The Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair has issued an open challenge for the championship, which will be answered on the Sept. 12 episode of Raw.
Belair did not defend her title at Clash at the Castle due to being booked in the six-woman tag team bout. In that match, Bayley pinned Belair to get the win for her team and make it the first pin that Belair has received in 2022. Belair’s last title defense was at SummerSlam against Becky Lynch.
Extreme Rules is the next premium live event; Belair does not have a match set. Who will Belair have to go through on tonight’s Raw in order to make sure she can defend at that event?
Here are five women who may answer Belair’s open challenge –
Bayley – We can get the most obvious answer out of the way and it could be the woman who pinned her at Clash at the Castle. The rest of Damage CTRL has good odds of becoming the Women’s Tag Team Champions tonight as they face the current champs Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez. Bayley being in a feud with Bianca currently and also needing that one-on-one match that was canceled last year due to her injury seems to make her answering the challenge likely.
Rhea Ripley – This option could be a circle back to the match they never had. Now that Ripley has brought Dominick Mysterio into Judgment Day, she could take some time and focus back on Bianca. She was supposed to face her at Money in the Bank but went out with an injury. If Bayley isn’t the one to answer, having Ripley do the match she was originally scheduled for isn’t a bad idea.
Alexa Bliss – Bliss has been saying for months now that she has her eye on some singles gold that she hasn’t held for four years. She has been siding with Belair recently along with Asuka, but since her return after WrestleMania, she has lacked direction and her character has been just there. Having her turn her heel and work with Bianca could help her and the product overall.
Queen Zelina Vega – This could be someone to return from injury. Carmella is also out with an injury, but Zelina has been gone a bit longer and it may be time for her to return. Even though Zelina vs. Bianca wouldn’t me something new, it would give Zelina a push on her return and make her seem like a big deal as a result.
Alba Fyre – If there was one call-up to happen during this, it should be Alba Fyre. Though she doesn’t really have much history with Bianca (other than being on her WarGames team), it would be a way to get her on the main roster and also would be a fresh feud. Alba is lost in the shuffle in NXT and unless she will be the one to dethrone Mandy Rose, she just needs a call-up.
Who do you think will answer Belair’s open challenge? Do you think it would be one of these women or is it going to be Asuka? Discuss below and check back in with Diva Dirt on Monday nights for the Raw Discussion Post!
