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Bayley retained her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Ember Moon at WWE SummerSlam 2019.
The closing stages of the 10-minute match revolved around Moon attempting to line up her athletic Eclipse finisher. However, “The Hugger” remained one step ahead of the challenger and ended up getting the victory after a Bayley-to-Belly from the top rope.
It is unclear if Moon will remain in the title picture following her SummerSlam defeat or whether WWE’s decision-makers will go in a new direction with the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
With the ‘Wild Card Rule’ still ongoing, the following women from Raw could realistically be in contention to challenge for Bayley's title: Alicia Fox, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Naomi, Natalya, Sarah Logan and Sasha Banks.
Over on SmackDown Live, here is how the women’s division currently looks: Asuka, Billie Kay, Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Ember Moon, Kairi Sane, Lana, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Peyton Royce, Sonya Deville and Zelina Vega.
Having narrowed down the rosters, let’s take a look at five possible opponents for Bayley heading into the Clash of Champions pay-per-view on September 15.
#5 Liv Morgan
Between November 2017 and April 2019, Liv Morgan appeared almost every week on Raw or SmackDown Live with fellow Riott Squad members Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan.
However, ever since she was separated from her fellow faction members in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up after WrestleMania 35, Morgan’s only notable appearance on television came on the July 16 episode of SmackDown Live when she lost a one-on-one match against Charlotte Flair.
Following the defeat, The Riott Squad’s “Problem Child” stole Corey Graves’ headset and vowed to “be real” when she next appears, and we have not seen her on SmackDown Live since.
Now, does that cryptic comment warrant an immediate title match? No, but it is clear that WWE has some kind of plan in place for Morgan upon her return, so it is not too unrealistic to believe that she could win a No.1 contender match to earn herself a SmackDown Women’s Championship opportunity.
#4 Naomi
Shortly before WrestleMania 35, it was announced that a Fatal 4-Way SmackDown Women’s Championship No.1 contender match would take place to determine Asuka’s opponent at WWE’s biggest event of the year.
As it turned out, plans changed and Charlotte Flair ended up defeating Asuka for the title on SmackDown Live, meaning that Naomi had to settle for a place in the Women’s Battle Royal at ‘Mania instead.
The former Funkadactyl became very outspoken on social media about her lack of opportunities over the last year, but her position in the company has not improved much since she moved to Raw in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up.
If WWE decides to enforce the ‘Wild Card Rule’ in the next SmackDown Women’s Championship rivalry, as they did with Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss, then perhaps now could be the time for Naomi to move back to the blue brand in an attempt to reclaim the title that she has previously held on two occasions.
#3 Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair has reached a level of stardom where she no longer needs to be in a title storyline all the time, as proven at SummerSlam when she defeated WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus in a rare non-title PPV match involving two women.
Moving forward, it is difficult to see where “The Queen of All Eras” fits into the women’s division on either Raw or SmackDown Live.
On Raw, Becky Lynch is without an obvious challenger for the Raw Women’s Championship following SummerSlam but it seems unlikely that WWE would book yet another Lynch vs. Flair match.
Meanwhile, over on SmackDown Live, there is unfinished business from Money In The Bank between Flair and the current SmackDown Women’s Champion, Bayley, but would fans really be interested in seeing that rivalry revisited?
In all honesty, it feels a little too soon for the WrestleMania 35 main-eventer to be back in the title scene, but her only realistic chance of appearing on the Clash of Champions PPV is if she faces Bayley.
#2 Ember Moon
Bayley and Ember Moon are both very accomplished in-ring performers but, for whatever reason, the Toronto fans did not seem interested in their match at SummerSlam.
On paper, a rivalry between the former NXT Women’s Champions seemed like a good idea for this year’s “Biggest Party of the Summer”. In execution, their encounter was the third most important women’s match on the show and the Babyface vs. Babyface dynamic did not work at all, with fans deciding to cheer for neither of them for most of the match.
Despite the clean outcome at SummerSlam, it would be a shame if WWE dropped Moon from the title picture entirely after her defeat, especially after she emerged as one of the breakout stars of 2018.
Another month of an all-babyface rivalry between Bayley and Moon would not be preferable, but perhaps a heel turn from “The War Goddess” would allow her to reinvent herself and remain in the title reckoning for a while longer.
#1 Sasha Banks
One day, you will read an article about Bayley which does not contain the name 'Sasha Banks'. However, today is not that day.
Everybody knows the story with Banks by now, but here’s a little recap:
- She has not appeared on WWE television since WrestleMania 35
- She was reportedly upset about losing the Women’s Tag Team titles and did not want to be separated from Bayley, who moved to SmackDown Live
- She reportedly asked for her release, so WWE gave her some time off to think about her future
- Four months later, she remains active on social media but she has not yet returned to WWE television
In summary, while “The Boss” has taken a leave of absence, Bayley has re-established herself as a singles competitor on SmackDown Live and become a Grand Slam Champion, leaving everybody to wonder what would have happened if Banks had been around for the last four months.
If that short summary is not a ready-made WWE rivalry waiting to happen, then what is?!
