipated since Alexa was moved to Raw, so hopefully it lasts longer than Lexi’s beef with Bayley. A SummerSlam bout could be especially juicy.

Smackdown

Naomi* vs Lana [Smackdown Women's Championship]

Winner and STILL Smackdown Women’s Champion: Naomi

Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Winner: Carmella

Thoughts:

Rinse and repeat. Smackdown gave us an episode of rematches. Naomi and Lana’s felt especially pointless. Why give Lana a second chance only to squash her so quickly? Not that I’m saying she should have won; it just makes for odd TV. The only thing this accomplished was to give Naomi another strong title defence after a long period of losses. I wasn’t a big fan of the little gesture she did afterwards either; bit too bullying and heelish for my tastes, even if Lana did attack her from behind.

The MITB match was lots of fun thankfully, and just as fun as the first. Obviously it didn’t feel quite as high scale as the first, but it didn’t need to. Tamina was again shockingly everywhere. Throwing Carmella into the announce table, laying everyone out with Samoan Drops, struggling with Charlotte…she put herself forward and again made it look like she had a chance of winning. I wonder if being part of such a spirited and high impact division has lit a fire under the next generation girl? The other generationers – Charlotte and Natalya – took the big bumps and took them well. Charlotte took a great bump off one of Becky’s suplexes and I could hear the crowd popping for it. Natalya seemed to get lost in places, but she did at least do a nice discus clothesline. The bit with Ellsworth and Becky was of course a nice comedy bit, and gave Becky some nice focus in the match. They really sold her as the one most likely to win. But it was Carmella who won…again. I wasn’t surprised, as this match seems to have been put on just to appease the backlash from the first win. I’m overjoyed that Carmella is still getting a push, because she and Naomi could probably do something great. Now that the post Money In The Bank fallout is behind us, I look forward to seeing what direction storylines will take.