Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of WOMEN'S WRESTLING WEEKLY—a rundown of the events which have transpired in the world of women's professional wrestling over the past several days not just with the Superstars on WWE programming, but with Impact Wrestling's Knockouts, ROH's Women of Honor, and even a glimpse at the women on the independent circuit.



Charlotte Flair vs Sarah Logan

Last week Sarah Logan took out Charlotte Flair before their scheduled match, in a moment that seemed to improve Logan's reputation within WWE. This week they officially competed against each other, but Logan was unfortunately unable to capitalise on her new attitude.

Quite frankly, Flair dominated this match from start to finish. Understandably, Flair wanted revenge for last week's attack, and she achieved this in convincing fashion. Flair hit a Flatliner into the turnbuckles, and followed this up with a Figure Eight for a swift submission victory.

I struggle to positively rate this match as it was an exhibition of Flair's skill and power, and immediately destroyed any credibility Logan gained last week. This was not a good match, and was not the way to present Logan as a threat within the women's division.

Winner: Charlotte Flair
Rating: 1/5



Lacey Evans vs Bayley

Lacey Evans was due to take on Sasha Banks, however following an attack, she was unable to compete and was replaced by Bayley. This essentially gave Evans an opportunity to prove she deserved a shot at Bayley's SmackDown Women's Championship.

Surprisingly, this was a fairly even and exciting match. Bayley was giving Evans all she could, but Evans was absorbing the attacks and giving Bayley just as much offense. Bayley assumed she had the match won and ascended the top rope, only to miss her dive onto Evans, which Evans was able to follow up with a Women's Right out of nowhere for the pinfall victory.

Through winning the match, Evans will now be positioned as Bayley's next challenger, which is something that has been organically and logically built to over the past month. Evans is thriving as a face, whilst Bayley is able bring out the best in Evans. This was a strong match which contributed to a great episode of SmackDown.

Winner: Lacey Evans
Rating: 3/5


Alexa Bliss vs Sonya Deville

The backdrop to this match was the storyline between Otis and Mandy Rose, with Heavy Machinery coming out to the ring at the beginning of the match to support Rose. This immediately made the match between Alexa Bliss and Sonya Deville feel pointless.

After a turgid opening to the match, Rose climbed the turnbuckle to distract Bliss, but was unceremoniously knocked off by Nikki Cross. However, Otis was able to catch her and in the ensuing confusion, Bliss was able to cradle Deville for the pinfall victory.

This was simply a bad match which served no purpose outside of furthering the storyline between Otis and Rose. Bliss deserves much better than this.

Winner: Alexa Bliss
Rating: 1/5



Candice LeRae vs Bianca Belair vs Mia Yim vs Mercedes Martinez vs Kacy Catanzaro vs Shotzi Blackheart vs Vanessa Borne vs Dakota Kai vs Kayden Carter vs Santana Garrett vs Tegan Nox vs Io Shirai vs Indi Hartwell vs Shayna Baszler vs Catalina vs Deonna Purrazzo vs Jesse vs MJ Jenkins vs Xia Li

This match would determine the number 1 contender to Rhea Ripley's NXT Women's Championship, with many strong and talented women taking part.

Shayna Baszler started strongly by dumping a number of women and imposed herself on the match, whilst everyone else was jostling for position. The final 4 were Baszler, Io Shirai, Tegan Nox and Bianca Belair, which was a very strong final 4 to have. Nox was eliminated thanks to interference from her nemesis Dakota Kai, however it emerged Shotzi Blackheart was still in the match and she proceeded to shockingly eliminate Baszler, before Belair eliminated her to leave Belair and Shirai as the final 2.

After a really exciting finishing stretch to the match, Belair was able to hit the KOD on Shirai to eliminate her and win the match. This was a fabulous match, which was never boring unlike most battle royals. Most wrestlers had an opportunity to shine, whilst new and old storylines were highlighted within the match. This was the best way to cap off Belair's recent in ring renaissance.

Winner: Bianca Belair
Rating: 4/5



Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander vs Brandi Rhodes & Mel

Nightmare Collective is admittedly a stain on AEW programming at the moment, with this match underlining just how bad Brandi Rhodes is. Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander tried their best, but the problems surrounding Nightmare Collective are hard to overcome.

Shida took out Nightmare Collective's representative Luther at the beginning of the match to even the numbers, and sadly this was the most entertaining part of the match. Rhodes' unconvincing offense failed to improve the quality of the match, and thankfully it wasn't long before Mel was isolated by Statlander, falling to a Big Bang Theory which gave Statlander the pinfall victory.

This match was simply the worst part of this week's episode of Dynamite. Nightmare Collective needs to go away very quickly, as they are making a mockery of AEW's women's division. This was a poor match, and one to avoid.

Winner: Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander
Rating: 1/5



There were no Knockout's matches this week, but praise must be given to Tessa Blanchard's in ring achievement of winning the Impact World Championship.


This was an exciting match which felt important. NXT's women's division continues to thrive, and this match was a perfect example of the sheer strength in depth. It also evidenced how much fans are emotionally invested in the division.


Bianca Belair outlasted every other wrestler in the battle royal to become the number 1 contender to Rhea Ripley's NXT Women's Championship. Belair has started 2020 in the best way possible, and she deserves all of the plaudits she receives for her performance this week.

So there you have it, the breakdown for the week in women's wrestling. What were some of your favorite and least favorite moments from these women? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!