Ember Moon and Bayley have joined the WWE SmackDown Women’s Division during the Superstar Shakeup, so let’s take a look at three feuds we want to see the most for “The War Goddess” on Tuesday nights.
A future women’s champion, Ember Moon made her presence felt on her first night on WWE SmackDown, interrupting Becky Lynch during her promo. Though Lynch already has a Raw Women’s Championship title defense set against Lacey Evans, it’s safe to say fans would be more excited to see Moon vs. Lynch, given that Moon is a former NXT Women’s Champion and an incredibly accomplished pro wrestler.
Moon will have to face plenty of other excellent wrestlers in order to get her hands on the SmackDown Women’s Championship, because Becky is far from the only top-tier competitor in the SmackDown Women’s Division. Asuka and Charlotte Flair still seem to be on the Blue Brand, and Kairi Sane and Bayley have also joined the FOX-bound show.
But Moon has been hyped up by commentary as a future women’s champion on the main roster, and she has all the tools to be a big star for WWE. So here are the three feuds for Moon that we want to see the most.
Asuka
Ember Moon never defeated Asuka in NXT despite coming agonizingly close at TakeOver: Brooklyn III. Asuka kicked out of the Eclipse in one of the most memorable moments of the night. Moon gave Asuka all she could handle and was clearly The Empress of Tomorrow’s toughest challenge among all the great competitors she faced on WWE’s Third Brand, yet not even the She-nom could end Asuka’s undefeated streak.
No longer undefeated, Asuka has been on SmackDown Live for about a year. She held the SmackDown Women’s Championship for a few months before losing another title match to Charlotte Flair, and now she’s in a tag team with NXT call-up and former NXT Superstar of the Year Kairi Sane.
But Asuka won’t be away from the title picture for long. Despite some of her recent issues on the main roster, Asuka did win a title in the main event of a Pay Per View, became the first woman to win the Rumble, and submitted Becky Lynch at this year’s Rumble Pay Per View.
Moon is out for revenge on the dominant Empress, and she will surely get an opportunity to exact her revenge on Asuka. There’s no doubt that Moon vs. Asuka III would be an amazing SmackDown Women’s Title match.
Becky Lynch
This looks like Ember Moon’s first feud on SmackDown Live, given that Moon interrupted Becky’s promo by plainly stating that she wants a piece of the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Becky Lynch will have to take on all comers on both Raw and SmackDown, and the latter division looks absolutely stacked with Liv Morgan also joining.
There’s no doubt that Becky and Ember would put together a brilliant title match, and it could end up stealing the show at a Pay Per View like Money in the Bank. Moon seems like a candidate to win this year’s ladder match, because she is a strong candidate to win her first championship in 2019.
Defeating Becky is one of the toughest tasks in WWE, because she is on another level right now. She defeated Ruby Riott with relative ease on the Raw of the Superstar Shakeup, and while Moon would surely put up more of a fight against Becky, it’s hard to see her coming away with the title if this one-on-one matchup happens soon.
The SmackDown Women’s Championship is highly prestigious thanks to the efforts of superstars like Asuka, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch, and it would be in great hands if Moon were to win the title this summer.
Bayley
Bayley, Ember Moon, and Becky Lynch all shared the ring in a promo segment on the episode of SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shakeup. Moving from Raw to SmackDown and breaking up with tag team partner Sasha Banks in the process, Bayley praised Becky for winning both titles in the main event of WrestleMania 35 before making it clear that she wants her piece of the gold.
In 2017, Bayley broke Charlotte Flair’s undefeated streak on Pay Per View after winning the Raw Women’s Championship, and she retained her title at WrestleMania 33 in a Fatal Four-Way match. But after a feud with Alexa Bliss, Bayley wasn’t seen in the title picture, though she did have a stellar match with Ronda Rousey this year on the episode of Raw following the Royal Rumble.
Based on her performance inside the Rumble and her status as one-half of the first Women’s Tag Team Champions, Bayley is still at the top of her game inside the ring. She’ll pose a threat to anyone on SmackDown Live, Becky Lynch included.
But in order to get that title opportunity, she’ll most likely have to go through Ember Moon first, and Moon’s “Eclipse” could push her over the edge against “The Huggable One”. The technical exchanges and selling between these two could be fantastic, and because Moon is the newer superstar, she’d be in more of the “underdog” role in what would be an excellent babyface vs. babyface matchup.
Charlotte Flair
After what happened to Asuka prior to WrestleMania 35, some WWE fans will bristle at an up-and-coming star facing off against Charlotte Flair, but, of course, there’s no harm in losing to The Queen. She has the most women’s championship wins in WWE history, and, more importantly, she can help make a rising star get a huge spotlight on Pay Per View. Her match against Ruby Riott at Fastlane 2018 was excellent, and she did a great job of putting over Carmella as a champion months later in their post-WrestleMania feud following Mella’s cash-in.
There’s a chance Charlotte could do the same for Ember Moon if Moon were to win her first main roster title this year. The former NXT Women’s Champion could be a splendid underdog against Charlotte, who was a babyface against Carmella and Ruby but would be even better at helping another wrestler shine as a heel. Flair has embraced her villainous side again, and she is easily SmackDown’s top heel right now.
Wrestling fans will fear a loss for Moon against Charlotte, but I have a feeling Moon would surprise some people with a big win against Flair. Perhaps that’s foolish, but wouldn’t it be something if Moon defeated Asuka after proving to Asuka that she can defeat Charlotte Flair in a title match? And then that would put even more of an onus on Asuka to get her revenge in their third matchup, much like Moon would get her revenge on Asuka in their third battle.
Kairi Sane
Kairi Sane was involved in the NXT TakeOver: WarGames Fatal Four-Way that saw Ember Moon win her first championship in WWE, and it came just after Asuka relinquished the NXT Women’s Championship. Moon went on to have a defining feud with Shayna Baszler as the scrappy underdog, before The Queen of Spades eventually won the title and started one of NXT’s best all-time feuds with Sane.
It seems like Sane and Moon are destined to clash on the main roster, and while Sane is currently in a tag team with Asuka, it’ll only be a matter of time before both of them decide to go for a singles title. They wouldn’t even have to break up as a tag team, because it could be more about them going on a quest to hold all the gold. I’m sure Paige, as their expected manager, will want them to have as much tangible success as possible.
There are so many possible babyface vs. babyface matchups in the SmackDown Women’s Division that will put the majority of the focus on match quality and healthy athletic competition, which could be good for the FOX deal, and Sane vs. Moon should be seen near the top of the list in terms of match quality. Few wrestlers are better than Moon and Sane in terms of in-ring psychology and athleticism. These are two perfect babyfaces who should mesh well for an intriguing matchup, whether or not there’s a title on the line.