She really is just another woman. Should be steamrolling people, but all her matches are 50/50. Part of me wonders if they went with the match last night because well, Ronda is winning so might as well get it over with. Once again the NXT Stank lingers on.

I haven't watched any of Asuka's main roster matches except her debut against Emmma and last night's match against Alexa. From what you're saying she's been beating everyone in competitive matches, when she should be running over everyone. Do I agree? I'm not so sure. I think Asuka could make a Brock-Lesnar-kill-everyone run work, but it would be at the expense of the entire Raw women's division. The difference is (1) the men's division is much larger than the women's division, so they can take more hits, and (2) Lesnar wrestled sparingly, not every week as Asuka is doing. Even them some (perhaps justifiably) questioned his overwhelming dominance.

Asuka certainly shouldn't be steamrolling Alexa Bliss, who is the champion and who I think is the strongest booked wrestler on either roster (besides Asuka). Fortunately they worked a really good and really smart match that got Asuka the win, and made her look strong, without hurting Alexa all that much.

Is it really a given that Ronda loses to Asuka? I know little about the situation, but I assume Ronda is only going to be a part timer, if not just a one match appearance, so you'd expect her to put Asuka over. Maybe Asuka takes the big loss to her buddy Shayna Baesler somewhere down the road. Ronda may have even requested that: "OK, I'll lose to Asuka, but only if she loses to Shayna. Four Horsewomen for life!" Cue hand signals.

If they want Asuka to be special and have some sort of streak and feel special, they shouldn't have her wrestle/appear on a weekly basis. They have like 15 women in the main roster. If she steamrolls everyone she would be done in a three months period.

Alexa “three-moves” Bliss as champion is a complete farce when Asuka is on the same roster. She should be holding that belt with special attraction status like Brock Lesnar.

Bliss is the champion because she's the best total package in the division. Yes, even better than Asuka.

Do you also have a problem with "two-moves" Brock Lesnar?

Jan 2, 2018 19:57:36 GMT Emperor said:

Bliss is the champion because she's the best total package in the division. Yes, even better than Asuka.

Do you also have a problem with "two-moves" Brock Lesnar?

There is no world in which Alexa Bliss is the best total package in the division. I like Alexa, and she’s certainly the best on the mic, but the women’s division in raw has stagnated and produced only one memorable match in 2017 (Charlotte/Bayley) because Alexa simply isn’t there yet in the ring. She doesn’t have a single memorable match. (Unless last nights was it, I haven’t seen it yet).

Yes. 1000x Yes. Brock can go hunt in Saskatoon forever after he grants Reigns his 3rd or 4th WM main event.

I have no problem with Bliss as champion, but her character should not be going 50/50 with the Asukas and Charlottes of the world. I dunno if it really did Asuka any favors with the win. Sure it's a win over the champion, but that's just how they book Alexa like the HTM or Kurt Angle in his early years. Frequent non-title/tag jobs and by hook or crook she retains against her "betters". If Asuka is so good in kayfabe that no one in developmental can beat her and they opted to make her NXT run as part of her character... she should be steamrolling more opponents. Especially Bliss.

I get why it's not possible unless they do jobber squashes due to the limited roster. The match just caused me to roll my eyes as soon as they came back from commercial. Asuka "dominates" the opening (has Bliss running away) and after the break Alexa has her in a resthold because of course she does*. Right now Asuka is undefeated, but she's having competitive matches. That's standard newbie debut. She's not special when she really should be.

* I'm sure during the commercial break Alexa cheated to get the upperhand and they did the resthold because they weren't on TV, but it was just so glaring watching at home. Alexa refusing to engage, but when they come back she's doing that. It was just so typical match booking you have to laugh.

Jan 2, 2018 20:04:01 GMT PB said:

There is no world in which Alexa Bliss is the best total package in the division. I like Alexa, and she’s certainly the best on the mic, but the women’s division in raw has stagnated and produced only one memorable match in 2017 (Charlotte/Bayley) because Alexa simply isn’t there yet in the ring. She doesn’t have a single memorable match. (Unless last nights was it, I haven’t seen it yet).

To be fair, I've barely watched any WWE over the past year, and I'm basing my judgment of Bliss' ability on her performance last night, which I thought was very good and much better than I've ever seen of her before, so I assume she's been generally improving for a long time. The way I see it, she's excellent on the mic, has a good character, knows how to get heat, and is good in the ring. Charlotte is her closest competitor, and when I think about it, she's on the same level, if not a bit better. Becky is average in the ring and inconsistent on the mic. Bayley has unfortunately been ruined and exposed by her main roster booking. Asuka's booking/look/wrestling is good enough for her to be a major force despite the fact she can't promo.

But yeah, I am being unfair on some of the other women, because main roster booking. I'd take NXT Sasha and NXT Bayley over current day Bliss any day of the week, which shows the gulf in quality between NXT booking and WWE booking (and/or that you need to be more of a character than a worker to get over on the main roster). NXT Charlotte, not so much. She was good, but got a lot better after six months on the main roster. At least she didn't regress like Bayley and Sasha.

Jan 2, 2018 20:19:31 GMT @ness said:

I have no problem with Bliss as champion, but her character should not be going 50/50 with the Asukas and Charlottes of the world. I dunno if it really did Asuka any favors with the win. Sure it's a win over the champion, but that's just how they book Alexa like the HTM or Kurt Angle in his early years. Frequent non-title/tag jobs and by hook or crook she retains against her "betters". If Asuka is so good in kayfabe that no one in developmental can beat her and they opted to make her NXT run as part of her character... she should be steamrolling more opponents. Especially Bliss.

