WWE No Mercy 2017 will start on September 24th, but there are already rumors swirling around the championship matches. Is Emma’s inclusion in the Raw Women’s Championship merely a means of protecting the other three competitors?
Emma teamed up with Nia Jax on the most recent episode of WWE Raw to take on the unlikely tag team of Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks, who were originally scheduled to face off a singles match for the Raw Women’s Championship at WWE No Mercy 2017. The stipulation was that if Jax and Emma won, they would be inserted into that title match to make it a Fatal Four-Way.
Well, lo and behold, Emma and Jax did the dang thing. Jax hit Banks with a leg drop, and Emma stole the pin away. On the surface, Emma’s inclusion in this championship match represents a complete 180 in her booking, because it makes her a contender after she was booked like a joke for the longest time. It would seem, then that the #GiveEmmaAChance social media campaign was a rousing success.
According to the Wrestling Observer News’s Dave Meltzer, as transcribed by PWMania.com, Emma is only in this championship match at No Mercy as a means of protecting Banks, Bliss, and Jax. The WWE, contrary to you Banks conspiracy theorists out there, is not interested in seeing any of those three main event-caliber superstars in their women’s division taking a pinfall loss. Therefore, they would rather have Emma eat the pin, because apparently the WWE doesn’t really care about making her look strong.
I can believe that the company is willing to make Emma a “sacrificial lamb” of sorts in this championship match, but are they really that worried about making any of those other three women look “weak”? Considering how often wrestlers in the Raw Women’s Division trade wins and losses (just look at how quickly Banks lost the title after SummerSlam), it seems like this is the least of Vince McMahon’s concerns.
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The pessimistic takeaway is that Emma’s momentum is just a bit of false hope, but I have a more optimistic take on all of this. The fact that Emma is in this match is great news, because she never had a chance to make Pay Per View appearances before. This is a huge step up, and it will be another opportunity for her to prove to the folks backstage that she is indeed one of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet. And if you don’t believe me, go rewatch any of her matches with Paige. I’ll wait.