Now dubbed as Shotzi & Nox, Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox have officially made their debut on SmackDown. They faced the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina in a non-title match.
Nox just made her return to NXT this past Tuesday after being out action for nearly a year. Sidelined with her third ACL tear, Nox was written off NXT television after she was attacked backstage by Candice LeRae. Nox distracted LeRae during her and Indi Hartwell’s NXT Women’s Tag Team defense which resulted in a title change. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark became the new champions.
As for Shotzi, she was in a well-established tag team with Ember Moon. The duo were former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions and had a rivalry with Dakota Kai and NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez. Shotzi is now with Nox as Moon is staying in NXT. Moon took to Twitter to congratulate her now former tag team partner.
.@WWE Congrats @ShotziWWE You will always be my ttp 4 life! Show them what you can do! The #FirePit is no more but I am immensely proud of you!!!! #TCB ???
— Athena is ROH and All Elite! (@AthenaPalmer_FG) July 10, 2021
As for the match between the debuting team and the tag team champions, Shotzi picks up a huge win for her team after pinning the veteran Natalya. With the lack of tag teams on the main roster (mostly as a result of the WWE releases), this is a good start.
Shotzi and Nox aren’t the only call-ups coming. A vignette aired for the former NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm. Storm has worked a dark match with Nox recently and along with Shotzi and Scarlett have been rumored to be moved to the roster. There is no further news on Scarlett at this time.
On this week’s RAW, Nikki Cross continues with her new gimmick she started last week and has coined that she is “Almost a Superhero.” Claiming that her name could end up being Nikki A.S.H as a result, commentary went back and forth between calling her both names throughout her match against Shayna Baszler.
Prior to their match, Baszler was seen backstage by herself with a deck of cards. Nia Jax and Reginald approached her making sure she was focused heading into her match with Cross. After they walked off-screen, Alexa Bliss was seen lurking in the background. Last week, Bliss and Cross qualified for the upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match after they defeated Jax and Baszler. Cross pinned Baszler so The Queen of Spades was looking for some revenge against her and further had plans to take care of Bliss.
Bliss came out during the Cross vs. Baszler match and although she interacted with Jax and Reginald, the match continued. Baszler was distracted by the happenings on the outside, however, Cross wasn’t able to get the pin right away. After a clothesline took down Cross, she regained momentum by locking Baszler’s arm and placing her in a cradle for the victory.
Moving on to a rematch from last week, Doudrop and Eva Marie took on Naomi and Asuka. Last week, Naomi and Asuka got the win after the Eva-Lution has already started to have cracks in its mission. After Eva gave the pet name of Doudrop to Piper Niven, the “protege” wasn’t too happy. She stepped off the apron instead of accepting the tag which allowed Naomi to pin Eva. Naomi and Asuka qualified for the upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match as a result.
This week, we saw distrust again between the new members of RAW but this time Eva Marie jumped down from the ring apron and refused to tag in to help her partner. This time, however, Doudrop was able to maintain focus and she won the match after hitting a crossbody off the ropes on Asuka. Although this was a tag team match, Eva took the mic from the ring announcer and said that the winner of the match was just herself. This left Doudrop fuming in the ring as the segment ended.
The third and final women’s match of the night was the advertised six-woman tag team match. RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley teamed up with Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke to face Charlotte Flair and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Tamina and Natalya.
For the first half of the match, Flair/Tamina/Natalya isolated Brooke in their corner keeping her away from her team. Once she was finally able to tag out the match broke down with each woman being highlighted and Brooke/Rose showing some solid tag teamwork. In the end, the two legal women would be Rose and Flair.
Flair delivered the big boot to get the win for her team. She wasn’t able to celebrate for long as Ripley re-entered the ring and chop blocked the left knee of Flair. Flair tried to go right after her but she had already rolled out of the ring. She taunted her on the outside to end the segment.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Join the discussion in the comment section below.
