Tiffany Stratton retained her WWE Women’s Championship over Jade Cargill and Nia Jax in the main event of “WWE SmackDown.”
Stratton was making the ninth defense of her title in 267 days of holding it, with Cargill having been her challenger at SummerSlam after she won the Queen of the Ring, and former champion Jax having made it her mission to recapture the title she lost to Stratton when she cashed in her Money in the Bank contract at the beginning of the year.Â
The culmination was due to come on Friday night’s show, with the winner walking away with both the title and a place opposite WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer at Crown Jewel, for the namesake championship settled between titleholders. At any given point throughout the match, it looked as though each one of the competitors had the match under wraps, with near-falls coming through the third competitors’ breaks more than anything.Â
Jax sought to land the Annihilator to both her opponents, while Stratton later sought to do the same with a Prettiest Moonsault Ever. But it was Cargill that came closest to becoming champion when she delivered Jaded to Stratton, pinning her for what looked to be a sure three-count, until Jax pulled the referee out of the ring. Cargill and Jax then fought on the outside of the ring, during which exchange Cargill sustained a cut above her eye.Â
The closing stretch was then marred by miscommunication, with Cargill delivering Eye of the Storm to Jax and going for the pin. Jax kicked out, with Stratton coming in to the ring to deliver a dropkick to Cargill to take her out of the equation, and going for the cover on Jax. Jax did not kick out, but the referee called for a two-count as if she had done, prompting Jax and the referee to visibly talk to one another, before Stratton delivered an elbow drop and the PME to get the final pinfall.Â