I get why it's not possible unless they do jobber squashes due to the limited roster. The match just caused me to roll my eyes as soon as they came back from commercial. Asuka "dominates" the opening (has Bliss running away) and after the break Alexa has her in a resthold because of course she does*. Right now Asuka is undefeated, but she's having competitive matches. That's standard newbie debut. She's not special when she really should be.

Asuka did not go 50/50 with Bliss. 50/50 means they trade wins. Asuka beat Bliss clean in the middle, and she isn't getting her win back any time soon. When did competitive matches mean that the wrestlers are equal? If one person wins clean, they are better. I would even argue that this match wasn't that competitive. Bliss was outwrestled at the start, got some rest holds in, and lost to the comeback without having a sniff at hitting a big move or a finisher. They call that kind of match a glorified squash. And this glorified squash against the women that you say beats all of her "betters". Furthermore, a lot of her NXT matches were on a similar level of competitiveness, and in kayfabe the main roster wrestlers are much better than the NXT chumps.

Not everyone should get a Goldberg/Strowman push. You can make Asuka look strong without crippling your entire division, which is what they are doing. I'm not trying to say it's an awful idea - I said before that the Lesnar push could work well with Asuka. I just don't think it's the only option, nor the best one.

Last night wasn't good for either performer. I understand the thought process behind the match where they wanted to make Alexis look valiant in defeat, but she really didn't hold up her end of the bargain and they gave her way too much offense in the match. I agree that Asuka should be featured less on the main roster making everyone of her matches count and using that time to promote other women on the roster. That should definitely be the case given the Royal Rumble is coming up and they don't even have the numbers to qualify for a proper Rumble (at this point) and a lot of the women on the roster have been relegated to glorified extras.

I can't help but feel that the women are being held down because the WWE has Ronda coming in and they want to do everything in their power to make her the biggest star in the promotion. It's silly, especially when they have so much television time to fill, but that's the impression I get from what I watch and just listening to Meltzer.

Speaking of Dave hated the match and thinks anytime Asuka has to sell like a babyface, it doesn't work for her.

Jan 2, 2018 20:04:01 GMT PB said:

Jan 2, 2018 19:57:36 GMT Emperor said:

Bliss is the champion because she's the best total package in the division. Yes, even better than Asuka.

Do you also have a problem with "two-moves" Brock Lesnar?

There is no world in which Alexa Bliss is the best total package in the division. I like Alexa, and she’s certainly the best on the mic, but the women’s division in raw has stagnated and produced only one memorable match in 2017 (Charlotte/Bayley) because Alexa simply isn’t there yet in the ring. She doesn’t have a single memorable match. (Unless last nights was it, I haven’t seen it yet).

In-ring wise is Alexa the best? No, there are better, quite a few that are better.

However, when it comes to both her mic skills and her character work, there isn't a woman on the main roster, or NXT for that matter, that even comes close to touching her, and I think that more than makes up for it.

Jan 4, 2018 15:42:00 GMT Lony said:

Jan 2, 2018 20:04:01 GMT PB said:

There is no world in which Alexa Bliss is the best total package in the division. I like Alexa, and she’s certainly the best on the mic, but the women’s division in raw has stagnated and produced only one memorable match in 2017 (Charlotte/Bayley) because Alexa simply isn’t there yet in the ring. She doesn’t have a single memorable match. (Unless last nights was it, I haven’t seen it yet).

In-ring wise is Alexa the best? No, there are better, quite a few that are better.

However, when it comes to both her mic skills and her character work, there isn't a woman on the main roster, or NXT for that matter, that even comes close to touching her, and I think that more than makes up for it.

I don't need her to be the best in the ring, I just need her to be better than average for the push she's getting. I just need the women's match to not feel like a long drawn out Diva's match because while perfectly competent, all of her matches are boring. I don't care if she's Paul Heyman on the mic, her being at the top of division and dominating it has made the women's division so dull for months now.

Jan 2, 2018 19:57:36 GMT Emperor said:

Bliss is the champion because she's the best total package in the division. Yes, even better than Asuka.

Do you also have a problem with "two-moves" Brock Lesnar?

Brock Lesnar had at least three matches in 2017 that are better than any Alexa Bliss match I've seen. I think believability is the issue more so than "moves," which I've never really bought as a criticism of in-ring work.

Jan 4, 2018 16:38:08 GMT The Champ said:

Brock Lesnar had at least three matches in 2017 that are better than any Alexa Bliss match I've seen. I think believability is the issue more so than "moves," which I've never really bought as a criticism of in-ring work.

I agree completely. Lesnar is a far better worker than Bliss, a lot better than people credit him with. I just wanted to know if surrender was dismissing Bliss entirely because she only "has 3 moves".

I think it's time for Bliss to have a face run. She's had 4 reigns across two brands with her heel character in just a year and a half. Her moveset would open up a lot as she can do more stuff like Twisted Bliss and Code Red she sometimes uses. As a heel she's mostly restholds and stalling, so her matches might not be as boring. Plus her size plays a big role too. Hard to buy her wearing down someone to size of Charlotte.

Bliss is great on the mic and in expressing emotions, but there's a reason Vince called the division stale. She's been the focal point since she debuted on the main roster. Which is why seeing what they're doing to ASUKA (remember her?) is frustrating because she could be something special. Instead she's just another woman. Well, one that has a mask I guess.