NXT: Four Horsewomen Renew Their Rivalry with Bianca Belair & The Sky Pirates

At NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Shayna Baszler managed to end Bianca Belair’s undefeated streak and retain her NXT Women’s Championship. It was a hard-fought battle that had us itching to see the two square off again in the future. The next week, Baszler’s buddies Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke teamed up to take on Kairi Sane and Io Shirai, taking the loss in a valiant effort. These six women have been in each other’s business for a while, so it’s only natural that at some point we’d get to see them all in the ring at the same time in an attempt to settle some issues. On this week’s NXT, it happens, as Baszler, Duke, and Shafir compete against Shirai, Sane, and Belair.

There are two questions heading into the match: Will Belair be trying to get her hands on Baszler at all times, perhaps to the detriment of the team? And can relative newcomers Duke and Shafir keep up with Sane and Shirai after suffering a devastating loss just last week?

Baszler and Belair start the match. Belair takes it to the champ right away, forcing Baszler to tag out early. So, Belair lays out Duke, tags in Sane, and then proceeds to lift Sane above her head and throw her into an elbow on Duke. It’s great teamwork early on.

Shafir tags in after, but she doesn’t fare much better. Sane hits her with two massive chops, leaving the former MMA fighter reeling. Sane heads to the top rope, but she gets distracted by Baszler. That gives Shafir time to throw Sane off the top and tag in the champ, who sets about dismantling Sane with one submission after another. From there, Duke, Shafir, and Baszler make quick tags, keeping Sane in their corner and laying a beating on the former NXT Women’s Champion.

Sane gets absolutely smothered for a very long time. Things are looking grim until she throws Duke to the outside, allowing her to get to her corner and tag in Shirai. She goes to work on all three opponents, hitting them with double knees and dropkicks before tagging in Sane. She hits the InSane Elbow on Baszler. It looks like a win, but Duke breaks up the pin and the match continues.

The potential selfishness of Belair that I mentioned above? It rears its head in the final stretch. Belair tags herself in to get her hands on Baszler, which Shirai takes some exception to. Belair hits Baszler with the KOD, but again Duke and Shafir break up the pin. Shirai sends them to the outside, and Sane comes off the top with a crossbody, putting Shafir and Duke on the ground. Then, Shirai returns the favor, tagging herself in to Belair’s surprise, delivering a moonsault and pinning the NXT Women’s Champion.

Both Shirai and Belair clearly have Baszler in their sights. In other words, it looks like Baszler is about to have a few women vying for her championship, looking to end the reign of the “Queen of Spades” once and for all.