WWE Raw Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for April 17

Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax vs. Mickie James

Result: Alexa Bliss defeated Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, & Mickie James via pinfall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

In the wake of the Superstar Shake-Up, I believe Raw got the better end of the deal in terms of the women’s division. Losing Charlotte is a big blow in terms of talent, but the addition of Mickie James and Alexa Bliss without losing anyone else is huge.

Bliss, in particular, is possibly the most underrated superstar in WWE. More people seem to be coming around on her, but I’ve been singing her praises since she was killing it in NXT. She’s a total package – character, talent, ability, charisma, you name it.

The early strategy in this match – throw Alexa to Nia – was a nice callback to last week. And speaking of callbacks, Sasha Banks trying to reverse the bear hug into a guillotine choke shows that she’s been studying her Bayley tapes. How many times did Bayley beat Nia with a guillotine in NXT?

The match was a lot better than you would assume based on crowd reaction. It seems the Buckeyes only cared about hometown girl Alexa Bliss, because no one else got any kind of reaction during the match. It was basically laid out almost perfectly, in my opinion. Everyone got to look good, and seem like a potential winner – and Nia didn’t kill anyone, so bonus!

Bliss winning is a nice surprise, since I think everyone assumed it would be Sasha Banks. But I think this is even better for a Sasha heel turn on Bayley, since Sasha can cost her the match instead of turning to win. We’ll see in two weeks.

Big Show

Sorry, Show – I’m Braun for life now. I don’t care what kind of shape you’re in.

Although, if you pull the plane Roman Reigns is in out of the air, maybe then we can talk.