Extreme Rules takes place this Saturday, Oct. 8. On the card for the first time in years, every match listed has a stipulation with it making it truly an Extreme Rules event. Within those matches are two women’s bouts confirmed for both the Raw and the SmackDown Women’s Championships.
The matches are –
Liv Morgan (c) vs. Ronda Rousey – Extreme Rules Match – SmackDown Women’s Championship
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley – Ladder Match – Raw Women’s Championship
Liv Morgan and Ronda Rousey have had an on/off again feud since Money in the Bank when Morgan cashed in to win the SmackDown Women’s Title from Rousey. Then controversy ensued when Rousey went for her rematch at SummerSlam and Morgan retain due to the referee not acknowledging that Morgan was tapping prior to the three count.
Morgan would then go on and successfully defeat Shayna Baszler at Clash at the Castle and now is back to Rousey. The champ chose the Extreme Rules style match in which she feels will give her the advantage to retain her gold. Morgan has been showing week by week how extreme she can be and will do anything to make sure that Rousey doesn’t win.
Predictions:
Nick: I feel as though Liv is just getting started in her reign and she will likely retain and lose it sometime at the start of 2023. Rousey taking a loss here in this type of match doesn’t take any credibility away from her. I also expect someone such as Shayna Baszler to interfere maybe turn on Rousey for getting a rematch and not herself.
Winner: Liv Morgan
Colby: Thank goodness this has a stipulation, otherwise I would want nothing to do with it. On paper, Ronda Rousey should be destroying Liv Morgan. However, this is WWE, and Liv Morgan has pinned Rousey twice. Don’t get me wrong—I love Morgan and I’m so glad she’s had this run as champion. It’s just hard to suspend my belief when seeing Liv and Ronda mix it up. I’m glad WWE has had Liv showing her more extreme side ahead of this rematch. She certainly needs the added edge if she’s going to survive a third round with the former UFC champion. It feels like Charlotte Flair will be lurking around the corner imminently, so I’ll go out on a limb and say Morgan finds a way to retain.
Winner: Liv Morgan
Gary: This match I see being a brutal spots match with weapons and crazy moves. Although I truly do see Ronda winning here, I’m gonna go with Liv pulling out the victory after an insane spot that leaves them both laid out but Liv still getting the win.
Winner: Liv Morgan
Next up we have the first-ever women’s one-on-one ladder match on the main roster in WWE history. Hard to believe, but it is true. Bianca Belair will be defending her Raw Women’s Championship against Bayley. These two have had quite the story over the past year plus. They were supposed to finish out their last feud in 2021 with an “I Quit” match but Bayley sustained an injury that had her out for over a year.
Bayley returned at SummerSlam to confront Belair and brought with her Dakota Kai and IYO SKY. As a trio, the newly named Damage CTRL has been giving Belair trouble ever since. If Belair retains she will become the first Black woman in WWE history to hold a title for 200-days.
Nick: At this point, it could go either way. We all thought that Damage CTRL was gonna take the tag titles at first and didn’t. In this type of match, anything can happen that can swerve the results and not make Bayley look bad in the end regardless. I know most people think that Bayley is a shoo-in to win this but I think that with WarGames coming up the sides will still be fighting. Maybe a winners take all? So I am going to go with the least popular answer cause I can.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Colby: WWE is serving us yet another “first” for the women’s division in the form of the first women’s one-on-one ladder match on the main roster. Bayley is picking up right where she left off in 2021 when she got hurt by targeting Belair’s championship. Her fellow Damage CTRL teammates have gold now, so it would only be fitting if their leader also picked up some new hardware. I have faith that Belair will continue to be booked strong if she takes a loss here without being pinned or submitted. After all, there are no disqualifications, and interferences are all but guaranteed. I’m going with a Bayley win.
Winner: Bayley
Gary: While I am not 100% convinced Bianca will lose here, I feel like Bayley needs the win to back up Damage CTRL. I see shenanigans coming into play but the deciding factor is someone not even affiliated with Damage CTRL, that would be a plot twist to set Bianca up for a new feud while Bayley can focus on Bliss or Asuka. Bayley for the win.
Winner: Bayley
As always, check back in with Diva Dirt to join the Extreme Rules Discussion Post and then check out the results to follow.
