I have no idea how or why Natalya got an opportunity to show her mug out in Jeddah for the tenth annual Night of Champions, but somehow she made it in the ring to contend for Rhea Ripley’s Smackdown Women’s Championship.
Rhea came out looking like Inque from Batman Beyond, and moved like her too, making short work of the former Diva’s Champion. It was immensly satisfying to see Natlya get slung in and out of the ring like a bag of trash. Rhea transitioned a headbutt into the Riptide and celebrated with Dominik in her corner, who acted as her valet – a position that he fits in as seamless as the headbutt that Rhea performed to light the fuse that would eventually end the match, though this title defense was nothing explosive.
Still, Rhea at this years’ Night of Champions was able to put on an entertaining performance as Natalya got jobbed out like a clown. And the comic relief was much needed, especially with what happened to the Raw Women’s Championship just moments earlier in the show. Given that Natalya just happened to take this damning sixty-nine second loss on her birthday, and entered into the ring in Jeddah with no build for a proper match, it’s obvious how WWE views her – despite the fact that she has accolades under her belt and helped to kick down the door for pro-wrestling’s women’s revolution. I do not know what Natalya’s contract entails that keeps her holding on since I was in middle school, but this match was a loud signal from WWE Creative that it’s time for the Hart Dungeon alumni to pack it up.
As for Rhea, since she has yet to actually have a solid opponent to defend her title against, now that Bianca Belair has her scheduled cleared up, it would be entertaining to see Bianca forego attempting to retain her lost title in favor for fighting for the Smackdown Championship, especially since she’s now on Smackdown while Rhea is still touting said Friday Night title on Monday’s flagship show.
This potential feud could play on their NXT interactions and the occassions they butted heads on Royal Rumble after Royal Rumble. Now whether that happens or not is beside the point, that on a weekend jam-packed with PLE’s – where Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill over on AEW had their respective runs ended, and where “Tiffy Time” was ushered into NXT after Indi dropped the title to do skits with Dexter Lumis on RAW – WWE made the best call for a women’s championship match across promotions. And all it took was for Rhea Ripley to sacrifice a few minutes to help pitch in on digging Natalya’s grave that she has long needed to climb into.
Score :
4/5
WWE Night of Champions premium live event from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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