Sasha & Bayley make history as the first-ever WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions (2024)

HOUSTON — Destiny and history may lead you to the same place, but one does not guarantee the other. So while it might be tempting to write Sasha Banks & Bayley’s trailblazing ascension to the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships as some sort of forgone conclusion by the wrestling gods — at this very same event last year, Banks betrayed Bayley, kicking off the chain of events that led to the formation of their tag team — that would discount the magnitude of the accomplishment as well as the credibility of the women they had to go through to get there.

Several of the entrants into the second-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber Match could claim similar serendipity to The Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection; Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan of The Riott Squad were returning to the site of their WWE debuts, while The IIconics are lifelong friends on the cusp of a dream. More than anything, the Chamber was a reminder that while the obvious pick may ultimately win, that doesn’t mean they won’t have to earn it.

As if to drive the point home that this was truly anybody’s game, five of the six teams had already entered the Chamber before anybody suffered elimination. The first to go were Naomi & Carmella, “The Fabulous Glow,” tossed by an opportunistic and inventive double stack by The IIconics. Nia Jax & Tamina, an obvious threat due to their strength and No. 6 draw, notched two eliminations — The IIconics and The Riott Squad — before Jax accidentally took herself out by charging through a pod when Bayley moved out of the way, leaving Tamina at the mercy of the rest of the field. Theyshowed none; all fourunloaded on their stronger opponentand all four covered her for the elimination.

That brought the proceedings down to — and here is where you might be thinking destiny came into play — the two teams who started the match: Sasha & Bayley and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, the SmackDown goddesses calling themselves Fire and Desire. They showed plenty of both, driving Bayley spine-first into the beam of the Chamber pod and putting the onus on Banks and her barely-cleared injured shoulder to carry the load. She did. A big slamfrom Mandy seemed to have Banks dead to rights, but The Boss miraculously kicked out. A Bank Statement on Deville lacked the torque to earn a tap out until Sasha used her foot to compensate and cranked back, forcing The Jersey Devil to cry Uncle. And something that seemed as though it would never arrive was suddenly there.

Sasha was crying. Bayley was crying. Beth Phoenix was crying at commentary. You, too, were probably crying. And it was hard to argue with the WWE Universe’s inevitable but no less profound chant: They did, indeed, deserve it. But not because there were no other options. Not because of their past accomplishments. And not because their contributions to the Women’s Evolution all those years ago earmarked them for history, destiny or anything else. On this night, they deserved it for the simplest possible reason: They fought. And they won.

Published on February 17, 2019

Anthony Benigno