WWE WrestleMania XL PLE Results: 4-7-24 (Night #2)
(6) IYO SKY (c) vs. BAYLEY – WWE Women’s Championship match
Michael Cole talked up Bayley and Iyo Sky’s accolades as the crowd settled in and the referee called for the bell. Bayley immediately took Iyo down with a shoulder tackle. The champion slid from the ring to regroup as the crowd began to sing to Bayley. Sky wrestled Bayley to the mat and tossed her to the outside. Bayley smiled as the crowd sang to her. Sky threw her arms out wide. The two locked up again, working to the mat. They rolled all the way to the floor. Bayley gave Iyo a hard shove. Sky pushed her right back. The two women traded punches before the champion tossed her challenger back in the ring.
Iyo landed a quick dropkick on Bayley. The challenger rolled to the outside and circled the ring. Sky tried to catch her with a baseball slide, but Bayley caught her legs. She leapt onto the apron and hit a quick guillotine. Sky fell to the floor. Bayley hit the ring and, with a running start, dove through the middle rope onto Sky. She came up favoring her right leg. Bayley shook it off and charged at Sky. Iyo moved, sending Bayley crashing into the ring post. Sky noticed Bayley favoring her leg and quickly wrapped it around the post, wrenching it the wrong way. Bayley scream in agony. The referee broke it up before too long.
Back in the ring, Sky worked Bayley into the corner and gave her a dragon screw back to center as the match approached 4:00. McAfee said Sky had a brilliant strategy. Graves agreed. Iyo drove her knee into Bayley’s mid-section and covered her for a two count. Bayley rolled back to the outside, wincing. Sky mocked the crowd for singing. Bayley managed to use the momentary distraction to pull Sky down to the floor. She tossed Sky over the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. She grabbed Sky by the hair, trying to retrieve her. Sky fought her off. McAfee noted that George Kittle was sitting in front of Bayley, cheering her Bay Area buddy on. Bayley and Sky worked back into the ring. Bayley managed to catch the champion with a quick kick to the face. Sky stumbled to the northeast corner. Bayley littered her with clubs to the back. She hoisted Sky onto her shoulders and gave her a spin-out side slam for a cover and near fall at 6:00.
From the apron, Bayley ascended the southeast turnbuckles. Sky met her there. She knocked Bayley all the way to the floor to a chorus of boos. She leapt onto Bayley and threw her arms in the air. She slid Bayley back in the ring and hit a Springboard dropkick, covering for a two count. The crowd continued to sing to Bayley. Sky hooked Bayley for a German Suplex. Bayley countered. Sky countered. They traded a number of standing switches, all the way to the opposing turnbuckle. Bayley finally hit a German Suplex, right into the turnbuckle. She tried to pull Sky into a small package, but she couldn’t bend the knee all the way. Sky kicked at two.
Sky side-stepped Bayley, sending her to the apron. Bayley landed awkwardly on her injured knee. Sky pulled her back in the ring and gave her a bridging German Suplex for a near fall. Iyo called for the Moonsault. She leapt to the top and flipped, but Bayley got her legs all the way up. The right knee buckled under Sky’s weight. Bayley limped to her feet and climbed the same turnbuckles, looking for an elbow. Sky blocked it and turned her right into a Crossface. Bayley slipped free and popped up, landing an elbow. She went for another, but Sky pulled her into a Crossface again. Bayley used her legs to scoot her body toward the ropes. Just as she was about to reach it, Sky turned her over and into an STF. Bayley used her elbow to break the hold. Both women rolled to their feet. Bayley delivered a Bayley-to-Belly for a cover and near fall at 11:10.
Champion and challenger struggled to their feet in the center. Bayley looked for the Rose Plant, but Iyo held firm on the mat. She fired off a right at Bayley and laughed. Bayley returned it. “You were never my friend, Iyo!” she said. Sky punched her again. They fired rapidly. Bayley went for another Bayley-to-Belly, but Sky blocked it. She gave Bayley a double-underhook Backbreaker, then climbed to the top turnbuckle. Sky delivered the Over-the-Moonsault and hooked the leg. Bayley kicked out at the last moment to a big reaction. Sky was furious. She pounded on Bayley’s stomach, then gave her a standing Moonsault. She climbed to the middle rope and delivered another. Not satisfied, she leapt to the top rope for another Over-the-Moonsault. Bayley rolled out of the way. She limped to Sky on the opposite side of the ring and gave her a Rose Plant. Sky immediately popped up. She gave Bayley a strong lariat. Bayley popped up. She gave Sky a back drop, then climbed the turnbuckle.
Bayley hit the diving elbow and immediately pulled Sky up and into the Rose Plant for a second time. She hooked the leg for a three count.
WINNER: Bayley in 14:23 to win the WWE Women’s Championship
(Very good match with an excellent closing stretch. It felt really cathartic to see a crowd cheer for Bayley again, and be invited to do so. She’s had a great run as a heel, particularly her work during the pandemic, but it was time to see what this new iteration could do in this role. Though I thought this feud lacked some of the juice it probably should have had, they did a nice job selling the gravity of the moment. I liked the story the match told, with Sky working over the leg that Bayley has had problems with for a long while. The closing sequence was a lot of fun, with a fitting no-sell of the first Rose Plant, a fitting end to Sky’s chapter as Women’s champion. I thought this delivered.)
