SmackDown Live continues WWE’s tour throughout California this week stopping in its capital of Sacramento. Stomping Grounds is just one week from Sunday where Bayley will put her title on the line against RAW’s Alexa Bliss. This weeks show was a solid one for the women as it showcased two women’s matches.
The placement of the matches highlighted the women in the first half of the second hour. The fact that they put these matches close together gave a solid abundance of time for the women.
Sonya Deville faced Carmella to continue the feud between Fire & Desire and the Princess of Staten Island. Deville and Mandy Rose have been a thorn in the side of Carmella ever since Money in the Bank.
The pair cost her both the briefcase in the ladder match and a No. 1 contender spot in the triple threat match last week. Deville was able to pick up the win as Carmella keeps ending up on the losing end. They also continued their bullying tactics by harassing Ember Moon backstage and even broke her video game.
The second match featured SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley facing Alexa Bliss’ henchwoman Nikki Cross. Bliss convinced Cross that Bayley was against her via social media manipulation. Bayley was able to seek retribution from her loss in her hometown from the night before and picked up the pin against Cross.
Let’s go over the winners and losers list for this weeks SmackDown.
WINNER: Bayley
Bayley showed up on the loser list on RAW this week. She lost her tag team match in her hometown of San Jose, Calif. as she was pinned by Lacey Evans. She redeemed herself on her actual brand where she defeated Nikki Cross.
A little over a week from the upcoming pay-per-view Stomping Grounds and the SmackDown Women’s Champion is looking strong. If she can continue this momentum next week then she may have a good chance at retaining her title. It is still an odd decision though to have Alexa Bliss, a RAW brand member, face the SmackDown Champion. This may mean that Bliss will get the last laugh.
WINNER: Sonya Deville
Sonya Deville was able to finally have a match after weeks of being the supporting actress to Mandy Rose. She won her match against Carmella allowing the feud to between them to continue. The match itself was solid and also focused on Rose being the catalyst in the match causing a distraction for ‘Mella.
Deville also continued to pick a fight with Ember Moon. So at this time Deville along with Rose are playing double duty with two separate storylines. It may be obvious that Moon may end up teaming with Carmella in the future.
LOSER: Nikki Cross
Unfortunately, Nikki Cross showed up on the loser list this week. It is starting to develop that Alexa Bliss is manipulating her more and more as the weeks progress. This week she convinced Cross that Bayley was joining the heckling on Twitter against her, even though Bliss has Bayley blocked. So how did she see it?
Regardless, Cross came up on the losing end of her match. It is good that she is being actually used now, but she may have to get out of Bliss’ shadow unless something better comes from the pairing.
Final Thoughts:
Although tonight’s show wasn’t bad, the wild card rule still needs to go.
The Bliss and Cross dynamic is starting to become blurry. At first, it seemed as though they were going to be a formidable tag team. There originally was potential for this duo. Now it seems as though Cross is just doing Bliss’ bidding.
They still have good chemistry together so the jury is still out on this. Unless this leads to a feud between them in the future it just appears Cross will become the next lackey for Bliss and we all know how that ends up. Ask Alicia Fox.
Liv Morgan and Ember Moon partook in a dark match. This should have been a part of the actual show and could have furthered the feud with Rose and Deville if they interfered costing Moon the match. Plus it would have actually put Morgan on television for a change.
Moon’s rage-filled reaction after Deville broke her video game could be finally a sign they are going to start using her in the ring. In a WWE Exclusive she does mention that she will seek revenge.
What did you think of this week’s SmackDown? Do you think it was any better or worse than the prior weeks have been providing? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!!
Check back in to Diva Dirt for further Winners & Losers.
