WWE Smackdown: Unified Champions Crowned; Title Matches set for next week

During the latest episode of WWE Smackdown from Lafayette, Louisiana, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler defeated NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn to become the Unified Women’s Tag Team Champions.

It was a hard-fought match where the latest NXT imports took the two former UFC performers to their limit. But in the end, Rousey and Baszler applied their respective submission moves on their opponents to make them tap out.

Raquel Rodriguez was present at ringside for this match but she never got involved to influence the outcome. After the match, Ronda called her out about it. Rodriguez then entered the ring and had a face-off with the two champs.

At this juncture, Liv Morgan’s music hit the arena and she came out to back up Raquel in the ring. This marked Liv’s first TV appearance since suffering an injury after which the heel champs retaliated.

They want their titles back! ????????@YaOnlyLivvOnce@RaquelWWE#SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/tf6H1lm7zC

— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) June 24, 2023

On the May 12 episode of Smackdown, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez successfully defended the Women’s Tag Team Titles against Bayley and Dakota Kai. A kick from Kai accidentally ruptured Liv’s shoulder and took her out of action.

Due to the injury, Liv and Raquel were forced to vacate the tag titles. Two weeks later, Rousey and Baszler came back from a short hiatus and won those titles in a fatal-4-way match on the May 29 episode of Raw.

With Liv’s return, it appears that the two above-mentioned pairs will be engaged in a feud over the new unified tag team championships. Besides, new contenders from NXT should also emerge in the near future.

According to the reports of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is considering Ronda Rousey for a trip to NXT so that the Tuesday Night show can have a pop-up in ratings and viewership,

“There are plans for more major stars to work NXT like Rollins did this week. One name that was at least talked about was Rousey, or perhaps even having Rousey & Baszler defend the women’s tag titles there.”

???? MASSIVE TITLE MATCH NEXT WEEK ????@MsCharlotteWWE vs. @WWEAsuka!#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/lCLUBeypnA

— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) June 24, 2023

Next week’s WWE Smackdown will be an international edition from the O2 Arena in London, England. A stacked card including two title matches has been announced for the show, reserved just one night before the 2023 Money in the Bank PLE, as given below:

– WWE Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair

– WWE Undisputed Tag Team Titles: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Pretty Deadly

– Grayson Waller Effect with Logan Paul

– Roman Reigns will return