If anyone hasn’t noticed, it’s Alexa Bliss’ world in WWE and everyone has the honor of standing at the feet of the new queen of women’s wrestling.
The decision to send Bliss and Mickie James to Monday Night Raw was nothing short of genius, with pouty, spoiled and sultry blond going over at Payback and claiming the women’s title from Bayley. Now, much like Charlotte in the past, there is one dominant performer with minions chasing her and all her glory.
The idea to push Bliss and the top heel on both the red and blue team shows the company’s commitment in her as the face that runs the women’s division. It also shows the lack of faith in Bayley as a needle mover with the belt in tow. While Bayley is popular and the closest thing to John Cena in terms of marketing on the women’s side of the ledger, her shtick does not get over like it did in NXT.
This also means Sasha Banks has been pushed down another rung in the hierarchy of WWE’s female wrestlers.
WWE’s commitment to Monday Night Raw comes with a price. The booking of SmackDown Live has become nothing more than a joke. The addition of Charlotte to Tuesday’s was supposed to pump the division up. A feud with Naomi, the current champion, hasn’t moved mountains and the idea of this new “Welcoming Committee” stable is a joke.
Charlotte’s greatest strength is her dominance and heel persona. Now, it looks like WWE is taking the “tweener” approach as she, Naomi and Becky Lynch will form an alliance to compete with Carmella, Natalya and Tamina.
A bad move, indeed.
Bliss is the best thing to happen to WWE’s women’s division since it was announced Bayley would be making her main roster move. I wonder what happens when Asuka is finally called up from NXT, with rumors swirling she will be managed by Paul Heyman? Can the women of this promotion withstand such uneven booking? For now, Bayley and Bliss must carry the banner for both programs while the creative team figures out how to fix the issues on SmackDown Live and when is the right time to set Nia Jax free as the bully on the school yard who earns gold.
At least WWE has a fall back plan with Bliss. Bayley, Banks, Jax, James – they all would appear to be formidable opponents for the current champion. As long as the company appears to be committed to one champion for the present time and does not pass the belt along like a hot potato, fans can get behind Bliss’ title run. Somehow, the company must find a way for Bayley and Banks to meet as enemies, not as best friends.
This could be one of those situations where Jax moves to SmackDown Live at some point – if only for the balanced Raw roster gains more momentum and a feud with Charlotte helps to build her character.
It’s unconventional, but it makes sense.
For now, however, WWE’s red team can bask in the fact Bliss’ run is the best thing for business. It can also take pride in the fact the women of Monday Night Raw are a lot more interesting now that the company has made changes so a heel champion runs the place.
With Bliss, it’s just that much better.