The Raw Women’s Championship scene will take a big turn Sunday night at the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view WWE No Mercy 2017 when five women battle for the gold in a Fatal 5-Way match. And with the inclusion of the returning Bayley, this match could take an even bigger turn.
Alexa Bliss has dominated the Raw Women’s Championship in recent months since dethroning Bayley at Payback in April and while she briefly lost the title to Sasha Banks a few weeks ago, Bliss has since regained the belt and will defend it Sunday night.
The match at WWE No Mercy 2017 was originally scheduled to be a Fatal 4-Way, but following the unexpected return of Bayley on the most recent edition of Raw, the match was changed to a Fatal 5-Way featuring Bliss, Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax, and Emma.
If you’re surprised to see Emma in this match, there’s a good reason for that. Emma has had very few opportunities in recent memory and has also seen a strange character metamorphosis as well.
She has seemingly gotten to a more stable point as of late and her “Give Emma a Chance” campaign has done just that as she is in the Raw Women’s Championship match at No Mercy. But despite the WWE giving her a chance, the company is still mistreating her at the same time.
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Emma has primarily been an afterthought during her Raw career, and just when she finally gets a marquee pay-per-view title opportunity, she is still the afterthought in the equation. And that couldn’t be more evident than the most recent episode of Raw.
While every piece of the Fatal 5-Way puzzle was focused on during this past Raw, Emma was left out of the picture entirely. Not a match, not an appearance ringside, not a backstage promo, not anything.
And to make things worse for Emma, Bayley’s return to Raw following an injury overshadowed her even more, and despite Bayley being back for just one night, she was included in the match at No Mercy. It makes sense to include one of the bigger stars of the Raw women’s division in the match, but not at the expense of someone who has already been a part of the match from the start.
Bayley’s return is a positive for Raw, but it should not completely overshadow Emma’s opportunity that she has worked hard for. If Emma does not become victorious at No Mercy and fails to win the Raw Women’s Championship, where does that leave her from there?
It has taken this long for her to finally get some type of a career breakthrough, and if she is booked foolishly in the match, that will only further solidify her position among the Raw women’s division. Now, of course, if she wins at No Mercy, this argument will be null and void.
But if the recent development on Raw tells the whole story, the WWE is more or less undermining Emma’s opportunity at the championship. Pushing Emma would be a positive for Raw and would help create more depth on the Raw women’s roster.
At the very least, Emma needs to impress in the match at No Mercy even if she doesn’t win. If she’s booked as the weakest link of the match, her true push will likely never come. SmackDown Live is the land of opportunity, and just look at the opportunities it has given the likes of Naomi, Natalya, and Carmella in recent months.
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Raw needs to start taking that approach, and giving Emma a chance to shine would be a great start.