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PITTSBURGH — If the mark of a champion is to keep their title by any means necessary, then Carmella is one of the greatest titleholders in WWE history. The Princess of Staten Island, whose SmackDown Women’s Championship reign has been marked by the outlandish fashions she’s won and kept it, once again retained the title against Asuka despite competing under a stipulation designed to neutralize her signature ace in the hole.
That would, of course, be James Ellsworth, whose role in Carmella’s previous defense against Asuka found him suspended in a shark cage to prevent him from interfering in Round Two. However, Ellsworth’s imprisonment didn't stop him from dropping a pair of implements (a steel chain and a can of blinding spray) down from above, forcing Asuka to actively avoid disqualification for either herself or Carmella while seeking a pinfall or submission. Ellsworth’s third stunt — picking his way out of the shark cage — was the deciding moment of the match, though not quite in the way he likely predicted.
Ellsworth found himself caught by the ankle as he attempted to escape the cage, and with Carmella waylaid outside, Asuka turned her vicious attentions to the dangling interloper, working Ellsworth like a heavy bag as he dangled above the ring. That left her vulnerable to a deciding bit of chicanery by Carmella when she snuck up behind Asuka and shoved her face-first into the cage before pouncing quickly for the pin. Asuka was appropriately infuriated when she came to, decimating the ring crew that worked to free Ellsworth before annihilating the man himself to the tune of kicks, strikes and a smothering Asuka Lock. If The Empress of Tomorrow has an eye on more opportunities against Carmella, she may have decided the best way to remove Ellsworth might not be to lock him up, but to take him out.