The last show before the biggest event of the summer and not a whole lot happened for the women’s division. SmackDown didn’t seem to highlight the SmackDown Women’s Title heading into SummerSlam this weekend. That match will be Bayley vs. Ember Moon and it wasn’t showcased very well at all. Before we get into that, we had Charlotte Flair kicking off the show.
Flair takes to the mic in the center of the ring in an attempt to get into the head of her challenger this Sunday, Trish Stratus. She mocks her opponent by the claim that Stratus wants that “one more match” to prove something in her home country in front of her loved ones. Flair states that Stratus was never as good as she is and that the athletes today are far superior over the ones that were during her time.
To add insult to injury, Flair asks for a video to play that would highlight her career. Instead, Stratus hijacked the video. In its place of Flair accolades were the Hall of Famers finest moments. Trish makes her way to the ring to confront The Queen. She agrees that she wants “one more match.” One more match is needed but not only for her loved ones and the fans but most importantly for herself.
The segment finishes by Flair telling Stratus that she will make her bow down to The Queen. With nothing left to lose and proving that Flair got into her head, she slapped her. Although she definitely was fuming after the slap, Flair simply laughed it off as she exited the ring. She then made her way up the ramp.
Now as for the SmackDown Women’s Title picture, literally nothing happened. The only women’s match of the night was Natalya facing Ember Moon. The match lasted less than two minutes when Natalya got herself disqualified for the second night in a row.
After some quick back and forth action, Moon attempted to go up top to perhaps put away her opponent quickly with her Eclipse. Nattie rolled out of the ring and the action spilled to the outside. Moon was able to drive her opponent in the barricade. She then fell to a huge clothesline and the Sharpshooter was applied on the outside of the ring.
Natalya refused to break the hold and the referee called for the bell. Bayley made her way out to make Nattie release the hold. Bayley then tried to help up the hesitant Moon just as she did last week. Last week she delivered a Bayley to Belly while this week nothing happened.
With the very few women that were on this weeks SmackDown lets go through the Winners and Losers.
Winner: Trish Stratus
Last night on RAW, Trish just stood on the ring apron and wasn’t even tagged into the match. Unlike last night she wasn’t scheduled for a match but at least she was able to take to the mic and delivered some much-needed words to get the crowd stirring.
The slap delivered by her was received well and Flair walking away without retaliation shows that they are letting any physical contact between the two be saved for Sunday.
Loser: Ember Moon
On paper, the upcoming match between Bayley and Ember Moon technically will be good. From a storyline point of view, nothing has built up for this match. All we have seen since it was announced weeks ago is the two going back and forth throwing cheap shots at each other. There is no clear face/heel dynamic for this upcoming match either.
Although two faces/heels in a match can still pull out a great match, it tends to not deliver as well from a story perspective. WWE needed to let Moon go full heel instead of letting the ball drop. Bayley will most likely retain on Sunday and perhaps this was just a placeholder for someone’s return (*cough* Sasha Banks).
Who were your Winners and Losers for the week and what are your predictions for the women’s matches at SummerSlam this weekend? Discuss your thoughts on this in the comment section.
Check back in with Diva Dirt all weekend for coverage from NXT TakeOver: Toronto and SummerSlam.
