WWE Payback 2017: Is Alexa Bliss the Right Opponent for Bayley?

With Alexa Bliss being one of two new female superstars for Raw, is she the right opponent for Bayley heading into WWE Payback?

Vince McMahon announced a ‘Superstar Shake-up’ after WrestleMania, and several Superstars switched brands, including Alexa Bliss and Mickie James to Raw with Charlotte and the returning Tamina to Smackdown Live. A No. 1 Contender’s Match was held last week on Raw featuring the two new additions along with Nia Jax and Sasha Banks. In the end Alexa Bliss the two time Smackdown Women’s Champion won the match and she goes on to face Bayley at Payback. Was this the right move for the division?

There is no doubt that since debuting on the main roster last year after the draft, Alexa Bliss has been one of the most improved on both rosters. She really did earn her spot as the main protagonist for the Smackdown Women’s Division and held the title on two separate occasions. As much as it hurts to see her gone from the brand she helped build, Raw really did need some fresh faces as their division was getting stale.

With Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Bayley for the most part having matches and feuds with Nia Jax on the side, there really needed to be a big change and to see new and different feuds for Raw. Moving Alexa Bliss and Mickie James helps that quite a lot, it opens up the chance for new feuds and matches and there can easily be more than one women’s feud at once with Emma and Dana Brooke both back as well. Having Alexa Bliss make the surprise win for the contendership keeps things intriguing and a Bayley/Sasha Banks feud gets saved for a bigger event like SummerSlam.

Seeing the new girl on the brand make an impact is the smart move and she is the right choice for Bayley, it will be a feud we haven’t seen too much of (they did lock up in NXT) and they haven’t had a match against each other for some time. Alexa is something new for Bayley, a new challenge for her to over come after her run-ins with Charlotte. They will no doubt have a great match at Payback, and the feud will likely continue into the new Raw PPV event, giving us a longer term storyline for the pair moving forward.

Nia Jax isn’t quite ready for the title picture yet, she is improving each week but she needs a lot more work and her character and presence isn’t quite getting a big reaction from the crowd. Her time will come to capture the title, but that time isn’t now. As for Sasha Banks and Mickie James, it is a good move to keep them away from the title picture for now, perhaps even see them lock up in matches and giving the audience something very fresh. Sasha vs. Bayley will likely be saved for a bigger event as mentioned earlier, and that is something we know will be worth the wait. Emma and her former friend Dana Brooke are starting up a program and they don’t need to be in the title picture right now.

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This feud gives Raw something fresh and changes things up, Alexa Bliss is absolutely the right choice for Bayley right now. It holds off on a bigger feud and gives us a feud we haven’t seen yet on the main roster. Whether or not Alexa manages to capture the title remains to be seen but at least for now it should stay with Bayley. Unless they are really in to shock us and have Alexa capture her third title in less than a year.