Will Sasha & Bayley’s celebration be cut short, again?

Women’s Tag Team Championship Match
Sasha Banks & Bayley (c) vs. The IIconics vs. Alexis Bliss & Nikki Cross

The Road So Far...

On May 11 all our prayers were answered when the IIconics returned to Monday Night Raw. Without missing a beat, they brought their irreverent charm to the red brand by blasting Becky for her “ginja junia” and demanding a tag team title shot from Bliss & Cross.

Bliss & Cross didn’t give them a title shot, but the Aussie duo wouldn’t back down and they all settled on a non-title match - which the IIconics won! Now, that’s how you make a comeback.

Having won their match against the women’s tag team champions, the IIconics were granted a title match for the following week on Raw. As things started to turn in the favor of the champs, Peyton Royce lost her proverbial marbles and beat Alexa so badly that the ref called off the match. Side bar: it wasn’t even that bad and that ref is dumb. But I digress.

Billie was so upset with Peyton that she slapped her in a post match fury! For a moment the WWE universe caught our collective breaths and wondered if notoriously terrible WWE creative would cause the IIconics - two halves of one whole - to break up. Thankfully, they did not and on the following RAW The IIconics once again confronted the champions.

Unfortunately for Alexa & Nikki, The IIconics were not the only threat to their championship reign. Over on SmackDown, the self proclaimed “Role Models” made their championship intentions known at the Tag Team Summit. Of course Bayley, in true best friend fashion, also challenged Bliss to a singles match between Sasha & Alexa. Lucky for Sasha, that her bestie’s estimation of her skills was not unfounded and Sasha picked up the win against Bliss. Then on the following Monday on RAW, Billie Kay also picked up a singles win against Nikki Cross, putting the tag team champions squarely in the red.

On the following Smackdown, after their singles losses, Alexa & Nikki put their tag titles on the line against Bayley & Sasha. It could have been weeks of losing catching up with them or the fact that they had to fight a battle on two fronts, but the blue brand’s besties bested the champions and Sasha & Bayley were crowned the women’s tag team champions.

But the IIconics would not be deterred and on Monday Night Raw they inserted themselves into a tag team confrontation between the champs and the unlikely pair of Charlotte & Asuka. Finding themselves in much the same position as Alexa & Nikki, The Role Models now have to defend their championship against a team from both brands at Backlash.

What’s At Stake?

The real question here is “what are they planning on doing with Sasha & Bayley?” If they are planning on a SummerSlam confrontation between the duo than it would make sense for them to drop the titles here - hopefully to the IIconics - and begin the slow burn disintegration of their friendship. On the other hand, they have been teasing us with a Bayley/Banks feud on the main roster for years and it has resulted in poorly written promos and underwhelming matches. Plus, do they really want to FINALLY give us Banks/Bayley with no crowd to cheer them on?

My best guess is that Bayley & Banks hold on to the title for awhile and make good on their former promise of defending the belts on each brand. There is already a tag team match scheduled for NXT next week so it seems likely. If that is the case hopefully Bliss or Cross take the pin leaving the IIconics with an loss, but continuing momentum from their return.

Tune in to Backlash on the WWE Network tomorrow, June 14, at 7pm EST/6pm CT to find out who walks out the women’s tag team champions!