CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Would Charlotte Flair put Bayley in her place at WWE Clash of Champions? In a sense, yes. The Queen teed off on the SmackDown Women’s Champion in ruthless fashion before her hometown crowd, out-brawling, out-planning and outclassing the newly underhanded Hugger at nearly every turn. But her victory will have to be a moral one, as Bayley retained her title with a maneuver straight out of the Flair playbook in the match’s final moments.
Charlotte Flair stares down a championship opportunity as The Queen takes on Bayley in a SmackDown Women’s Championship Match.
Bayley, all but done for, was draped over the bottom turnbuckle after several minutes of straight, unanswered offense from the nine-time Women’s Champion. The only reason Charlotte had to pause her continued onslaught was because the referee pulled her away, lest The Queen brawl her way into a disqualification. And Bayley used the confusion to her advantage, exposing the bottom turnbuckle by removing the pad and shoving Charlotte face-first into it when the ref finally moved aside.
Bayley took advantage of the illicit maneuver by quickly pinning Charlotte and getting out of dodge before anyone even had a chance to notice, seizing her title and sprinting up the ramp toward the exit. Charlotte looked almost impressed when she came to — maybe Bayley did learn a thing or two after all — but no less disappointed. As for Bayley, whether she’s truly a “role model” or a hero in her own mind is somewhat up for debate. But at least for one night, it was also beside the point: She walked into hostile territory and somehow escaped an impossible situation to hold on to her title. We should all be so lucky.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Would Charlotte Flair put Bayley in her place at WWE Clash of Champions? In a sense, yes. The Queen teed off on the SmackDown Women’s Champion in ruthless fashion before her hometown crowd, out-brawling, out-planning and outclassing the newly underhanded Hugger at nearly every turn. But her victory will have to be a moral one, as Bayley retained her title with a maneuver straight out of the Flair playbook in the match’s final moments.
Charlotte Flair stares down a championship opportunity as The Queen takes on Bayley in a SmackDown Women’s Championship Match.
Bayley, all but done for, was draped over the bottom turnbuckle after several minutes of straight, unanswered offense from the nine-time Women’s Champion. The only reason Charlotte had to pause her continued onslaught was because the referee pulled her away, lest The Queen brawl her way into a disqualification. And Bayley used the confusion to her advantage, exposing the bottom turnbuckle by removing the pad and shoving Charlotte face-first into it when the ref finally moved aside.
Bayley took advantage of the illicit maneuver by quickly pinning Charlotte and getting out of dodge before anyone even had a chance to notice, seizing her title and sprinting up the ramp toward the exit. Charlotte looked almost impressed when she came to — maybe Bayley did learn a thing or two after all — but no less disappointed. As for Bayley, whether she’s truly a “role model” or a hero in her own mind is somewhat up for debate. But at least for one night, it was also beside the point: She walked into hostile territory and somehow escaped an impossible situation to hold on to her title. We should all be so lucky.
