Naomi Retains in SmackDown Women’s Title Rematch

Naomi and Lana faced off again tonight, in a rematch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship Title that was over in the blink of an eye.

Following their initial match at Money in the Bank and a backstage confrontation on last week’s SmackDown Live, Naomi agreed to once again defend her title against The Ravishing Russian.

Lana kicked things off by ambushing her opponent before the fight had even begun, getting the element of surprise as Naomi raised the title above her head. She proceeded to assault Naomi until the bell was rung, immediately splashing her in the corner.

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Though Lana managed to plant the champion to the mat with her Fisherman’s suplex finisher, Naomi effortlessly kicked out, stunning Lana with a stiff kick. The defending champion wasted no time going for a massive spring board moonsault that sealed the win in a mere matter of minutes.

It’s easy to forget there’s actually been weeks of build-up in this unbalanced feud, ever since Lana re-debuted on SmackDown as a singles competitor. With the other women of SmackDown Live tied up in the controversy of repeated history-making ladder matches, Lana has seen an abrupt transition from simply not being on TV to competing for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

But aside from the meteoric push to top contender, Lana’s awkward insertion into the SmackDown women’s roster feels eerily familiar to WWE‘s handling of Eva Marie, whose gimmick she practically inherited from Emma following her scrapping the much-hyped “Emmalina” persona.

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Following such an effortless second defeat by Naomi, what will the future hold for The Ravishing Russian? Will she be thrust into the midcard with Tamina and Natalya? Or perhaps we’ll see Lana paired back with Rusev much sooner than expected. That would certainly give SmackDown Live something to do with Maria and Mike Kanellis, who have been absent from WWE since their show-stopping grand debut (or re-debut, in Maria’s case) at Money in the Bank, until making a brief interrupted appearance on tonight’s episode.