It was advertised last night during SmackDown that there will be a six-woman tag team match on this Monday’s RAW. The competitors will encompass bot the RAW Women’s Champion as well as the Women’s Tag Team Champions. Rhea Ripley will team up with Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke as they take on Charlotte Flair, Tamina, … Read more
On tonight’s RAW, it was the last stop before heading into this weekend’s Hell in a Cell event for the red brand. It left RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley irate after having an all-out brawl with Charlotte Flair. The two will collide this Sunday with the title on the line but they couldn’t wait to … Read more
Today on May 29, the first TakeOver event for NXT took place seven years ago in 2014. On that card was a match for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship. Once Paige moved to the main roster and won the Divas Championship she had to relinquish the NXT title. This match was the final match of … Read more
Have we finally broken the cycle of the rematch? At least on SmackDown we may have. This week’s SmackDown had two matches and neither one was a rematch or multi-woman tag team match thrown together. The results are as follows: Natalya & Tamina defeated The Riott Squad Bianca Belair defeated Carmella The first match was … Read more
Natalya is sitting high on top of the tag team women’s division since she and Tamina won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships a number of week’s ago. However, prior to the team forming the plan was to have her enter a rivalry with Sasha Banks. Banks at the time was SmackDown Women’s Champion and … Read more
Tamina & Natalya became the new Women’s Tag Team Champions on last week’s SmackDown by defeating Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax. The two teams collided at WrestleMania in April and although the crowd of returned fans were firmly behind Tamina & Natalya, the titles stayed put. Now a month later the fans support behind the … Read more
Prior to any matches taking place, Naomi & Lana along with Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke were arguing backstage with WWE Authority Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville on who would be next to get a title shot. Now that we have new champions, the teams are wanting another go.
Naomi mentions how every time her and Lana would have a match they would always get interrupted in some capacity. Mandy and Dana stated that they were on the winning team last week against the former tag team champions.
Deville then asks the ladies to give her and Pearce a moment with Flair as they have something to discuss. No surprise, Flair stated that she wasn’t the one to take the pin during last night’s Triple Threat match, so she wants Rhea Ripley one-on-one for the RAW Women’s Championship. Deville says that she understands where she is coming from (as always) but says she will have to defeat Asuka later in the night in order to get another title shot.
Rhea Ripley says what every single fan has been saying for a while now….that she is here and she wants to take on some NEW competitors. Yes Rhea! Fresh matches…we WANT to see it.
As for the match between Asuka and Flair, it ends up much like their match did a few weeks ago. Asuka gets the pin, which was very much needed for her, from some assistance on a distraction by Ripley. So does this mean that Flair might not be facing Ripley again, or….?
If that is the case, who would Flair go for next? Could we maybe see Sonya making a return to the ring after perhaps she doesn’t feed into Flair wanting another title match? I may just be getting my hopes up to see some new matches.
As for the Women’s Tag Team Title rematch, let’s take a trip to Alexa’s Playground first. She invited the new champs, Tamina & Natalya to visit. Tamina definitely wasn’t having it and wanted out every second she was there.
They start off by talking about their tag team win. Nattie says that it was no easy task beating two of the toughest women in the division but it was something they will cherish and it was also Tamina’s first title win.
Bliss responds, “super duper, that is nice” as she holds Lilly up. Tamina, who had been staring around the playground, asks if they can leave now. Bliss then says that she hasn’t even asked the “tough questions yet.” She says Lilly wants to know what their favorite colors are. Nattie of course says pink but Tamina says black and blue which is what Alexa’s face will look like if she tries anything weird.
Bliss says that wasn’t very nice but Lilly likes Tamina. She really liked it when Tamina beat up Reginald and wanted to know if that was fun. Tamina says it was and if he tries to interfere in the rematch then she will have no problem “swatting” him again. Bliss then goes on to say what Lilly likes in regards to dead bugs as Tamina and Nattie quietly exit.
Once Bliss realizes they are gone she says she will be watching the tag team match. And that she did.
