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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nikki Bella may not have had twin sister Brie at ringside for Elimination Chamber’s Divas Championship Triple Threat Match, but that didn’t stop WWE’s most “fearless” Diva from prevailing against Paige and Naomi and extending her title reign to 189 days.
Though Paige was expected to be the lone combatant to arrive at ringside without backup — Brie Bella normally accompanies her twin sister, while Naomi has rarely been spotted without her mean-mugging muscle, Tamina, by her side — The Authority sought to level the playing field by ordering ahead of time that no one be allowed at ringside during the high-stakes match.
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From the outset, the cyclonic nature of Triple Threat Matches became apparent, with all three Divas taking turns tossing each other around the ring and breaking up pinfall attempts at the count of one. Naomi sent Nikki flying into the announce desk in the early goings, but she erred with her cross body block off the top rope, which Paige nonchalantly sidestepped.
Looking to snare her third Divas Title, Paige knocked down Naomi with short clotheslines before dropping her with a fall-away slam. Nikki, no doubt eager to reinsert herself in the action and protect her title, scrambled in and nailed Paige with an Alabama Slam, only to nearly get pinned by a quick-thinking Naomi, who tried exploiting the most narrow of openings.
Naomi ran Nikki shoulder-first into the steel ring post before turning her attention to Paige. After slamming the raven-haired Diva with a suplex, Naomi perched Paige on the top rope and prepared for a belly-to-back superplex. Just then, Nikki ran back in and powerbombed Naomi, who still had Paige in her clutches, bringing all three Divas crashing to the mat.
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A subsequent attempt at hitting Paige with the Rack Attack failed when Naomi nailed the defending titleholder with the move she calls the Rear View, but Paige broke up the count. Similarly, when Paige tried locking in a PTO against Nikki, Naomi made sure the submission was never cinched in, blasting Paige with a kick.
Soon thereafter, Paige managed to place Naomi on her shoulders, setting her up for an electric chair, but the boundlessly athletic and innovative Naom countered the move into a spine-crunching reverse hurricanrana.
As Paige lay incapacitated outside the ring, Naomi tried an enziguri against Nikki, but The Fearless Diva ducked and crushed her challenger with the Rack Attack for the huge victory. With two top contenders downed in a single match, what’s next for WWE’s dominant Diva?