WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Tiffany Stratton outlasts Nia Jax to retain the WWE women's championship

Stratton had to dig deep to retain her championship on Friday night

Tiffany Stratton is still the WWE women's champion after fending off a stiff challenge from former champ Nia Jax in the main event of SmackDown on Friday night. Things aren't likely to get any easier moving forward for Stratton as she has a big target on her bank as Money in the Bank draws near.

Both Jade Cargill and Naomi have made their intentions to win Stratton's title clear in recent weeks, and both women factored into the main event between Stratton and Jax.

In addition, the first qualifiers for Money in the Bank took place on Friday night, with Alexa Bliss as the first to qualify for the women's match and Solo Sikoa on the men's side.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Greensboro Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Tiffany Stratton outlasts Nia Jax to retain the WWE women's championship

Before the main event, Tiffany Stratton ran into Jade Cargill backstage. Cargill vowed to Stratton that she would win the women's Money in the Bank match before winning the WWE women's championship the same way Stratton did, by cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. Stratton said that, as long as she held the title, Cargill would never be good enough to become champion.

WWE Women's Championship -- Tiffany Stratton (c) def. Nia Jax via pinfall with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Late in the hard-fought match, Naomi made her way to the ring holding a steel chair. Before Naomi could insert herself into the match, she was attacked by Cargill and run off. Jax kicked out of the first Prettiest Moonsault Ever and hit an Annihilator for a near fall before grabbing the chair. Stratton dropkicked the chair into Jax's face while the referee was distracted and hit a second PME for the victory.

The main event was a very good match in a night that featured several solid in-ring battles. The WWE women's championship picture has plenty of intrigue with Stratton, Jax, Naomi and Cargill all involved. But, sincerely, the quality of Stratton vs. Jax was the story of the entire situation, with convincing near-falls and both women giving a good accounting of themselves. Grade: A-

What else happened on WWE SmackDown?

• Women's Money in the Bank qualifier -- Alexa Bliss def. Michin and Chelsea Green via pinfall with Sister Abigail on Green. Bliss confronted Charlotte Flair backstage later in the show, asking if Flair had given any more thought to being friends before they were interrupted by Nick Aldis, who introduced Giulia as the newest member of SmackDown.
• Fraxiom def. #DIY via pinfall when Axiom countered Johnny Gargano into a pinning combination. #DIY attacked Fraxiom after the match before Motor City Machine Guns ran in for the save. The Street Profits told Fraxiom backstage that they went to Nick Aldis to ask to defend their WWE tag team titles on next Friday's SmackDown.
• R-Truth confirmed he would wrestle John Cena at Saturday Night's Main Event. A sit-down interview with Truth was shown where he said the man who attacked him at the post-event press conference for Backlash was not the real John Cena and that he would beat Cena back into remembering who he is.
• Aleister Black def. Carmelo Hayes via disqualification after interference from The Miz. Black seemingly had the match won as he was setting up Black Mass when Miz jumped in the ring to attack. After Black hit Black Mass on Miz, Hayes attacked before hitting Nothing But Net.
• Drew McIntyre accepted a steel cage match with Damian Priest for Saturday Night's Main Event. McIntyre said Priest has a "psychotic level of jealousy" over his accomplishments and vowed to end things inside the cage.
• Men's Money in the Bank qualifier -- Solo Sikoa def. Rey Fenix and Jimmy Uso via pinfall after a Samoan Spike on Fenix. Earlier in the show, LA Knight attacked Sikoa just as it appeared Sikoa and Jacob Fatu (along with Jeff Cobb, now "JC Mateo") were about to split. Knight attacked again after the match, holding off JC, Fatu and Sikoa with a chair.
• JC Mateo def. LA Knight via pinfall with Tour of the Islands. Nick Aldis made the match after Knight's attack following the Money in the Bank qualifier.