Bliss came out with Lilly in hand on the stage during the match just as Reginald was creeping up the steel steps to the ring. Tamina had Baszler up on her shoulders, but Baszler countered and was trying to lock in the Kirifuda Clutch. As Reginald was on the steel steps the ring post pyro went off and burst into flames causing him to be launched back to the barricade. Jax went to go check on him as he kept his eyes covered.
Tamina then took advantage and held up Baszler for Nattie to execute a clothesline to get the pin and retain their titles.
This keeps me hopeful also that we may end up seeing the end of Baszler & Jax vs Tamia & Nattie. With their loss they should be put at the back of the line.
As for Bliss and what’s to come, it seems as though she is definitely targeting Baszler and Jax. She did some voodoo magic on Baszler’s knee last week and then went after Reginald this week.
We did get another new promo for Eva Marie. It was similar to last week’s where it definitely seems like she will first step into perhaps a managerial or mentor role. She talks about being in film and compares herself to a heroine just like Angelina Jolie.
Lastly, there was a Nikki Cross sighting. She was a lumberjill during the lumberjack match between Damian Priest and John Morrison. She was the only woman out there and was front and center. Unfortunately they didn’t do much with her, but it was good to at least see her out there.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of this week’s RAW:
WINNER: Asuka
A great bounced back and much needed win for Asuka. It was almost certain that Asuka was going to take the fall at WrestleMania Backlash, and she did just that. Although it was a great Triple Threat, Asuka tends to take the fall in type of matches. This win against Charlotte tonight though still gave her that fight that she needs to not be brushed aside. Not sure where this is all going next, but her getting that win kept her in a good light.
WINNERS: Tamina & Nattie
First successful title defense – check! Not sure about anybody else, but I was holding my breath thinking that they were going to take the titles off of them this quick. It’s WWE, so I wouldn’t have been surprised. I thought the interaction with Alexa Bliss was great also….and I am looking forward to them hopefully facing The Riott Squad on SmackDown.
Side note: I am all for the tag team champions being used on both brands – they are supposed to be. However, the fact they have to be used on both brands every week shows how badly we need some new faces on both brands.
LOSERS: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
It seems to be obvious that they are probably Alexa’s target. If that’s the case I am all for them moving on and away from the title. However, them losing should put them at the back of the line.
LOSER: Charlotte Flair
Much like Nia & Shayna, Charlotte losing should put her in the back of the line. But this is Charlotte Flair, so I won’t count my chickens until I see what happens the next couple of week’s. I would really love for her and Sonya to feud next. Maybe that’s just me really wanting Sonya back in the ring, but I honestly think they could have some great one-on-one matches together.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Who were your Winners & Losers? Discuss in the comment section below!
After this week’s SmackDown we have new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions and their names are Tamina & Natalya. What makes this win extra special is it is the first women’s title that Tamina has won in her 11-year career with the company. Natalya is a former Divas Champion and SmackDown Women’s Champion. The new … Read more
Tamina and Natalya are your new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions as they defeated Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax on tonight’s SmackDown. This marks Tamina’s first title win (sans 24/7 Title) in her over a decade-long career with WWE. Coming up just short at WrestleMania, Natalya has been hellbent on making sure that she and … Read more
The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships will be on the line for next week’s SmackDown. The champions, Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler will be defending against Tamina & Natalya. For weeks now, the team of Natalya and Tamina have been besting the tag champs. Whether it has been singles matches or as a tag team, … Read more
On Night Two of WrestleMania 37, Natalya and Tamina took on Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax after coming out on top in the Women’s Tag Team Turmoil match the night before. In the match, Natalya and Tamina put on a great showing but were eventually beaten out by the reigning champions. During the match, some … Read more
At WrestleMania 37, the womens battle royal match was replaced by something a little different. The women’s division came together to earn a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. The women’s Tag Team Turmoil match saw chaos ensue. RAW Superstar Mandy Rose slipped on the soaking wet … Read more
Update: WWE WrestleMania’s Twitter account has removed the tweet that included Carmella and Billie Kay in this match. It is not known at this time if they will be involved. We will keep you updated on this. The speculation for the past week is true, a multi-tag team match will be taking place on Night … Read more
Diva Dirt Discussions is back for another edition of What Went Down. This week we talk about all of the goings-on across the world of women’s wrestling from WWE, AEW, IMPACT, NWA and NXT. Check out this week’s discussion/rant on WWE’s incredibly poor booking of the RAW women’s division leading into WrestleMania. Plus, the shocking … Read more
Natalya & Tamina were guests on this weekend’s Talking Smack. During this, Natalya cut a promo stating she is tired of being a doormat and tired of being the nice one or the politically correct one.
