After leaving the Hell in a Cell looking like a battlefield, Sasha Banks is now the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
She has ended Bayley‘s history-making 380-day title reign and has become a Grand Slam Champion in the process. The two former best friends sought out to deliver a high caliber match much like they did five years ago at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
This was Banks third time in Hell in a Cell as she is the only woman to participate in all three of them in history. Third time seemed to be the charm for The Boss. This was the first time the SmackDown Women’s Title was defended in the cell as the other two times were for the RAW Women’s Title.
Bayley brings with her to the cell the infamous chair that she has used prior on numerous occasions to decimate her former tag team partner. The chair would end up outside the cell for the majority of the match but would wind up being crucial to the finish. Banks made sure that this specific chair wasn’t a factor early on by drop kicking it out of the hands of Bayley causing it to fly outside of the cell as it lowers.
This didn’t deter both competitors from using every other weapon at their disposal. Between steel chairs, tables, kendo sticks, ladders, and even a fire extinguisher, these two women certainly put one another through hell. Using these weapons creatively made the match that much more enjoyable. Banks was able to use her knee strikes and Meteora’s throughout the steel structure very innovatively as well.
As the brutality continues all around the cell, the fire extinguisher changes the course of the match. Bayley was attempting to put two kendo sticks together with duct tape. Whatever she had plan didn’t seem to pan out which gave Banks the opportunity to blind her with the extinguisher. Bayley then attempted to leave the cell through the locked door. She was able to then get to the famous chair that she lost at the beginning of the match. The chair she used to torture Banks on numerous occasions.
Banks stops the use of the chair quickly by yanking it from the champion and throwing it in the ring. The Blueprint then delivers a ruthless attack on Bayley. After utilizing the steel wall to deliver a lot of pain, Banks rolls the champ back in the ring. She delivers an onslaught of shots from a kendo stick. Banks then goes for a frog splash with the chair laying on Bayley. Bayley is able to get the chair up to do some damage to her.
As the match gets towards its conclusion, Bayley sets up a ladder between two steel chairs set up in the ring. After Banks is dropped onto it, Bayley lays her down on the ladder. She takes spray paint and marks her with a black “X”. Bayley goes up top but is unable to capitalize as Banks moves out of the way. Banks delivers a Bayley to Belly on the ladder and somehow Bayley still kicks out.
The match ends as Bayley hits a Bayley-to-Belly of her own on the steel chair. Banks was able to turn this around to the Bank Statement. She uses the chair and puts it around Bayley’s neck to solidify the pain of the Bank Statement. Bayley then taps out, ending her historic reign as SmackDown Women’s Champion in the most poetic way possible.
After Banks sits and realizes that she finally won the blue brand’s title, she gets up and places her foot on Bayley with the title raised in the air. The Boss continues to celebrate as she makes her way up the ramp.
Congratulations to Sasha Banks on not only becoming the SmackDown Women’s Champion but being one of only three women to become a Grand Slam Champion in WWE.
What did you think of the match? Were you happy with the outcome? Was this the best women’s Hell in a Cell match to date? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below as the reign of Sasha Banks is just beginning.
