We’re one day away from Money in the Bank, and this week’s SmackDown is providing some last minute drama heading into the Divas Championship match. Paige is again taking on Cameron, but with Naomi on commentary, things are sure to get testy. Let’s watch:
On commentary, Naomi talks about Money in the Bank, saying that she’s been waiting for this opportunity ever since she set foot in a WWE ring. Paige enters the ring, and the match fittingly starts rough, the Divas tying up and scrambling for control. Paige backs Cameron into a corner and stomps on her chest.
She pulls Cameron to her feet, but the Funkadactyls starts fighting back, grabbing handfuls of Paige’s hair. Paige delivers a blow to the back and tries to whip Cameron back into the corner, but it’s reversed. Paige halts her momentum, though, and hops backwards over a charging Cameron.
Cameron’s quick, though, and grabs Paige’s head, driving both knees right into her face. She goes for the pin, but Paige kicks out at two. She grabs Paige by the hair and applies a scissors hold to Paige’s neck. Paige works her way to her knees, powering out of the move and hitting Cameron with the Paigeturner! She gets the three-count and the win.
Post-match, Naomi heads to the ring to meet her opponent. Paige is all ready to do the classic “raise the belt” pose with her, but Cameron spoils the moment, shoving Paige from behind and starting a full-on fight with her. The two swing at each other as Naomi tries to play peacemaker, separating them as best as she can.
Paige eventually turns her back, and Cameron shoves Naomi right into her, leading Paige to believe that Naomi hit her intentionally. Paige shoves her back, and the two come chest-to-chest, the referee finally becoming of use and separating them. Paige finally gets to raise her title, and Cameron watches on, pleased with her handiwork.
Thoughts: The match, as most SmackDown matches are, was incredibly short. I liked it for what it was, though. Though she lost quickly, Cameron looked good, showing some hellcat tendencies and and all-around improvement with her moveset. The submission is probably a taste of what we’ll get when she turns heel (and she will). After all, heel Divas love their rest holds.
Throughout their in-ring and backstage encounters, I’ve been intrigued by the chemistry between Paige and Cameron. It’s just different. It lets Paige let loose a bit and show that side of her so many of us loved on the indies. Though Naomi is undoubtedly the one who should be getting the title shot this Sunday, Cameron’s definitely doing her part to stay in the conversation. I really like how they’ve used her here: it’s a creative way to supply drama to a babyface/babyface match, because you know if it were just Naomi and Paige out there, there’d be too much unexciting good will and not enough fire. Cameron lights the fuse in a great and sneaky way.
I hope Sunday will see her turn on Naomi and go full-on heel, leading to a feud between them. My only concern is where that leaves Paige. But that’s the conundrum we’ve had since she won the belt, right? How do we make Paige’s reign compelling when other elements (Alicia Fox‘s outbursts, the potential of a Funkadactyl feud) keep outshining it?
