{"id":96460,"date":"2021-07-19T16:30:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T20:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=96460"},"modified":"2021-07-19T16:02:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T20:02:50","slug":"nikki-ash-money-in-the-bank-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/07\/19\/nikki-ash-money-in-the-bank-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"What Nikki A.S.H.\u2019s Money in the Bank Victory Means For the WWE Women\u2019s Division"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neither Liv Morgan<\/strong>\u2019s recent singles push, the ruthless aggression she showed on July 16\u2019s Friday Night SmackDown<\/strong>, nor her impassioned Money in the Bank<\/em><\/strong> pre-show interview proved to be either a spoiler or a prediction. The narrative looked set for Morgan to be the winner of the eight-woman ladder match: she had proved herself as a singles performer following Riott Squad <\/strong>tag partner Ruby Riott<\/strong>\u2019s release, she had been slighted by WWE authority Sonya Deville <\/strong>and then convinced Deville to include her in the match; now it seemed time for her coronation as the gutsy babyface du jour. However, that was not the outcome. Whilst her opponents battered away at each other on ladders on either side of her, it was the pluckily rebranded \u201cAlmost Super Hero\u201d Nikki A.S.H.<\/strong> who scrambled up the ladder and snatched the Money in the Bank briefcase. Her win illustrates the state of WWE\u2019s women division, which finds itself with a compelling mix of performers from different stages of its growth.<\/p>\n

The Start of the Women’s Evolution<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After the outcry of the #GiveDivasAChance movement in 2015 and \u201916, the main roster\u2019s Divas division was rebranded as the women\u2019s division. NXT<\/strong>-groomed talent like Sasha Banks<\/strong>, Bayley<\/strong><\/a>, Becky Lynch<\/strong>, and Charlotte Flair<\/strong>, plus former UFC <\/strong>bantamweight Ronda Rousey<\/strong>, alongside Divas veterans like Natalya<\/strong>, Naomi, Tamina<\/strong>, Alicia Fox<\/strong>, and Mickie James <\/strong>were given matches of greater consequence and athleticism. It is now commonplace for women\u2019s matches to be headlining bouts on major pay-per-views, and for WWE\u2019s female athletes to be lauded by sports outlets like Sports Illustrated <\/em>and ESPN\u2019s ESPYS.<\/p>\n

As the Women’s Evolution continued, performers like Nikki A.S.H., tag partner Alexa Bliss, <\/strong>Morgan, and Asuka <\/strong>were cutting their teeth on NXT and hitting the pipeline to the main roster from late 2016 to 2019. While Lynch, Rousey, Banks, Bayley, and Flair were front and center making history and headlines, these women were just a few paces behind, battling it out on their proving ground with an eye towards following in the trail being blazed ahead of them.<\/p>\n

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You're doing us proud, @NikkiCrossWWE \ud83d\ude4c<\/p>\n

The first British Superstar to hold the Money in the Bank briefcase \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7<\/p>\n

We couldn't be happier for you! #MITB<\/a> #WWERaw<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7dLnKr6ZoW<\/a><\/p>\n

— WWE on TNT Sports (@wweontnt) July 19, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n