Friday Night SmackDown this week was the last stop before Clash of Champions this Sunday. Bayley will be facing Nikki Cross for the SmackDown Women’s Title at the upcoming. Cross wasn’t present on this week’s show despite her upcoming match, so to say the build-up is lackluster is putting it nicely.
Bayley did have a promo however as she sat on the stage to start by addressing Sasha Banks. She says that she doesn’t have an ounce of time to waste any longer on Banks. The champion says she has a match to prepare for as she moves on from focusing on Banks to address Cross.
Cross has faced Bayley multiple times in the past for the SmackDown Women’s Championship but has never been able to walk away with the gold. Bayley addresses the fact that Cross feels this time it will be different. It will be different because she won’t have Banks in her corner. Bayley reminds Cross what she has done to her “best friend” Banks. If that is what she has done to her “best friend” then imagine what she is going to do to Cross.
Initial Thoughts:
As it is, this title match has been done several times recently and isn’t the most exciting option. With certain talents such as Sasha, Carmella, Naomi, and Sonya not being available, I guess there weren’t many options. They could have thrown this one to Dana Brooke as she is the one woman from the blue brand who hasn’t had a one-on-one title match against Bayley. At this point, it is what it is, however, there has been no focus on it whatsoever.
Nikki won the number one contender spot and she still has been focusing on Alexa Bliss whereas Bayley has focused on Sasha. At the very least they could have had Nikki jump Bayley from behind while she was giving this promo and had them brawl for a few minutes.
We received a new vignette for Carme…err the mystery woman. This marks the fourth video that has been shown and this time she was sitting at a mirror. She was seen putting on make-up and jewelry. She then wrote with lipstick on the mirror the word: Untouchable. After writing the word she snapped her finger to be handed a polaroid camera. This covered her face as she took a photo to end the video.
I would think they would be unveiling this mystery woman soon. Maybe at the pay-per-view on Sunday?
Initial Thoughts:
It is Carmella. I am glad it is Carmella. Let’s see Carmella.
Lastly, we had the one women’s match of the night. For the past several weeks there has only been one women’s match for the ladies of SmackDown. I suppose it makes sense because the roster is a little fractured right now, but it is still disappointing.
The match we had was between Lacey Evans and Alexa Bliss. This developed last week as Bliss delivered the Sister Abigail on Evans after she was caught in a trance from hearing The Fiend’s name. The match pretty good with Evans being in control through most of it. That is, until the lights turned red, The Fiend’s screeching music hit, and his face was appearing on all of the screens.
Once Bliss became “possessed” so to speak by The Fiend, she gained control of the match and snapped on Evans. She would end up being disqualified as a result of not letting up on Evans when the referee had asked. Bliss would deliver Sister Abigail once again to Evans for the second week in a row at ringside.
Afterward, with the lights turning red and The Fiend’s face plastered everywhere, we hear “LET ME IN” as Bliss shared her sadistic smile in the middle of the ring.
As Bliss leaves the ring and heads up the ramp, Roman Reign’s music hits and him and Paul Heyman make their way out to the ring. As they pass Bliss on the stage, she turns and stares at Reigns until she decides to walk to the back.
Initial Thoughts:
Yes! Yes! and Yes! Give me more possessed Alexa Bliss.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the night:
WINNER: Alexa Bliss
Without a doubt, Alexa Bliss may be the best thing going for the women’s division right now. On all brands. A+ A+ A+!
I will admit, the build for this has been kind of slow since it has been happening now since the end of July – but it has been worth it. Sometimes a slow build has to happen. It definitely has made me wanting more and enjoying what may happen the following week.
I love the acting, the messy hair, the stare at Roman Reigns. I love it all.
LOSER: Nikki Cross
I really don’t understand why she was not on the show this week. Unless there was some reason as to why she could not be there, she should have been. It would have been a simple thing for her to jump Bayley from behind, or even film a promo. Do something. I have a feeling Cross is just going to lose quickly on Sunday and either they will just continue through with Bayley & Sasha or maybe the mystery woman will interfere.
It is clear that the women’s matches for Clash of Champions have been an afterthought. The RAW Women’s Title on the Kickoff show and this one that we have seen several times before with no build whatsoever. At least we have the Women’s Tag Team Match.
What did you think of this week’s SmackDown? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check back in with Diva Dirt this weekend for any news, rumors, and also result from Clash of Champions!!