Natalya says, “We are that directive. We are the directive. Is that good enough for you Kayla [Braxton], was that a good enough answer? Was that politically correct enough for you? Am I being sweet enough, kind enough, awesome enough? Am I pretty enough? Am I enough for you anymore? Or should I knock on Vince’s door and ask him what the hell he wants from me? Because I am tired of being a good girl. Being a good girl, being a doormat, got me nowhere, and doormats get walked on. Bitch. Did I answer your question?”
As of the time of this writing, there is no tag team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships for the big two-night event coming in less than a week. This is obviously going to change with the melee of tag teams we saw get into it on Friday Night SmackDown.
This added to the rumor that the first night of Mania will see a number one contender tag team match between multiple teams. The winner of that match will face the champions, Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler, on Night Two.
Natalya defeated Baszler in mere seconds on last Friday’s SmackDown and then after the tag teams were done battling it was Natalya & Tamina as the last one’s standing as the champions retreated up the ramp.
After Natalya’s response to Braxton, the Talking Smack host tried to calm her down by explaining she can see how passionate she is. This is where Paul Heyman stepped in.
Heyman says, “You know I love you right?” Natalya responds with, “I hope.” He continues, “If I haven’t proven to you over the years, with all the support that I’ve given you. With the 3 A.M. text messages back and forth, I love you. I love you as if you were my own sister. I’m gonna tell you something from the bottom of my heart, cut the shit, please. Come on. Stop bitching and moaning and complaining and kvetching about not being in WrestleMania and do something about it. And if knocking on Vince McMahon’s door, or kicking down Vince McMahon’s door, or stretching Vince McMahon down on the ground doesn’t get the job done then smack around every single person on the female roster until there’s no roster left and the [you will be] only females left to be on WrestleMania to represent a female empowerment movement. Just eliminate all the competition that stops you from being on WrestleMania and there shouldn’t be competition for the two of you being on WrestleMania because you have earned your spot on WrestleMania for years, and years, and years and it’s not like you just fell off a cliff. You deserve it and you’ve earned it now.”
He continues by adding in the legacy of both Natalya and Tamina as a motivator to get them to do what they need to do to get on the WrestleMania card and to the thop of the division.
“If your father [Natalya’s] saw you this way he would pull the hair off his chin and the chin off his face and if your grandfather saw what you were doing he’d beat the crap out of your father for raising you this way. And I won’t even say what your father [Tamina’s] would do if he saw you this way. Do something about it, damn it. Stop bitching, moaning, and complaining. You wanna be on WrestleMania, get your asses on WrestleMania. Impose your will as you’ve done for years. That’s what your family and her family has always been about. You’re a member of the Hart family. You’re a member of a dynasty. If they left you off WrestleMania wrongfully, get your asses on WrestleMania. Okay?”
Tamina then gets in the face of Heyman and responds with, “O-Kay.”
What did you think of this segment on Talking Smack? Check back in with Diva Dirt as we continue to provide coverage for WrestleMania which will take place on April 10 and April 11.
WrestleMania is only eight days away and tonight was the second to last SmackDown before the two-night event. Tonight’s SmackDown’s booking was thrown together which we are going to just end up having until after the biggest event of the year. So let’s just get into it. Let me first start off by saying this … Read more
The last SmackDown before Fastlane had the focus on the match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles which will be defended this weekend. Nia Jax took on Sasha Banks with the SmackDown Women’s Title on the line at the top of SmackDown. Prior to the match, Banks and her partner for this Sunday and opponent at WrestleMania, Bianca Belair, had some words backstage.
