Asuka wins Raw Women’s title at WWE SummerSlam
Sasha Banks is no longer a double champion.
Asuka defeated Banks at SummerSlam tonight to win the Raw Women’s Championship. The finish of the match was Banks tapping out to the Asuka Lock.
Earlier in the night, Banks helped Bayley retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Asuka. Asuka went for a hip attack as Bayley was on the apron, but Bayley moved and Banks took the move instead. In the Raw Women’s Championship match, Banks moved out of the way of the hip attack but Bayley did too. Asuka then hit a spinning back fist on Bayley. Banks went for the Banks Statement, but Asuka reversed it and applied the Asuka Lock to win the title.
The story was that Bayley wasn’t willing to make the same sacrifice that Banks made for her.
A Beat the Clock Challenge with Banks and Bayley both facing Naomi on Friday’s SmackDown decided which of tonight’s title matches would take place first.
This was Banks’ first defense of the Raw Women’s Championship since defeating Asuka by countout last month to become champion.
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax have been positioned as potential challengers for Asuka’s title.
Banks & Bayley are defending their Women’s Tag Team titles at next Sunday’s Payback pay-per-view. Their opponents have yet to be revealed.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.