WWE Raw: Alexa Bliss Tapped Out Natalya With An Armbar

Alexa Bliss is preparing to face Ronda Rousey at WWE Hell in a Cell 2018, and she’s already done some scouting. The victim of her film study? Natalya, who tapped out to an armbar from Bliss on tonight’s episode of WWE Raw.

At Hell in a Cell, Alexa Bliss will face Ronda Rousey for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship, invoking her rematch clause after she lost to Rousey in mere minutes at SummerSlam.

Rousey’s victory at SummerSlam came as no surprise, and it’s up to Bliss to put up a bigger fight against her at Hell in a Cell. She has Mickie James and Alicia Fox in her corner, but with Natalya and Ember Moon seemingly on Rousey’s side, the numbers game may not play into Bliss’s hand here.

Bliss started her night in her hometown of Columbus by siding with Elias in a friendly dispute with the fans, turning against her hometown. It was a ruthless move from “The Goddess”, but let’s just say it wasn’t a surprising one.

She then followed it up by taking on Natalya in singles action, and she needed a brief distraction to gain the upper hand. The real story of this match, though, was the finish, as Bliss not only defeated Natalya, but she did so in embarrassing fashion.

With Rousey watching her friend compete at ringside, Bliss strapped in an armbar on Natalya, much to Michael Cole’s “surprise”, and tapped out “The Queen of Hearts” to Rousey’s finisher. Though Bliss’s armbar wasn’t necessarily the, uh, cleanest-looking version of the move, it was effective in kayfabe, with Nattie once again going above and beyond to sell the pain.

A concerned and pissed Rousey watched this all unfold, as Bliss certainly upped the ante ahead of their Sept. 16 encounter at Hell in a Cell. Bliss has been the Raw Women’s Champion for much of her time on the show since joining The Red Brand during the 2017 Superstar Shakeup. She’ll do anything to climb the top of the mountain, including stealing Rousey’s finisher as a way to get into the current champion’s head.

I doubt it will work. Meanwhile, many fans are sitting here, wondering why Natalya couldn’t fight out of Bliss’s version of the armbar, whereas Stephanie McMahon knew how to block Rousey’s powerful version of the move.