Natalya will be entering the 2021 Royal Rumble in the most beneficial spot at number 30. To determine who would enter at this spot, Natalya faced Tamina in a one-on-one match which aired on Saturday’s special return episode of WWE Backstage. These two veterans have been teaming up as of late but it is always … Read more
SmackDown this week was a lot like last week with the exception that we did get one match. The match centered around the storyline of Billie Kay “joining” the Riott Squad as Liv Morgan faced Natalya. Kay joined commentary while Ruby Riott was at ringside for Morgan and Tamina for Natalya. Kay said she was … Read more
Instead of waiting for the TLC pay-per-view event a week from Sunday, Carmella made her return to the ring on this week’s SmackDown. This was her first match since April back when she took on Mandy Rose. She faced Sasha Banks this week in the main event for the SmackDown Women’s Title. A title she … Read more
WWE aired its annual Tribute to the Troops episode today. This event that started in 2003 hosted its 18th event the best way it could in order to honor the members of the United States Armed Forces. There was one women’s match on the card and that was a tag team bout featuring the ladies of SmackDown.
In what most would call a dream team, Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair teamed up to face Bayley and Natalya.
The match whittled its way down to the SmackDown Women’s Champion Banks and the ring-veteran Natalya. Belair rolled outside the ring with Bayley to make her a non-issue. As Natalya went to use the ropes for her patented move, Banks tripped her up to apply the Bank Statement. This caused the tap out and the victory for Banks and Belair.
As much as it was great to see Banks and Belair team up and get this win, many are waiting for them to face each other for that SmackDown Women’s Title. In the meantime, Banks will defend her title against Carmella at the TLC pay-per-view while Belair has her hands full with Bayley for the past few weeks on SmackDown.
What did you think of this match? Did you like to see the pair of Banks and Belair together? Leave your thoughts below!!
This week’s SmackDown had one match and it was the build for the feud between Bayley and Bianca Belair. This all started at Survivor Series where Bayley claimed to be the captain of the team by being handpicked to be a part of it. Belair has laughed off the notion of Bayley being captain but … Read more
This week’s SmackDown certainly didn’t deliver a lot for their women’s roster. One match we did receive however was Bianca Belair taking on Natalya. Bayley was on commentary. Bianca Belair defeated Natalya In a direct fallout from Team SmackDown’s loss at Survivor Series, we have Belair who was the last for the blue team, Natalya … Read more
In a last chance match to join Team SmackDown for Survivor Series, Natalya finally gets her win. She went one-on-one with Tamina. It’s been a long road for Natalya and she hasn’t been happy about it. She has been involved in every qualifying match and kept losing after the eventual winner would sneak in the … Read more
Heading into tonight’s SmackDown, there are still two women that have to be added for the traditional Survivor Series match for the blue brand. Survivor Series is this Sunday, so with this being the last show, the two in question will most likely be announced. A lot of speculation has occurred with who one of … Read more
Survivor Series is now less than a week away and like most things this year, it feels a bit different. Due to the most obvious reasons, there hasn’t been any type of “invasion” type of build-up this year. Instead, the teams are focused on their own brands. Both RAW and SmackDown have down two different ways to showcase their talent heading up to the event.
One thing both rosters have in common is they are focused around one woman on each brand. RAW’s focus is on Lana as she is the only woman who had to qualify for a spot on the team. The team itself implodes every week with the members fighting amongst each other and ending up with Lana going through the announce table by the hands of Nia Jax. SmackDown’s focus is a little different from who they are focusing on, Natalya, who hasn’t earned her spot yet.
Natalya has been involved in three different matches to try and qualify for a spot on Team SmackDown. The storyline is panning out in the aspect that she keeps getting cheated out of the win and keeps having to try and qualify for a spot every week. Her being self-proclaimed as the “Best of All Time” is infuriating her that she can’t earn her spot. The main difference between how the brands are handling the build for their teams is that the blue brand is actually putting on weekly qualifiers.
Ironically the fact that Natalya is being put in this position leads to looking into the history of women in traditional Survivor Series matches. She is the only woman out of the 33 year-long history of the event that has been last standing in a Survivor Series outing more than one time. She sits at surviving two.
The first win occurred in 2013 where she survived with Nikki Bella in the Total Divas vs. True Diva match. The second was in 2014 where she survived with her whole team in a total sweep alongside Alicia Fox, Emma, and Naomi.
Survivor Series has not been kind to the women as a whole when it comes to the historical reference of the event. For the 33 year history, there has only been a total of 10 all-women traditional matches (11 – after this year). Below is a list of the years and the survivors of each match:
There was a match in 2000 which involved Chyna. She joined Billy Gunn, K-Kwik, and Road Dogg in a losing effort against The Radicalz.
Natalya also holds the most times in a Survivor Series match at six. She is followed by both Naomi and Alicia Fox with five appearances each.
This year’s match is current shaping up as follows:
Team RAW – Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, and Lana vs. Team SmackDown -Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and two more names to be announced.
Do you think that Natalya will end up making it on Team SmackDown? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for all news, rumors, and results from this year’s Survivor Series event.
