WWE: Alexa Bliss, Bayley Came Full Circle At Royal Rumble

The WWE Women’s Royal Rumble match finished with a historically good confrontation between Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Nia Jax, but before that, Alexa Bliss and Bayley finished up a story of their own.

A five-time Women’s Champion, Alexa Bliss made her return to the ring at the WWE Royal Rumble after missing months due to concussions. Bliss received a huge pop from the Chase Field crowd when she made her Royal Rumble entrance, and it was great to see her happy and healthy on another big stage.

She also shined in the ring, taking the fight right to the other women in the match. After eliminating Sonya Deville, it didn’t take long for Bliss to trade strikes with Ember Moon, who could be a great rival for the former three-time Raw Women’s Champion. Both women were in a precarious position on the apron, but it was ultimately Bliss who prevailed, eliminating another Royal Rumble sleeper to keep her dream alive.

But Bliss’s momentum wouldn’t last, as the No. 26 entrant ran into a revenge-seeking No. 27 entrant. Bayley and the WWE Universe haven’t forgotten the events at – and leading up to – Extreme Rules 2017, and The Huggable One had waited for this moment for quite some time.

So Bayley wasn’t about to let this golden opportunity to exact revenge on Bliss pass by. After eliminating another rival, Ruby Riott, early in the match, Bayley focused all her energy on taking down one of WWE’s most decorated superstars.

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To accomplish this, Bayley received a welcome assist from her other best friend, Carmella. The No. 30 entrant in the Women’s Rumble after teaming up with R-Truth to win the Mixed Match Challenge, Carmella helped Bayley shove Bliss over the top rope, briefly reuniting BayMella, an old partnership from NXT. Mella knows a think or two about eliminating big stars in a battle royal, and while Bayley could have eliminated Alexa on her own, seeing these two work together was fantastic.

Bliss and Bayley remain on the same brand, but Bayley is focused on winning the Women’s Tag Team Championships with Sasha Banks at the Elimination Chamber. Their paths probably aren’t crossing soon, so it was important to have them tie up the final loose ends of a story that began two summers ago but never reached a satisfying conclusion.

Both “The Goddess” and “The Hugger” played a key role down the home stretch of the Women’s Rumble as two of the match’s standouts, telling a couple of different stories with Ruby and Ember before battling it out against each other. The Rumble is all about confrontations and moments, and we certainly saw a few strong moments from these two, including Alexa’s wonderful return pop and Bayley’s trio of eliminations.

Up next for Bayley is an arduous fight for the Women’s Tag Team Championships, and, surely, Nia and Tamina will be among the stiffest competition standing in her way. Though Bayley eliminated another foe in Ruby Riott, Nia took out Bayley as the first “final four” elimination and remains a huge rival for the Boss’N’Hug Connection.

The path to the tag team championships won’t be an easy one, but at least Bayley can say that she can fully let go of a dark moment from her character’s pass and relish the fact that she finished in the final four. Bayley is absolutely back on track in WWE, and this is shaping up to be a huge year for one of Raw’s (or potentially SmackDown’s) best babyfaces.

And Bliss? Well, let’s just say the future is always bright during WrestleMania season for a wrestler who has grabbed five titles in their career. Though the title pictures seem set with Ronda Rousey and Asuka retaining as champions, a program with Moon could do wonders for both “The Goddess” and “The Phenom” to begin 2019.