Nikki Bella, Natalya and Alexa Bliss Defeat Becky Lynch, Carmella and Naomi

Natalya, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Bella were victorious over the team of Becky Lynch, Carmella and Naomi Sunday at SummerSlam in a showcase of SmackDown Live's women's division.

It was Nikki who captured the win for her team, as the WWE SummerSlam Twitter account shared: 

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge highlighted Lynch's work during the match: 

While Will Pruett of ProWrestling.net has an idea for what's next for Nikki:

The big news was the return of Bella, whom WWE cleared earlier in the week after spending months on the shelf with a neck injury. 

Eva Marie was initially scheduled to team with Natalya and Alexa, but she was suspended for 30 days due to a violation of WWE's wellness policy, according to WWE.com. With Eva out of the picture, it made perfect sense to insert Nikki into the match. 

Marie was quick to tweet her thoughts on Nikki taking her place:

In the weeks since the brand split, every female competitor on the SmackDown roster has attempted to stand out and separate themselves from the pack.

With the lack of a Women's Championship due to that title getting drafted to Raw, however, it has been difficult for the SmackDown women to make a significant impact. That will likely change with Bella back in the picture. 

Before Sunday night, all the women on SmackDown were given an opportunity to shine on one of WWE's biggest stages Sunday night, though, and they each aimed to leave a lasting impression.

Carmella and Natalya had some bad blood heading into SummerSlam, as did Becky and Alexa.

Those rivalries manifested themselves Sunday, and while the future of the SmackDown women's division is still somewhat up in the air, the tag match confirmed there is plenty of talent to create some special feuds and matches moving forward.

The biggest key to taking the next step will be the introduction of a SmackDown Women's Championship, which general manager Daniel Bryan has confirmed is in the works on numerous occasions over the past couple of weeks.

SmackDown's first exclusive pay-per-view is scheduled for September in the form of Backlash, which could represent the perfect chance for a new women's titleholder to be crowned.

While Sunday's result won't necessarily have an impact on the women's title hunt, Nikki looks like the strong contender to hold the title. 

The SummerSlam tag team match was essentially a holdover until more concrete plans are laid for the SmackDown women's division, and it seems likely business will pick up in a big way over the next few weeks leading up to Backlash.

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