Belair was trying to understand why Banks would agree to have this match. Banks allowing Reginald to get into her head is something that Belair has constantly been concerned about as they need to be on the same page for Fastlane.
It is also clear that Belair wants to have the upcoming highly anticipated WrestleMania match against Banks and not Jax — which we can all agree with. The EST then let her know that she wouldn’t be coming out to bail her out but she did make an appearance during the match to hype up Banks.
Reginald was not present as he was treated to a “day at the spa.”
After a failed sunset flip by Banks, Jax tried to capitalize with a standing leg drop but missed. Banks then executed a reverse Meteora but couldn’t get the three count.
Moments later, Banks tried to get Jax to the mat so that she could lock in the Bank Statement but she had to counter out of the strength of her opponent to deliver. After planting Jax, Banks was able to apply the submission in the middle of the ring.
Baszler and Belair then stir on the outside and the fight heads into the ring. Baszler went to deliver a kick to Banks but missed and nailed Jax instead. Belair tosses Baszler out of the ring for Banks to execute a jackknife cover to get the three count and retain her title.
After the match, Baszler tried to apologize to Jax who was concerned that they may be in trouble come Fastlane. She says she will face Belair later on in the night.
Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca Belair ends in a no contest
This match was rather quick and Jax left ringside as the match was considered a no contest when both Belair and Baszler were attacked by Natalya and Tamina. This shows even more why the booking is all wrong as we head into the last pay-per-view before WrestleMania.
Building up Natalya and Tamina is a solid thing for them. As veterans in the business and not seeing either one of them grabbing a singles title anytime soon them going for (and winning), the tag titles would be a nice thing to see. What doesn’t make sense is why aren’t they facing Baszler & Jax at Fastlane?
Banks and Belair could build-up to their WrestleMania match without being involved in the tag titles. They could have continued to use Reginald and Carmella who apparently can only be shown on Network Exclusives or short backstage segments as of late.
Speaking of Carmella, she was seen in a Network Exclusive discussing getting a new sommelier. Billie Kay was caught in the background eavesdropping as Carmella was being interviewed on what qualities she looks for in a sommelier. After Carmella walked away, Kay says she is updating her resume and wants to see #KayforSommelier start trending.
Prior to SmackDown airing, both Chelsea Green and Santana Garrett posted separate photos on their social media. They were each standing in front of the SmackDown sign backstage which had many hoping they would be used on last night’s show. Green is a member of the roster but went out with an injury from her debut match in November. Garrett was rumored to have been called up to the main roster but hasn’t been seen last July other than a Royal Rumble appearance.
This would have been a nice introduction to have two more women introduced into the roster but of course, we can’t have nice things.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week:
Please note that it was very hard to pick any Winners & Losers from this week and not in a good way.
WINNER: Sasha Banks
She retained her title, kept the one exciting thing I am looking forward to WrestleMania for intact. That’s the biggest win of the week for the blue brand. I am just ready for after this Sunday where she can start actually feuding with Bianca instead of them trying to be a team. Hopefully, they won’t win the tag titles because we don’t need a reason to not have the tag titles stand alone in a WrestleMania match.
WINNERS: Natalya & Tamina
Just add them to the match for Fastlane at this point and let them take the titles. Have Shayna face Asuka at WrestleMania and let’s move on. Please.
LOSER: Shayna Baszler
Old Shayna would have never apologized to Nia. Let’s please have them go their separate ways. This team has run its course. Shayna is definitely getting the short end of the stick out of everything as well.
What did you think of this week’s SmackDown? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts below.
The quest for a double champion continues. Sasha Banks has the opportunity to become a double champion heading into WrestleMania as she teams up with Bianca Belair at Fastlane on March 21. Banks, the current SmackDown Women’s Champion, and Belair will be facing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler at … Read more
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
