Monday 2nd September
Bayley & Becky Lynch vs Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross - Champions Challenge
​
With all the talk about Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross, there hasn’t been a lot of people turning their eyes toward Bayley. That seems sure to change after the events of the first-ever Women’s Championship Showcase, which pitted Becky & Bayley — the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champions, respectively — against WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross in a match that Bayley promised would determine who was in whose shadow.
The match ended in a disqualification when Sasha Banks, who had been lurking ringside, attacked Lynch with a Backstabber, handing Becky & Bayley the victory. The Boss’ attempt to brutalize Lynch with a chair was quickly stopped by The Huggable One — or so it seemed, until after a long, pointed staredown, when Bayley flashed a sly smile at Sasha and turned the steel on The Man, raining down blows on Lynch’s spine as Raw faded to black. Why the lovable champion suddenly decided to commit such an act may yet be revealed in time. Suffice it to say, she wasn’t the one in anybody’s shadow.
Monday 9th September
Bayley & Sasha Banks vs Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch
​
Unusual times make for unusual allies, and with The Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection broken bad, it fell to a very, very unlikely team to put them in their place: Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. That they did it in a tag team bout that pit the “Four Horsewomen” against each other speaks well to at least half of the victors’ chances this weekend at WWE Clash of Champions, where Becky will defend the Raw Women’s Title against Sasha Banks, while Charlotte challenges for Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship — though it goes without saying a Sunday sweep is far from a sure thing.
For one, Bayley and Banks gave their opponents fits throughout the match, leaning on their tag team experience — remember, they’re the first WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions — to put the impromptu pairing on their heels. Becky also made a point to target Banks outside the ring in the middle of the match, putting the fate of the bout in jeopardy when all four women brawled around the ring. But Charlotte, who was calm, cool and collected throughout, played closer in ruthless fashion: The nine-time Women’s Champion blocked a top-rope elbow drop from Bayley and nailed Natural Selection to prove that, at the very least, The Queen might be a step ahead of the SmackDown Women’s Champion as their title bout approaches. Whether Becky can say the same about Sasha, however, is a question still to be answered.
