5 WWE Women’s Wrestling Takeaways: Nia Jax Makes History

Credit: WWE.com

NXT Lets Down Baszler and Belair

I had mixed feelings about the NXT Women’s Championship match between Shayna Baszler and Bianca Belair. Both women were great, of course. The most memorable moment from the match was the finish where Belair went out in a blaze of glory, lasting an inhuman amount of time in Shayna’s submission maneuver. I literally didn’t know which way this one would go because I fully expected the Four Horsewomen of MMA to be united on the main roster soon with a call-up for Baszler and her pals Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir.

Bianca showed that she can hang with the big stars and can shine in a title match, for sure, but something felt lacking when watching this match back to back against all the men’s matches on the show. Don’t get me wrong; it certainly wasn’t the capabilities of the women involved. I believe the placement of the match so late in the show was criminal. Everyone in the audience (and myself on my couch at home) was emotionally drained by this point and as a wrestling fan you’re trained to subconsciously prepare yourself for the main event by preserving your energy.

But I also believe the NXT women’s division has been suffering in terms of storyline development since Asuka and Ember Moon left for Raw and SmackDown. It just doesn’t seem like the brand is putting in the time to get the depth out of big women’s title match rivalries the way they do for the men. This is a major problem for a brand credited as starting the modern women’s revolution.