We have just under 2 weeks to go until WrestleMania and it’s safe to say that all the women on RAW are out to make a statement ahead of the ‘big one’. How would each player make their next move? Let’s get to the RAW results!
We’re straight into the RAW Women’s Title picture action as Nia Jax takes on Mickie James… current bestie of RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. As expected, Jax defeats James quite easily with a Samoan Drop, but Bliss runs into the ring to attack Jax! All this does is anger Jax, who charges after Bliss. The Champion high-tails up the ramp, leaving Jax to curse and drop the ‘b’ word… no idea if that was intentional or not but WWE tried their best with the mute button.
Backstage, Bliss claims that she’s not afraid of Jax, even though she hides away from her!
Last week, we saw a video promo covering Ronda Rousey’s training preparation ahead of her WrestleMania debut match. This week, it’s the turn of her opponent Stephanie McMahon and husband Triple H. Throughout the video, they try to hype up that McMahon has much more experience in the WWE ring than Rousey… bless them for trying I guess?
That’s not our only appearance from Rousey, her tag partner at WrestleMania and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle invites her down to the ring. Rousey threatens to rip Steph’s arm out of its socket, causing Paige’s theme to hit the sound system. Much like her comments to Bayley a couple weeks ago, Paige is flanked by Absolution members Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, warning Rousey of the importance of having numbers and friends to succeed in the WWE.
Paige offers Rousey to join Absolution… but Rousey isn’t sold and politely declines. This doesn’t go down well with Paige, who now sets Rose and Deville on Rousey. Despite the numbers advantage, Rousey disposes of the two easily and cinches in an armlock on Rose simply seconds away from ripping her arm out. Ouch!
Up next we got a quick squash match with Jamie Frost, also known to some in the Pennsylvania Indy scene as Ellie Fredricks. Prior to the match, she claims that she’s ready for Asuka… but after a swift kick to the head, Asuka adds another name to her streak list.
Finally the segment you’ve all been discussing, Bayley and Sasha Banks finally decided to throw some hands! After a heated argument in the lockeroom, Bayley hit the first ‘verbal’ low blow, claiming that Banks can’t beat her. This causes Banks to remind her bestie that she’s a 4x RAW Women’s Champion… but Bayley hits the next low blow, stating ‘and how long did you keep it?’. Ouch! As Bayley walks away, Banks literally snatches her and drags Bayley into the locker room! FINALLYYYYY!
As the two long-time friends brawl, we see a special cameo appearance from Sarah Stock trying to break up the fight! The Boss and Hug Connection has finally reached breaking point! More about this below!
Thoughts:
Well well well, we finally got the implosion of the Bayley and Sasha Banks friendship after months of build up… and it happened in a pre-taped segment for them both to act as filler in a throwaway match that will probably be on the WrestleMania kick-off show… LOL.
Now don’t get me wrong, being on the Kick-Off show isn’t a bad thing by any means, but let’s remember that these women pretty much had THE feud of 2015. They were probably the most over Superstars in 2016 across all programming and could have an amazing singles match. This Battle Royal is going to be ‘historic’, but at the end of the day Battle Royals are never amazing matches. They will barely be visible in a sea of 12+ women and it’s clear to see that these two are being thrown into the Battle Royal to give it some ‘star power’. Sure, someone can make the case of loads of male Superstars should be put on the card too, but that leads me to this next point.
Jax VS Bliss does not entertain me and should not be on the card. Oooh yeah, get those fingers tapping below to flame me in the comments! I’m sorry, but we know that this match is going to be a 2 minute squash. It just pales in comparison to the SmackDown Women’s Title match… and those two aren’t even on the same roster! Asuka won the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble, made a shocking appearance at Fastlane and it’s streak VS title. Nia Jax… got called fat, threw a couple suitcases and has the ‘counterpart’ match.
Again, you may argue that Jax/Bliss deserve that spot and I fully agree, they both have done a lot this year. However, when you want this to be the ‘Grandest Spectacle of Them All’, you’d want to put you best matches on the card. I can completely call the Jax/Bliss match now – Bliss stalling, running around, does this for 5 minutes, maybe hits her with a weapon or so until Jax finally catches her and squashes her with a Samoan Drop. Yawn.
That all being said, I was happy that we got to see Paige interact with Rousey. It still hurts to see that she can’t physically be involved, and you can’t help but think that she would have been a part of the WrestleMania card had she not been injured. While Absolution looked weak AF here, it was nice to see Paige working the mic – there may have been too many ‘bebegurl’s, but if the rumours are true that she’s no longer able to wrestle, then these opportunities are a good way to gain her some steam as a personality.
Next week is the last chance for these women to make an impression. By wrestling tradition, this should mean that Steph will end up laying out Rousey and Bliss will get the one-up on Jax. If I’m wrong, then yeah you can mock me in the comments next week haha!
Did you enjoy the backstage brawl between the former BFFs? Are you interested in Jax VS Bliss? What do you think about us STILL getting Asuka facing jobbers? Sound off in the comment sections below!
