Fresh off No Mercy, there was one victorious woman emerging from the fatal-5-way. Alexa Bliss made it clear that she remains on top of the division, battling off 4 of her rivals. However, we know that the target is still not off her back and this only opens up the spot for another challenger. Who will step up to the plate, well it’s time for the RAW Redux!
Following her big victory, the RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss makes her way to the ring and she’s not happy. Instead of being praised for her upset victory at No Mercy, she’s annoyed by the ‘nonsense and gossip’ about Sasha/Bayley tension and the announcement of Asuka’s RAW debut. She tells the crowd that she doesn’t need them and last night she proved her point that she’s still the ‘Goddess’ of the division by cleaning it out last night.
Not so fast though… Mickie James makes her way to the ring to correct Alexa by reminding her that she wasn’t in the match. Although, that isn’t her main problem, she’s out to call out Alexa for her comments on RAW Talk where she referred to Mickie as an ‘Old Lady’. Alexa digs at Mickie’s age, joking that she was only relevant when MySpace was around and that she’s afraid that she’ll break a hip in the ring. Mickie manages to throw the shade right back by running through her accolades, which she says she did all before Alexa was wearing a training bra!
Once again, Mickie bring the topic back to Alexa’s comments on RAW Talk, asking her to repeat it to her face. After trying to dodge it, Alexa gets annoyed and finally says it, “Mickie, you are an old lady!”. With a smile still firmly on her face, Mickie slaps Alexa twice before knocking her out with a superkick. Clear message sent, Mickie James is seeking that target for Alexa’s position on top of the division.
Later on in the night, we see Bayley and Sasha Banks backstage preparing for their tag match later in the night against Nia Jax and Emma. However, the two besties don’t seem to be their normal chirpy-selves as they are disappointed by their losses at No Mercy. For tonight, they have their sights on getting their revenge on Nia Jax to get her back for injuring Bayley’s shoulder.
This match is a quick one, with Nia and Emma taking control for most of the match working over Bayley. Both the heels work over Bayley’s taped up shoulder. Once Bayley is finally able to get the hot tag to Sasha, she works over Emma and tries to get her first pinfall following a Bankrupt. Nia breaks the pin, but starts brawling with Bayley. Sasha ends up dropkicking Nia out of the ring, allowing Bayley to try and take her out with a crossbody, but she gets caught. Bayley wriggles onto her feet and this allows Sasha to attempt her own crossbody which takes down Nia. Bayley throws Nia into the ringpost which grounds her for the match.
Inside the ring, Emma and Sasha go one on one. Emma seems to get the better on their tussle, but Sasha manages to tag in Bayley. She hits her Bayley-to-belly for the victory and the Boss and Hug Connection come out strong again! It’s clear to see that there are still issues between these 4 women, but it looks like the popular faces are still staying united… but for how much longer?
Thoughts: Is it 2007? ’cause it’s once again time for Mickie James to take centre stage and I’m all the way here for it. Since her return to the WWE, we’ve not really seen all that Mickie has to offer and if we have a look at Curt Hawkins‘ career since coming back… it’s clear to see that being a veteran didn’t do you any favours. When Mickie came to RAW, I was worried she’d get lost in the shuffle, which she has, quite frankly.
But let’s just take a moment to step back here. This woman has held a WWE Championship more times than anyone else on the roster. This woman has defeated Hall of Famers Beth Phoenix, Trish Stratus, Lita and Jacqueline (in TNA – heck she’s even defeated TNA HOFer Gail Kim). Mickie was a shining star of a dire era and there’s so much potential for this to be used in angles to really put over the development of the women’s division.
Sure this might just be a filler feud before Asuka, but if the WWE play their cards right then this can be a really empowering story. Women like Maryse and Maria from Mickie’s era are having babies, but she’s still out there kicking ass. They can even put Mickie into a program with Sasha since she’s so ‘anti-Diva’ and that WWE 2k18 promo insults her era. There’s so much that they can do here, which could really propel into being another top draw talent for the women’s division.
Obviously, I’m not all looking at this with rose tinted glasses. The crowd are nowhere near as hot for Mickie as they once were, so there needs to be a lot of work to be done. We know that the WWE could easily drop the ball with her too, since Asuka is soon to make her debut. Either way, we’re setting up a nice program for Mickie to really make an impression and she’d be a great person to help add another dimension to Alexa’s character.
Are you happy that Mickie is getting a chance? Do you think this is just going to be a shortlived program? What should the WWE do with the rest of the women on the RAW roster?
