The Extreme Rules pay-per-view is now decided for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. That’s right, we are going to receive a spitting image of Stomping Grounds. Alexa Bliss has officially received another title shot at the next pay-per-view. Thanks to Nikki Cross, Bliss will go one-on-one with Bayley because Cross defeated the champion on tonight’s show.
The match was solid up until the end where it did get a little sloppy with the covers from both women. Cross celebrated after her win by wanting a cell phone from the commentators to call Bliss and tell her the good news. This bout lasted about seven minutes which couldn’t be said for the second women’s match of the night.
There were indeed two matches on SmackDown this week, but the second match didn’t even last more than two minutes. Ember Moon finally got her hands on Sonya Deville after weeks of torment. It started off strong, but no sooner did it heat up the flame was extinguished.
Mandy Rose served enough of a distraction for Moon that Deville drove her opponent into the ring post. Deville pinned her for the win. After waiting for Moon to actually have a match for the first time in weeks this was a disappointment. Hopefully, their feud continues where they could put on a lengthy exchange.
Let’s get into the winners and losers of the week:
WINNER: Nikki Cross
Cross delivered what she was required to this week. She picked up a win on the champion. Although the win isn’t going to help propel herself forward it did satisfy Alexa Bliss’ needs. Cross is back in the good graces of the Goddess, at least for now.
In a WWE Exclusive Cross shows how happy she is for picking up this win. Cathy Kelley does make her think twice about it though.
LOSER: Ember Moon
Moon has been chomping at the bit to get into the ring. With that being said one may think she should be a winner this week. Unfortunately, the amount of time it took to lace up her boots was probably longer than the match.
As a comparison, Natalya and Naomi finally had a match on RAW which they lost as well. The difference is that their match was at least longer and more fulfilling than this blink of an eye.
It is possible for this feud to actually go somewhere, but it has been weeks and this is what we have been given.
LOSER: Bayley
The champ lost. Pretty simple as that. She lost a match to someone who isn’t even going to face her for the title! Unlike the RAW title picture, this one could go either way and Bayley could see herself heading into SummerSlam without a belt around her waist.
Final Thoughts:
Just like RAW’s Winners & Losers from yesterday, it is clear that Extreme Rules is just a speed bump heading into SummerSlam. The matches are going to be pretty much the same, especially for the women’s roster.
Becky Lynch is more than likely going to retain and head into SummerSlam with a new opponent. Bayley may not be so lucky. Bliss could very well head into the biggest event of the summer as champion. Bayley may be the challenger at that point but do we really want them to face each other on three pay-per-views in a row?
Ember and Sonya deserve more in-ring time however that goes for half the roster so we will leave it at that.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more Winners & Losers in the future!!
