SmackDown Women’s Championship Match
Bayley (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
While this isn’t a rematch of a recent battle, we have seen this match before and we have seen Alexa Bliss take a title from Bayley. A little more than two years ago at WWE Payback, The Goddess bested The Hugger to claim the Raw Women’s Championship, and this time she’ll be looking to take the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Plus, Bliss will have a little help in her corner in the form of Nikki Cross.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m really digging this little friendship angle with Bliss and Cross, even if we know how it’s going to end up at some point. After so much time out due to injury, it has been great to see Bliss back in the ring and she and Bayley could put on a great match. Bayley sometimes struggles to tell good stories in the ring, but she’s vastly improved with this new attitude she has and Bliss has long been good at keeping the fans engaged.
Prediction: Let’s go out on a limb on this one. While we don’t know her status at this point, how about Sasha Banks returning here to even up the odds? She helps Bayley get the win, which could lead to a tag match with Banks and Bayley vs. Bliss and Cross. That can play out over the next few weeks with the Wild Card rule and lead up to a jealousy-fueled heel turn from Banks, which eventually leads to a high-profile title match between the two at SummerSlam.
Raw Women’s Championship Match
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans
I’m still not quite sure how Lacey Evans has earned the right at another chance at Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship, but here we are. She did cost Becky the SmackDown Women’s Championship so The Man wants this match as revenge, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
It’s clear that creative wants to keep Evans near the top of this division and it’s hard to see how that happens if she takes another clean loss at this stage. As for Lynch, she was the hottest thing in the business in the months leading into WrestleMania but that seems to have fizzled a bit, which isn’t uncommon when that ultimate goal is finally reached. She’s still the best thing going in the women’s division and that’s not going to change anytime soon, but the woman known as “Becky Two Belts” might end up being “Becky No Belts” come Sunday.
Prediction: With that being said, I’m going to go with Evans winning the title. It’s not going to be pretty, and it’s not going to be clean, but having Lynch chasing a title is always going to be more interesting than her holding one (or two as the case was). It was the same with Stone Cold Steve Austin. It was the same for Daniel Bryan. Lynch will get her belt back at Extreme Rules or SummerSlam, but I’m going with Lacey and the upset at Stomping Grounds.