Bayley Beats Nikki Cross to Retain SmackDown Women’s Title at WWE Extreme Rules

Bayley defeated Nikki Cross at WWE’s The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on Sunday night to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

However, the titleholder needed the unscrupulous aid of Sasha Banks to see off the challenge of the Scot.

With the referee’s attention elsewhere, The Legit Boss slipped her ring to Bayley, who used it to hurt Cross before securing the victory.

The clash between the two was set on the June 26 edition of SmackDown when Cross won a Fatal 4-Way match against Alexa Bliss, Lacey Evans and Dana Brooke to earn a shot at the title.

One week prior, an enraged Cross attacked both Bayley and Sasha Banks while they were on commentary, as she was out for revenge after they beat her and Bliss for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Bayley and Banks have been at odds with Cross and Bliss for some time, and with The Boss temporarily branching off to challenge Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship at Extreme Rules, it made sense for the Scot to step up as the titleholder’s challenger.

Cross and Bayley faced each other for the SmackDown women’s title on Nov. 1 in a match that the latter won to keep her reign going.

Entering Extreme Rules, Bayley had held the title for over 280 days straight. She also had a 140-day reign before that which was ended by Charlotte Flair, but The Role Model won it back just five days later, meaning she has dominated the SmackDown Women’s Championship scene for over a year.

Essentially every woman on SmackDown challenged Bayley and failed, including Cross, but with a renewed sense of confidence and purpose, the Scot looked to rise above her underdog label and knock off The Role Model at Extreme Rules.

It would have been easy to overlook Bayley vs. Cross considering how stacked Sunday’s card was, with matches like Banks vs. Asuka, Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship and Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt in a Wyatt Swamp Fight all included.

Bayley and Cross have shown in the past they have solid in-ring chemistry, though, and that was on full display once again on Sunday.

Bayley retaining came as little surprise since it is likely only a matter of time before she and Banks split up and feud, but Cross acquitted herself well and was very unfortunate to lose in such controversial circumstances.

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