Sunday, October 13, 2024

Latest Posts

03/05/18: RAW – Bayley rejects Sasha, Nia breaks down

You have spoken… and we have listened! We know that our readers have missed hearing our thoughts – especially since so much is happening in the world of women’s wrestling! So take a cheeky scroll down this page and you’ll see the return of our “Thoughts” section! Let’s remember, that all views are that of the individual writer of each article. So feel free to share your views below and tell us whether you agree or disagree because we’ve missed hearing from you!

So let’s get back to business! RAW is on the last leg of the ‘Road to WrestleMania’ and the excitement is palpable! Between Asuka’s streak, Ronda Rousey’s first match and the ever-growing tension with the rest of the women, RAW is jam-packed with action so let’s remind ourselves first of what happened.

The first big news was that Ronda Rousey revealed who she wanted to challenge at WrestleMania! She awkwardly announced (before the drum roll) that she wanted to face Stephanie McMahon at the ‘Grandest Stage of them All’! Husband Triple H interjected, but RAW General Manager Kurt Angle wanted to seek his revenge following their scuffle last week. When things inevitably broke down, it was Ronda Rousey standing on top after hitting Stephanie with a Samoan Drop!

We were treated to another Asuka VS Nia Jax match and yes you guessed it – Asuka won! The supposed “Irresistible Force” was resisted once again, by the same woman, just a couple days after. To give Nia credit, she did debut a new spinning crucifix drop in this match. This time, Nia was forced to tap out after getting caught in a Triangle Choke, into an armbar. A visibly disappointed Nia Jax is followed by the cameras as she limps to the back.

Checking up on her friend, RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and Mickie James visit Nia in the medical room following her defeat. Alexa’s ‘words of comfort’ seem to do the opposite job as she brings up her weight and reminds her that she’s not going to be on WrestleMania. The usually monstrous Superstar is left crying as the camera fades. More about my thoughts on this below!

Finally, Bayley comes out to address why she didn’t tag in for Sasha during last week’s tag match. Before she can state why Absolution makes their way to the ring! Paige tells Bayley that she has no more friends left and that there’s strength in numbers. Bayley and Mandy have a standard match, with a bit of a choppy end. Sonya Deville tries to distract Bayley, but gets knocked off the apron, Mandy attempts to roll her up, but Bayley rolls the momentum into a pin of her own for the victory!

Absolution go for the beat down until Sasha Banks runs down to make the save. Sasha helps to bring Bayley to her feet and offers her a hug… but RAW’s resident Hugger pushes her away! Looks like this tension is growing and getting worse, so where will this lead.

Thoughts:

In the words of Paige, “Did you miss me?” – it’s Alex here back as the RAW Reporter and boy is there a lot going on with the RAW Women’s Division. As we head to WrestleMania, it’s nice to see lots of different women being featured across the show and while there’s only limited space on the card, it seems that they have big plans in store across the division.

Let’s start off with Rousey and McMahon’s segment at the top of the show. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this is probably the feud that I’m least excited about heading into ‘Mania. Steph isn’t a wrestler, Rousey isn’t a wrestler, the mic work has been tough to sit through, but hey I guess this is where the money is? Rousey probably wouldn’t have been ready to go Singles Match anyway, which is why this makes sense but I can call their WM match now: Kurt/Trips work the whole match, Steph tries to cheapshot Rousey which angers her, Trips tries to make the save after she tries to rip Steph’s arm out, Rousey takes out Trips and then makes Steph tap. Onto the next…

Nia Jax’s character development took a weird stage last night, which I’m still trying to understand. It’s clear that she’s going to be involved in the Mania RAW Women’s Title match somehow, but making the ‘Irresistible Force’ sit there and cry… that just seemed bizarre. It added depth to her character I suppose, as she can’t be ‘scowling big girl’ all the time, but bringing up her weight to make her cry only made me think of the whole ‘Piggie James’ angle. There were plenty of ways for Alexa to seem like she was throwing salt in the wound – going on about losing was enough, but being bullied because of her weight… please don’t give us another ‘This is your life’ segment!

Finally, we had the Jobber Squ- I mean Absolution, play their part as fodder for the Sasha Banks and Bayley tension. Hearing Paige on the mic again makes me miss her more, she makes that stable but without being able to get in the ring, there is really no connection there. That’s no discredit to the new girls (since the Riott Squad are suffering the same fate on SmackDown), but it’s clear to see that they are at the bottom of the ladder right now.

The Sasha and Bayley feud is also 50/50 with me, as much as I know that this will be an amazing match, I can’t help but feel that this will just distract from the rest of the division. Are we just going to see endless tag matches against Absolution? Are Nia/Alexa/Asuka going to be kept separate from Bayley/Sasha? This feud is missing an edge, but that might just be a case of waiting until one eventually turns. It seems more like they want to turn Bayley heel and I for one wouldn’t disapprove of that…

Overall, I think the cogs are still turning in relation to the RAW Women’s path to WrestleMania so today was a little stepping stone. I’m just concerned as they seem to want to do a lot, with only so many women to work with. How are they going to continue half of these feuds when they’ve worked these combinations over and over again already?

Are you excited about Rousey’s mixed tag match at WrestleMania? Who do you think is turning heel between Sasha and Bayley? What did you think of Nia Jax crying? And finally, are you happy the thoughts section is back? Let us know in the comments below!

Latest Posts

Don't Miss