WWE: How Alexa Bliss And Nia Jax Sold A Rivalry In One Segment

It’s not often you see somebody billed as a monster burst into tears after being verbally torn to shreds by her supposed best friend, but that’s exactly what we saw from Nia Jax in the most recent episode of WWE Raw. It seems inevitable that Jax and Alexa Bliss will feud over the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 34, and there’s finally a reason to be invested in this feud.

Alexa Bliss is one of WWE’s best actresses. It’s something I’ve said before, and it’s something I’ll continue to highlight. After Bliss successfully retained the Raw Women’s Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay per view, she cut a tearful promo as the audience roared, “You Deserve It!” at a champion who previously never defended her title since late October, literally defeating somebody with a friggin’ slap.

Yet, here Bliss was, with an entire arena in the palm of her hand. And after milking all of their praise and sympathy, she chewed them and spit them back out, turning a complete 180.

That post-match promo from Bliss was excellent, but she easily topped that on WWE Raw this past week in a backstage segment with Nia Jax, who was fresh off of a little post-match babyface turn tease of her own. Except, in this case, Jax might actually turn face.

At the Elimination Chamber PPV, Jax suffered another defeat to Asuka, who barely survived the “Force of Greatness” before being memorably slammed through the barricade by the imposing Jax. On Raw this week, Asuka and Nia faced off again, but this time Asuka didn’t need a surprise roll-up to score the win. She won by submission.

But it was the way in which she won that was so critical. Jax found herself in an armbar for ages. And she wouldn’t tap. She just wouldn’t quit, no matter how much pain she was in. Nobody else has lasted longer in an Asuka submission on the main roster than Nia did, and the audience recognized this display of heart before Jax was reluctantly forced to tap. Jax struggled to stand up and visibly could not move her arm after being in the hold for so long. As she slowly and tearfully rose to her feet, the crowd applauded her.

More from Daily DDT

• It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
• Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
• Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline

That was a nice way to generate some babyface momentum for Nia, but it paled in comparison to what would transpire later that night in a backstage segment.

Following Jax’s loss, her best friend, Alexa Bliss, sat down with her to talk to her about the match. Bliss is the quintessential “Mean Girl”, and she plays her role with enviable accuracy.

She coated every piercing insult with honey, her words dripping out of her mouth as Nia’s hard exterior started to crumble as Bliss pointed out every one of her friend’s failures and insecurities with unrepentant vigor.

Bliss made it feel real, bringing up Jax’s weight and the awful, totally unwarranted (and untrue) comments she gets about her appearance in real life.

Of course, Bliss and Jax are, in fact, friends off the screen, and Bliss knows what it’s like to deal with body-image issues. So in reality, Jax was OK with this. But in kayfabe, this was Bliss going for the jugular. And she didn’t miss.

When Jax cried, the segment became hard to watch. But not because it was bad. It was because it felt so visceral and so unfair. How could Bliss say these things about someone who has protected her for months during her championship reign? Why would she turn against Nia in this way when Nia was at her most vulnerable? The affectionate “Mickie, I got this” that Bliss said at the beginning of the segment gives me chills, because it was the cold, calculating, and manipulative Bliss isolating Jax when she was at her most vulnerable before going in for the kill.

I get why people are upset that Jax, who is supposed to be this impossibly dominant beast, cried. But that’s the thing, Jax is more complicated than just a bad-ass, tough, and strong monster who can destroy people with brute power. She’s a human being with real, complex emotions, and she’s someone the audience can get behind.

This was the WWE finally taking a step towards giving her a nuanced character and building to something bigger – a WrestleMania feud for the title that involves two best friends breaking up, but told in a different way than the far more popular Sasha Banks vs. Bayley feud. And sure, it isn’t Banks vs. Bayley, but it’s effective and intriguing in its own right, as evidenced by the wonderful segment these two put together.

Even though Jax cried and showed her weakness, make no mistake; she’s still capable of ripping Bliss apart physically. After months of skating by, winning some big matches on her own merit, and using others as a shield, Bliss will finally get her comeuppance, hopefully at the hands of Nia – the friend whose heart she stomped all over, likely when she saw the opportunity to move on and team back up with Mickie James.

Next: WWE Raw Review, Highlights, Grades, and Analysis

Nia will get hers. After breaking down at the hands of Bliss’s sugar-powdered, but knife-edged words, one of WWE’s most improved superstars will break Bliss down with her own two fists and her even stronger heart.