Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s SmackDown Redux!
Just a few days ahead of challenging Divas Champion AJ Lee at Battleground, #1 contender Brie Bella is looking to build some momentum on the blue brand, as she faces off against Aksana. Can the newly engaged diva knock off the Lithuanian bombshell? Check out the match below:
We kick off the match with Aksana already in the ring and Brie follows shortly after with her twin sister, Nikki in tow. The official signals for the bell and our match is underway.
The Divas lock up and Aksana muscles Brie into the ropes, but Brie catches her follow-up kick and sends her flying across the ring. Brie takes her opponent down with a flying clothesline, but only gets a two count.
Aksana tries to go back on the offensive, whipping Brie across the ring, but eats a dropkick and a kneestrike to the face for her trouble. Brie tries to keep the pressure on Aksana, chasing her across the ring, and gets thrown throat-first into the middle rope by Aksana.
Aksana sees her opportunity and unleashes a flurry of stomps and a few elbow drops for a nearfall, followed by a modified headlock.
Brie fights her way back to a standing position, only to be yanked back down to the mat with a handful of hair. Getting a bit overconfident, Aksana does her patented sexy (?) crawl, before nailing Brie in the face with a kick fire another nearfall.
Brie struggles to her feet once again, blasting Aksana with a few forearms, but Aksana gets the better of her, pinning her in the corner. After a couple of shoulder blocks from Aksana, the referee intervenes and Brie seizes the moment and hits a modified Bella Buster off the ropes to pick up the win.
Post-match, Brie and Nikki celebrate in the ring, but AJ Lee and her enforcer Tamina come out to rain on their parade with a promo on their match at Battleground.
Thoughts: I’m never really excited to hear about an Aksana match, if I’m being completely honest, but I thought both ladies did pretty well. I especially loved Brie’s new spin on the Bella Buster. The match was short, sweet and it got Brie some momentum going into her title match on Sunday, so I think it did its job well.
As for AJ’s promo, it wasn’t exactly that infamous pipebomb promo, but I thought it was still a solid promo. Still not quite sold on the AJ/Tamina partnership, but we’ll see if it comes into play during the title match on Sunday.
Well that’s all for now, kiddies. Come this time next week, we could have a brand new champion! Are you #TeamAJ or #TeamBrie? Pick your side in the comments below. Until next time!
