WWE: Why Alexa Bliss Should Retain At WrestleMania 34

Alexa Bliss has become one of wrestling’s top heels–male or female.  WWE would be unwise to halt her tremendous momentum before it has shown a single sign of slowing down

They call it “lightning in a bottle”. The term was once used to refer to a famous science experiment, but now far more commonly used as an idiom, refers to the capturing of something that had seemed impossibly elusive.

Over the last year and a half, Alexa has captured that lightning. She has become the embodiment of a perfect professional wrestling heel, and in this writer’s opinion, has grown to become the greatest female heel since Sensational Sherri Martel.

Bliss’ current program with Nia Jax is perhaps her best work to date. Two weeks ago on Raw she brilliantly (and evilly) walked the line between being a friend showing genuine concern, and a rival pursuing an ulterior motive, ultimately proving she belonged in the latter category. And though this program seems to have all the makings of a great one, and while Nia Jax’s face turn has been warmly received by the crowd, neither of these things warrant taking the title off Bliss at WrestleMania.

In professional wrestling booking, a promoter who hastily brings a top superstar’s momentum to an end too early will inevitably face serious consequences for doing so. One need look no further than the fallout from the main event of both WWE’s WrestleMania VI, and WCW’s Starrcade ’98.

For the time being, the Raw women’s championship must remain in the possession of the Goddess.

Credit: WWE.com

To The Heat Magnet Go The Spoils

Conventional wrestling promoter logic would dictate that the title should be held by the wrestler who elicits the largest crowd response. In the Raw Women’s division, that individual is indisputably Alexa Bliss.

If you have not yet seen the magnificence that was Bliss’s post-match promo at Elimination Chamber, it is well worth going out of your way to watch. With convincing delivery, and an incredibly believable tone of (ultimately, disingenuous) sympathy, Bliss seemed to be changing her ways right before the fans’ eyes. She was modest, gracious, and sportsmanlike, as she applauded the history the female competitors had just made. She had slowly and beautifully built up the fans’ hopes.

Then, in the blink of an eye, she crushed them, calling them all losers and proclaiming her greatness. Bliss’ doubling down on her heel persona produced the loudest boos of the night, and showed why, based on her mic skills, plus the reactions they draw, she should continue to hold the title.

Undoubtedly, once Nia Jax, who, for the last several months has played Diesel to Bliss’ Shawn Michaels, completes her face turn and begins chasing the Goddess for the title, she will, herself, elicit a passionate (babyface) reaction from the WWE fans.

But the company would be wise to wait until this crowd support organically reaches its full potential. To pull the trigger early would risk unnecessarily derailing Alexa’s enormous momentum. And now, as Alexa continues to be massively over, sells truckloads of merchandise, and accumulates millions of social media followers, is not the time to change course.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

There’s Always Another (Summer) Day

There is no need to unnecessarily rush a potential Nia Jax coronation simply for the sake of having it at WrestleMania. The event will, in all likelihood, have more than its fair share of title changes and feud blow-offs. And furthermore, holding off on Bliss/Jax until SummerSlam would make it extremely special, perhaps catapulting it into a main-event level spotlight when the WWE rolls into Brooklyn in August.

Given Alexa’s character, the feud continuing past WrestleMania makes sense, as it is a very strong possibility the Goddess will be escaping with the title at the Show of Shows via shenanigans as opposed to anything remotely resembling a definitive win. Perhaps she will even lose the match…by count-out or disqualification. The fans’ irritation towards Bliss, as well as their desire for her to lose the strap, will increase even more as a result of her WrestleMania cowardice, and they will be completely behind Jax at the summer blockbuster, ready for the ascension of the Irresistible Force.

Next: How Should Carmella Cash In At WrestleMania?

But that is for down the road. For right now, however, the Raw women’s championship should stay right where it is. Alexa Bliss is in the middle of a women’s division heel title run that is simply unprecedented. To paraphrase an old saying, “If Bliss ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”