10 Best Matches From The WWE ThunderDome Era

6. Sasha Banks Vs Bayley (SmackDown, November 6th 2020)

Kofi Kingston Street Profits
WWE.com

Brimming with all the necessary action, desperation and drama the payoff to their months-long rivalry required, Bayley's last shot at new SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks earned the huge ratings it drew for a blue brand still riding a wave of some critical acclaim.

Never once diverting from feeling like a struggle, the contest nonetheless oozed the class of a typical battle between 'The Boss' and 'The Role Model'. Without the added juice of Hell In A Cell, the pair kept most of it in the ring for a gorgeous re-telling of their NXT classics subverted to fit the adjusted dynamics and their awesome 2020 angle.

With brawls on the floor injected with imagination and creativity setting it apart from the rest of the field, Banks' victory was earned from the guts and desire she'd shown all year. She kicked out of Bayley's flying elbow and Bayley-To-Bayley with the same resilience she'd shown following her former friend's turn on her a few months earlier.

Having made eyes at the SmackDown title all year, then won it at Hell In A Cell, keeping it here was a crucial and defining moment for Banks. She'd broke away from a former friend and at long last broken her own no-successful-defences streak.

 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett