SmackDown women’s champion Sasha Banks defeated her Raw counterpart, Asuka, in a champion vs. champion match at WWE Survivor Series on Sunday.
As the match neared its conclusion, the two stars exchanged a series of pinning combinations. Asuka grabbed an opening for herself with a brutal kick to the head of Banks.
As The Empress of Tomorrow was running off the ropes, The Boss countered into a pinfall for the victory.
With the pay-per-view utilizing a “best of the best” theme, the titleholders on both brands faced each other Sunday in an effort to prove their supremacy.
While most of the matches didn’t have much of a storyline going in, there was already a built-in rivalry between Asuka and Banks since they feuded over the Raw women’s title during the summer while The Boss was still aligned with Bayley.
During that time, Bayley helped Banks win the title by attacking Kairi Sane backstage. That prompted Asuka to leave the match and allowed The Boss to win the Raw Women’s Championship since the stipulation stated the title could be won by any result.
The Boss dropped the title back to Asuka in her first title defense, though, when Bayley seemingly avoided lending a helping hand at SummerSlam, which allowed The Empress of Tomorrow to prevail.
Then, on the Sept. 4 edition of SmackDown, Bayley and Banks broke up by virtue of The Role Model viciously attacking her former friend and trying to injure her neck with a steel chair.
Banks bounced back and secured a title shot at Hell in a Cell. She and Bayley did battle in one of the greatest women’s matches in WWE history, and The Boss prevailed to win the SmackDown women’s belt for the first time.
Bayley got an opportunity to win it back on the Nov 4 episode of SmackDown and tried to get inside Banks’ head by reminding her that she always lost her first title defense previously, but The Boss finally shed that label by beating Bayley in a hard-fought contest.
That win cemented Banks vs. Asuka for Survivor Series, but it also put The Boss in the crosshairs of another Superstar, as Carmella made her long-awaited return and attacked the champion after the match against Bayley.
While Asuka has been dominant on Raw and hasn’t been involved in many substantial storylines lately, Banks entered Survivor Series having to worry about whether Bayley, Carmella or someone else might come after her.
Despite that, The Boss prevailed and now has a ton of momentum on her side entering what could be a long-term rivalry with Carmella.