After months of inactivity, Chelsea Green has officially made her debut on SmackDown. She was last seen quitting the Robert Stone Brand on NXT in May after a successful victory with Charlotte Flair against Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley. In a backstage segment, Natalya was yet again providing her frustrations to WWE authority, Adam Pearce … Read more
This week’s SmackDown kicked off with an incredible match between the SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks facing Bayley in a rematch from Hell in a Cell. There is certainly a reason why they don’t give these two a one-on-one match very often and that is because when they do, they kill it. This match was … Read more
Ruby Riott qualifies as the second member of Team SmackDown for the upcoming Survivor Series match. She joins Bianca Belair at this time as teammates. There are three more spots left for the blue brand whereas the RAW Team has already been assembled. Belair qualified last week against Natalya and Billie Kay in a Triple … Read more
We’ve finally reached Friday in order to see the new SmackDown Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks, on our television screens. Banks made her way to the ring with not only her newly won title but the chair that symbolizes the demise of her friendship with Bayley. Banks goes over the destruction of her relationship with Bayley … Read more
Lana becomes the number one contender for the RAW Women’s Championship as she is the last woman standing from the Dual-Brand Battle Royal. The match took place in the main event, despite having the attention taken away from it by Randy Orton and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre fighting backstage. The match was slated to have … Read more
Another Monday Night RAW is in the books and the RAW Women’s Title picture seems to be even more confusing than it was before the show started. With Clash of Champions right around the corner, we have two matches booked. What is missing is the RAW Women’s Title on the card. Tonight, we witnessed the … Read more
This week’s RAW was a good showing for the women’s division. A total of four matches were on display. Although we do not know any matches just yet officially for Clash of Champions that will take place later on this month, we received a title match set for next week. Mickie James will go one on one against Asuka for the RAW Women’s Title on the Sept. 14 episode of RAW. This week? The two had to be on the same side of the ring as they took on the team of Nataly and Lana.
The matches on this week’s show were as follows:
Peyton Royce vs. Billie Kay
Mickie James & Asuka vs. Natalya & Lana
The Riott Squad vs. Shayna Baszler – 2 on 1 Handicap Match
The Riott Squad vs. Nia Jax – 2 on 1 Handicap Match
The first match was between the two former teammates. The IIconics were forced to break up last week following their loss to The Riott Squad. Now we have new entrances, new music, and two singles competitors in that of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay.
The two would face each other as the rest of us awkwardly looked on. There would be a hint of animosity as Royce blamed Kay for their break up. As expected due to a constant rumor that Royce was seen as high on Vince McMahon’s list, she would come out with the win.
After the match, Royce would help up Kay and hug her.
Initial thoughts:
Both of their new music is rather generic. I did enjoy the graphics for Billie though and her gear, it set her apart some from The IIconics. Peyton, however, for the one they seem to want to push more had the same gear she has been wearing. The match was okay, but I know they could have gone harder. Generally in my opinion, good friends can put on high caliber matches.
I could be wrong, but this seems to be a one-off match as the hug signified the end of the duo. As I half expected Peyton to attack Billie after the match, she didn’t.
EXCLUSIVE: Throughout a difficult time on #WWERaw, @PeytonRoyceWWE still has a lot of emotions to process. pic.twitter.com/45WPZskIiF
Next up we had the tag team match between Mickie James and Asuka as they face Lana and Natalya. James and Asuka played up the tension between the two with them tagging themselves in. Asuka steals the win from James at the end of the match as a result. She gets the win via submission via the Asuka Lock on Lana. James kept Natalya from saving Lana by delivering a Mick Kick on the outside.
Initial Thoughts:
It was a solid match – good storytelling between Mickie and Asuka. Seeing as they are both technically babyface, the build-up needs that much more effort. I am really enjoying the team of Lana and Natalya and I am glad Lana is getting back in the ring more. Assuming Lana and Natalya will likely cost Mickie her title match next Monday, this will lead up to what the Clash of Champions match will be for the RAW Women’s Title.
Lastly, we have two matches that involve The Riott Squad. First, we had Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott having to face Shayna Baszler in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. The dynamic between Baszler and Nia Jax as tag team champions continue to show that they are far from friends. Baszler arguing with Jax who was at ringside would ultimately do her in. Morgan would secure a win on Baszler for The Riott Squad as they go up 1-0 for the night.
The second match was the second 2-on-1 Handicap Match as The Riott Squad faced Nia Jax. Morgan and Riott did a fantastic job through the match with constant tags in order to keep Jax down as much as possible. The duo knew that they had to focus on keeping Jax off her feet if they wanted to pick up this win.
The Riott Squad was close to another victory as the lights started to flicker and go out signaling the emergence of RETRIBUTION. Morgan went for the pin on Jax and at the count of two the lights went out and the RETRIBUTION stable had their first promo. So that being said, the match ended without a result.
Initial Thoughts:
Personally, I do not like handicap matches. I think they show little creativity and are pointless. These two matches, however, I understood the point. With Shayna and Nia still not fully on the same page, and how they took out Sasha Banks and Bayley – this made sense. Shayna beat both Sasha and Bayley to win the titles and Nia pinned both of them in order to retain the titles.
