7 things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown: 6-time World Champion has big character change, Tag Team star getting huge singles push after 6 years? (July 24th, 2020)

#5 The reason why Nikki Cross is getting the spotlight over Alexa Bliss on SmackDown

She's going to get to run it back with Bayley

Bayley offered Nikki Cross another SmackDown Women's title shot, but only if she defeated her tag team partner Alexa Bliss. We all know that from from 2016 to 2018, Alexa Bliss was the most or second most dominant woman on the roster.

It's on!!@NikkiCrossWWE battles @AlexaBliss_WWE (😱) RIGHT NOW for the right to challenge @itsBayleyWWE for the #SmackDown Women's Title NEXT WEEK! pic.twitter.com/mSkk5iUHBy

— WWE (@WWE) July 25, 2020

Accumulating five Women's Championships across two brands, there was a point where many felt she was made to look 'too strong'. You're certainly not going to hear those complaints now since her entry into the Women's Tag Team division last year.

When we saw this opening match, we thought that WWE might go with Alexa Bliss vs Bayley as it's still an interesting match-up with their roles reversed from a few years ago.

Instead, Nikki Cross got one over her partner and will be challenging Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship next week. We don't think she's going to win, but it's interesting to see that WWE has no intention to have Alexa Bliss have a good singles run at this point on SmackDown.

.@NikkiCrossWWE defeats @AlexaBliss_WWE to earn a shot at @itsBayleyWWE's #SmackDown Women's Title NEXT WEEK! pic.twitter.com/bYwHoKGGCa

— WWE (@WWE) July 25, 2020

That doesn't mean she won't win any more Women's Championships, but it could be hard for her to top her run of dominance between the summer of 2016 and the summer of 2018.