Rhea Ripley earned a hard-fought victory on this week’s SmackDown in singles action against one half of the tag champs, Naomi.
Late into the match, the opponents were battling on the top turnbuckle. Ripley was going for the Riptide from the second ropes but was unable to execute the move as Naomi broke free. A huge missile drop kick from Ripley only gets a near fall.
Moments later, Naomi hits the springboard and connects with the knee. A full-nelson rolled over into a pin has Ripley kicking out once again. Ripley finally gets the Riptide locked in and delivered despite Naomi trying to fight out of it once again. Ripley pins one-half of the tag champs heading into their title match on Monday.
Ripley celebrates with Liv Morgan in the ring as Sasha Banks stares at the tag team gold perhaps worried about Monday’s match. The two teams meet this Monday on Raw with the gold on the line.
Other moments of SmackDown included a backstage promo which turned into an in-ring promo for the SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. Drew Gulak was the interviewer for the segment and he was not on Flair’s side when it comes to her feud with Ronda Rousey. Flair will meet Rousey at WrestleMania Backlash in an “I Quit” Match. Gulak had to remind Flair that she did tap out at WrestleMania despite the point that the referee was knocked out during it and the champion would go on to retain her title.
The promo ended with Flair taking Gulak out by the knee before causing him to tap out. She forces him to say, “I Quit” as she applies the Figure Eight.
Next, we get Chapter Two of the story of Lacey Evans. Last week, a promo video aired starting the return of Evans. She continues to tell the story of her upbringing and focuses on her father.
Unimpressed, Natalya and Shayna Baszler were seen in the locker room mocking Evans. She says that SmackDown used to be the land of opportunity and now it is the island of misfit toys. Natalya then greeted Raquel Rodriguez after saying she leaves her belongings all over the locker room.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more news and results from the women of SmackDown.
