PHILADELPHIA — The alliance between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross once again ran into a Bayley-shaped wall at WWE Extreme Rules, where The Huggable One thwarted not one but both of her rivals in one of her grittiest, finest performances to retain the SmackDown Women’s Title.
It would take nothing less than that type of effort to turn around what Corey Graves dubbed an “unwinnable situation”: Whatever you think of their partnership or the motivations behind it, Bliss and Cross havebeen in near-perfect sync lately, while Bayley is decidedly friendless and outgunned. To her detriment, she also seemed more preoccupied with Nikki than Alexa: The Huggable One straight-up missed a tag by Bliss and continued to focus her attack on The Twisted Sister, allowing Bliss to shove the champ into the ring post and turn the tide of the match.
SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley catches Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in submission maneuvers at the same time. Courtesy of WWE Network.
But the famously positive Bayley responded to the disadvantage with a flurry of offense that took everyone in the building by surprise, showering Bliss with clubbing blows to the back before turning around for an immediate suicide crossbody to Nikki. She even got into the submission game, vining Nikki’s legs in an Indian Deathlock while wrenching Bliss back in a crossface at the same time.
Shockingly, it was Bliss & Cross who found themselves scrambling for their footing, and they went high-risk, high-reward in an attempt to put the match away in the form of a Twisted Bliss from Alexa. Unfortunately for them, Bayley blocked Bliss with her knees and chopped Nikki out of the sky with another knee to the Scot’s chin before following up with a flying elbow drop that put Nikki down for the three-count.
It was, in every sense of the word, a perfect showing by the SmackDown Women’s Champion, as well as a rebuke to the distraught duo who insisted The Huggable One couldn’t beat them without a friend. Clearly, they forgot who they were dealing with: Bayley did just fine on her own.
PHILADELPHIA — The alliance between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross once again ran into a Bayley-shaped wall at WWE Extreme Rules, where The Huggable One thwarted not one but both of her rivals in one of her grittiest, finest performances to retain the SmackDown Women’s Title.
It would take nothing less than that type of effort to turn around what Corey Graves dubbed an “unwinnable situation”: Whatever you think of their partnership or the motivations behind it, Bliss and Cross havebeen in near-perfect sync lately, while Bayley is decidedly friendless and outgunned. To her detriment, she also seemed more preoccupied with Nikki than Alexa: The Huggable One straight-up missed a tag by Bliss and continued to focus her attack on The Twisted Sister, allowing Bliss to shove the champ into the ring post and turn the tide of the match.
SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley catches Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in submission maneuvers at the same time. Courtesy of WWE Network.
But the famously positive Bayley responded to the disadvantage with a flurry of offense that took everyone in the building by surprise, showering Bliss with clubbing blows to the back before turning around for an immediate suicide crossbody to Nikki. She even got into the submission game, vining Nikki’s legs in an Indian Deathlock while wrenching Bliss back in a crossface at the same time.
Shockingly, it was Bliss & Cross who found themselves scrambling for their footing, and they went high-risk, high-reward in an attempt to put the match away in the form of a Twisted Bliss from Alexa. Unfortunately for them, Bayley blocked Bliss with her knees and chopped Nikki out of the sky with another knee to the Scot’s chin before following up with a flying elbow drop that put Nikki down for the three-count.
It was, in every sense of the word, a perfect showing by the SmackDown Women’s Champion, as well as a rebuke to the distraught duo who insisted The Huggable One couldn’t beat them without a friend. Clearly, they forgot who they were dealing with: Bayley did just fine on her own.