I wish the second match had a result and wasn’t interrupted by RETRIBUTION, but that gives Nia a leg to stand on saying she wasn’t “defeated.”
As far as RETRIBUTION, the women of the stable didn’t say anything in the promo. However, I am convinced that the two women in the group are Mia Yim and Vanessa Borne.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week:
WINNER: Liv Morgan
Liv getting a pin on Shayna was a nice surprise. These handicap matches were tricky, but it did make more sense for Shayna to lose. I am happy that the Riott Squad are back together, and Liv is continuing to shine as a result.
WINNER: Peyton Royce
Peyton is clearly the one receiving the push out of the artists formerly known as The IIconics. Her new music and entrance however I feel was way less impressive than Billie’s. I can only assume that Peyton may end up going to SmackDown though. Her going after the SmackDown Women’s Title just makes more sense.
WINNER: Asuka
Asuka was able to still squeak out a win even while being on a team with Mickie who is gunning for her. The way she won as well is reminding me of her initial heel turn, so she may end up being the heel in this scenario between the two. Her getting the win continues to make her look strong.
LOSER: Billie Kay
Unfortunately for Billie, Peyton’s win solidifies that she is favored as rumored. Personally I am worried about what is next for Billie. I wouldn’t mind a nice feud between the two, but with this randomness that was their break-up, I can see them now being on different brands. I just feel that Billie is going to get lost in the shuffle and not used.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!!
RAW this week was definitely one that had heavy moves in both the RAW Women’s & Women’s Tag Team Title pictures. And for one team, many hearts were broken. Two main matches were had other than RAW Underground and they were: Mickie James vs. Lana The Riott Squad vs The IIconics – Winner becomes number … Read more
In a controversial moment, Mickie James loses her in-ring return match. James returned in a backstage interview last week from her knee injury that had her out for over a year.
Thinking back to the last time I was actually seen in a @wwe ring… #wrestlemania over a year ago? This was my 1st surgery from an injury of my entire 20+ career. The #Comeback was a way longer road than I could’ve… https://t.co/TtDYiAjbSn
She came back saying that she was ready to get some gold around her waist before Natalya and Lana entered the picture. As a result, we receive a match between two in-ring veterans.
During the match, instead of WWE focusing on the women, it focused on Seth Rollins confronting Samoa Joe at the announce table. If that wasn’t aggravating enough for fans of the returning six-time champion, after waiting for so long to see James back in the ring, she loses via count-out.
After the match, James would get “the last laugh” and hit Lana at ringside with a Mick Kick. Both James and Natalya would comment on the result from their match on Twitter. James also takes to a WWE Exclusive to share her frustrations.
It was truly an honor getting to share the ring with @MickieJames, a 6 time Womens Champion and one of the best women wrestlers on the planet. BUT I am disturbed that Mickie assaulted @LanaWWE after our match. Very PETTY! Joy, and I have your back, Lana! ???? #WWERawpic.twitter.com/Umn8nu0Smy
What did you think about this return? Were you among the many who wanted better for Mickie? Do you think she will be put into a title picture soon? If so, which title? Leave your thoughts below!!
As Extreme Rules inches closer, we have our first women’s match announced for the event. By the end of RAW, we now know that one-half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks has challenged RAW Women’s Champion Asuka for the RAW title at the upcoming event. This news came after Banks and Bayley successfully … Read more
There is a lot to unpack from this fallout episode of RAW from Backlash. The championships are still intact with Asuka as the RAW Women’s Champion and Bayley and Sasha Banks are still the Women’s Tag Team Champions. A rematch was made as a result of Asuka retaining her title from a double count-out result … Read more
The Backlash pay-per-view is today and on that card is two women’s matches with championships on the line. The Backlash event itself has a long history with the company. It is an event that has come and gone since it debuted in 1999. For ten years straight it was something to watch annually and didn’t … Read more
RAW kicked off in a fashion that many fans missed and that was the noise of a crowd. For the first time in a couple of months we received a crowd reaction in the way of NXT and Performance Center wrestlers. The show started with the KO Show which featured first Asuka and then all … Read more
The Irresistible Force Nia Jax is officially Asuka’s opponent for the upcoming Backlash event. Jax earned this shot by defeating Natalya and Charlotte Flair in a Triple Threat match. Although it was questionable by many fans of the three that were in this match, they still put on a lengthy match. Some of which had … Read more
The Backlash event is quickly approaching as we are just under three weeks away. As of now there are no women’s matches on that card but that will change after tonight’s RAW. As advertised there will be a Triple Threat to determine who will take on Asuka at the aforementioned event. The competitors will be … Read more
It has been announced during tonight’s SmackDown that an upcoming Triple Threat match for RAW is scheduled to take place. This match will determine the number one contender to Asuka’s RAW Women’s Championship. Asuka recently became RAW Women’s Champion unbeknownst to her as she actually won it when she grabbed the Money in the Bank … Read more
RAW this week had a lot of representation from the women and it was good to see. There were three women’s matches and a number of segments. Before we get into the Winners & Losers of the week, let’s unpack what has gone down. The show opened up with a video package of Becky Lynch’s … Read more
