NXT Women’s Championship
Due to Indi Hartwell being both injured and drafted to Monday Night Raw, the NXT Women’s Championship has now been vacated and a tournament will take place to crown a brand-new champion. The final of the tournament will take place at NXT Battleground on May 28th. The first two Quarter-Final matches will take place on May 9th, the remaining two Quarter-Final matches will take place on the 16th and the Semi-Finals will occur on the 23rd of May.
The first match of the tournament sees Cora Jade take on Wendy Choo. These two have feuded in the past so they both know each other well and in the end, Cora Jade picks up the victory with some heel tactics. The second Quarter-Final contest sees Roxanne Perez take on Lyra Valkyria. Both women are at the stage of their career in NXT where they can’t afford to lose this match, but that’s what happens to Valkyria as Perez gets the victory with Pop Rox. The following week, Thea Hail battles Jacy Jayne whilst Gigi Dolin goes one-on-one with Tiffany Stratton. In the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Thea Hail manages to beat Jacy Jayne which obviously angers the Rockstar. Later on in the show, during the Dolin VS Stratton match, Jayne attacks Dolin when the referee isn’t looking and this allows Stratton to advance to the Semi-Finals.
The first Semi-Final sees Tiffany Stratton take on Thea Hail. The crowd are fully behind the Chase U student who is looking to keep up her incredible underdog story. In the end, though, it’s not enough to topple Tiffany Stratton as the Center of the Universe books her place in Massachusetts. The other Semi-Final sees Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade renew their rivalry. This is a pretty even contest which sees both women close to getting the victory. However, neither woman ends up picking up the victory as a nasty fall to the outside results in both Jade and Perez being counted out. NXT then goes off the air with Shawn Michaels announcing that the NXT Women’s Championship will now be on the line in a triple-threat match at NXT Battleground (to the disgust of Tiffany Stratton).
NXT Battleground kicks off with the NXT Women’s Championship on the line as Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade and Tiffany Stratton all battle to be the face of the women’s division. It’s fair to say that this match is tightly contested and everyone has their moment to shine/come close to winning the gold. In the end, though, Roxanne Perez delivers Pop Rox to Cora Jade before she accidentally falls in the perfect position for Tiffany Stratton to hit her with the Moonsault meaning Tiffany Stratton is the brand-new NXT Women’s Champion.
World Heavyweight Championship
The World Heavyweight Championship returns and it is now the number 1 title on Monday Night Raw. On May 8th, four Fatal 4-Ways will take place with the 4 winners advancing to the Semi-Finals. The two Semi-Finals will then take place on May 15th before the winners of those two matches will battle for the World Heavyweight Championship on May 27 at Night of Champions.
The Monday Night Raw after BackLash kicks off with a triple threat match between Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Finn Balor and Bronson Reed. After a fun contest, Seth Rollins pins Finn Balor to advance to the Semi-Finals. The second triple threat match sees Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and Damian Priest do battle and in the end, Damian Priest picks up the victory after delivering South of Heaven to KO. The Intercontinental Champion Gunther then takes on one-half of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions in the form of Sami Zayn as well as the Miz. Gunther picks up the victory after pinning the Miz. In the final Quarter-Final matchup, Cody Rhodes, Omos and Matt Riddle battled for the final spot in the Semi-Final stage. After a close encounter, Cody was able to pick up the victory after delivering Cross Rhodes to Riddle.
In the first Semi-Final of the World Heavyweight Championship tournament, Seth “Freakin” Rollins took on the Judgment Day’s Damian Priest. This was a hotly contested battle between two guys on fire right now, but in the end, Seth Rollins hit the Stomp to win and advance to Saudi Arabia. In the other Semi-Final, Cody Rhodes and Gunther renewed their “rivalry” from back at the Royal Rumble. Unlike the Royal Rumble, Gunther was the one who stood tall to silence the crowd.
After a contract signing on Raw, Seth “Freakin” Rollins battled the reigning Intercontinental Champion Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions. This was a brilliant match between two of the best in the world and both guys came so close to getting the victory. In the end, it was Seth “Freakin” Rollins who won after delivering 3 consecutive Stomps to the Ring General meaning Seth Rollins would be leaving Saudi Arabia as the brand-new, World Heavyweight Champion!
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