Sasha Banks Beats Nia Jax, Will Face Alexa Bliss at WWE SummerSlam 2017

Sasha Banks defeated Nia Jax on Monday's episode of WWE Raw to establish herself as the No. 1 contender and Alexa Bliss' opponent for the Raw Women's Championship at SummerSlam.

WWE provided a look at Banks after the win in what ended up being one of the best matches the duo has ever had:

Bliss sat in a lifeguard-looking chair during the match, and WWE Universe captured her after Banks' win:

Bleacher Report's Ryan Dilbert and Kevin Berge provided their initial takes on the match:

Bayley initially earned the No. 1 contendership a few weeks ago by beating Sasha in a match, but an injury will prevent her from competing at SummerSlam.

In a bout with Jax two weeks ago, Bayley suffered a separated shoulder, which sent Raw general manager Kurt Angle scrambling to find a new challenger for Bliss.

To determine Alexa's SummerSlam foe, Angle set up a pair of Triple Threat matches last week. Banks won her contest over Alicia Fox and Emma, while Nia went on to defeat Mickie James and Dana Brooke.

That set the stage for one final match this week with the winner having a huge opportunity to win the Raw Women's title in Brooklyn, New York.

Banks and Jax have a great deal of history, as they have engaged in several matches on both Raw and pay-per-view. More often than not, their battles have been highly entertaining due to the unique dynamic they have together.

The Boss is an in-ring technician capable of grappling, executing high-risk moves and doing essentially anything that can be asked of a wrestler. Conversely, Nia uses her size and pure power to separate herself from the rest of the roster.

Sasha and Jax also have entirely different relationships with the Raw women's champion.

Bliss and Banks faced off with the title on the line at Great Balls of Fire, and although The Boss prevailed in that match, she didn't leave as champion due to the fact that Alexa intentionally got herself counted out.

That turned up the heat behind their rivalry significantly, and they have traded insults back and forth on WWE programming and social media ever since.

Bliss and Jax are real-life best friends, and that has begun to spill over to television as well with Nia often helping Alexa get out of precarious situations.

Their relationship hasn't always been perfect, though, as Jax was very much in pursuit of Alexa's title a couple of months ago before Bayley and Sasha returned to the title scene.

Both Banks and Nia present huge threats to Bliss' reign as Raw women's champion, but it was The Boss who officially put herself in position to capture the coveted title for the fourth time.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).