Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss: A bitter rivalry that could have been so much more

Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss had one of 2017’s fiercest rivalries.

Nearly three years ago, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss feuded over the Raw Women’s Championship. Perhaps because it resulted in a frustratingly, disrespectfully short title reign for Banks just months after Bayley’s troubling loss at Extreme Rules, fans don’t remember the feud fondly.

And that’s a shame, since Banks, a generational talent, and Bliss, a breakout star and one of WWE’s best heels, absolutely killed it. Here is a brief retrospective on a feud between two wrestlers who played their roles perfectly, as well as a lamentation of how this rivalry could have been so much more if WWE had booked their babyface better.

After winning the Raw Women’s Championship from Bayley at Payback – and we’ll fast-forward their feud for the sake of brevity and my aching keyboard – Alexa Bliss would go on to dominate WWE through WrestleMania 34 before dropping the title to Nia Jax.

But before she shined at Survivor Series against Charlotte Flair or won the first women’s Elimination Chamber match, Bliss met her match over the summer in a feud with “The Standard”, Sasha Banks.

To say their rivalry was bitter would be an understatement. Banks and Bliss made WWE fans wonder if the two wrestlers actually despised each other backstage. Their matches were vicious, but perhaps no singular moment of their brief rivalry did more to fan the flames than Banks’ scathing promo on Raw Talk after Great Balls of Fire.

So let’s take a look back at one of the more underrated feuds of the past few years, noting that Sasha vs. Alexa could have been so much more if the ending were just a little bit different…

But since we can’t rewrite history, we might as well study it.

The Gauntlet Match

Technically, the Bliss vs. Banks story began two months prior to this Gauntlet Match on the Jun. 26 episode of Raw, but we’ll make use of a literary device called “flashback” later. Because this No. 1 Contender’s match set the stage for Banks becoming Bliss’ challenger at Great Balls of Fire on Jul. 9.

Alexa was clearly scared at the prospect of facing Banks, a three-time Raw Women’s Champion who had ruled the Red Brand one year earlier as Charlotte Flair’s equal, and it’s no surprise why,  even just looking at the outcome of this Gauntlet Match.

Nia Jax destroyed everyone. She took care of Bayley first and then pinned Mickie James after merely shoving her to the ground. Nia then eliminated Dana Brooke in the blink of an eye and had no trouble disposing of Emma.

She couldn’t, however, take down Sasha Banks. The Legit Boss used her superior wrestling skills and in-ring IQ to outmaneuver Jax and get her in the Bank Statement.

Banks used every ounce of her strength to bring Nia to the canvas, keeping the Bank Statement locked in as the Force of Greatness began to fade. You could hear the veryyy pro-Banks crowd crescendo slowly into an all-out roar once the ref called the match.

Afterward, Bliss came out to do some of her usual barking with the title, in the hopes of getting under her new challenger’s skin. Banks was having none of it. She dropkicked Alexa and stole the title away in a flash, raising it above her as Alexa recoiled outside the ring.

Banks slid the title under the rope coyly to the referee, almost as if to say to Alexa, “I have you in my hand, and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me. Because you know I’m better and will win this title.”

Great Balls of Fire

I won’t spend too much time dissecting this match, but I do want to set the scene by discussing two matches that foretold the cowardly events at Great Balls of Fire.

Firstly, let’s go all the way back to the Apr. 24 episode of Raw when Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks had a match before Payback, when Bliss would win the Raw Women’s Title. Bliss was clearly going up against a much better wrestler in Banks, so she dialed up the “give up” play, walking out of the ring and up the ramp for a count-out.

From a booking perspective, WWE didn’t want Bliss to lose before her PPV match with Bayley, but they also didn’t want Sasha to eat a pin to build up Bliss. But from a storytelling perspective, they foreshadowed what would happen at “GBOF.”

On the episode of Raw immediately before Great Balls of Fire, Sasha and Bayley teamed up to face Alexa and her best friend Nia Jax. For most of the match, Jax was dominating, and she even smashed Bayley into the barricade to create a 2-on-1 situation for Sasha.

But ever the smart, resilient babyface and superior wrestler, Sasha made it look easy. She was absolutely owning Alexa. When Nia tried to enter the match to save her tag team partner, Banks quickly acted to kick her out of the ring at the knee, and then moved in for yet another Bank Statement victory on the champion before the Pay-Per-View.

The title match at Great Balls of Fire was quite good and, to my recollection, Bliss’ best match to that point in her career. To Banks’ fans, this statement comes as no surprise, seeing as how many wrestlers have had their first defining match against The Legit Boss.

We got the wonderful “double-jointed” spot from Alexa, more trademark selling from Banks, and great storytelling around the Bank Statement. Bliss had already lost to the move that Monday, but she had managed to get out of it twice in this match.

The second time she did, though, she dumped Sasha on the outside, tried to brawl, and then realized she bit off more than she could chew. So the resourceful Bliss decided to call back to that April match and walk off, letting Banks win by count-out.

But the best moment of the night was yet to come. We all loved “Talking Smack” on Tuesday nights after SmackDown Live, but Raw had its own “talk show” after Pay Per Views.

And Sasha Banks delivered the best promo in that show’s history – it’s not even close – after her match with Bliss. Here’s the transcription of the best quote, courtesy of Cageside Seats’ Sean Rueter:

"“You know, she came in so cute, so humbled. She came in so fake, with her fake little stories, her fake little “I love wrestling growing up, I love Matt Hardy”. You know what? You can’t even tell the difference between Jeff and Matt. You idiot. Yeah, we call you on all your lies, sweetheart. You’re just here to be another girl. Another heel. You just want to be here for a Hollywood act. You’re on Total Divas now, you’re getting what you want and you can talk your way into everything, but you know what? You can’t run away from me. You can talk this, but you can’t walk the walk – cause you’ll never be me. I’m a three time Women’s champion for a reason, and I will be a four time Women’s champion very soon. I won that match tonight, and I demand my rematch.”"

It was far from over.

Before SummerSlam

After that non-finish and Banks’ promo, you knew these two top stars on Raw would have a final match at SummerSlam.

Immediately after their singles match for the title at Great Balls of Fire, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss had another tag match on Raw with the same close friends in their corner – Bayley and Nia Jax.

But this time, Bayley picked up the victory. Bayley was in trouble after Alexa hit Twisted Bliss, but the quick-thinking Banks broke up the pin. You could see the anger in Sasha as she started throwing fists at Bliss, who needed to be rescued by Nia.

Although Jax seemed to have the upper hand as she flung Sasha out of the ring, she made the mistake of pinpointing Banks with her hands, tipping off Sasha to an impending barricade move. Sasha moved out of the way, and as she did this, Bayley countered Alexa’s DDT to pick up a roll-up win.

The Raw Women’s Champion’s reign had never looked more precarious than at that moment. She even lost to Bayley in a singles match one week later!

For some reason, WWE decided to have a Triple Threat Qualifying match on the Aug. 7 episode of Raw to determine Alexa Bliss’ challenger at SummerSlam, even though it should have been obvious that Sasha was the opponent. Nevermind, though, Sasha is used to having to jump through hoops that nobody else has to…

In any case, we got a great match out of it. Any time Sasha, Alicia Fox, and Emma are in the ring, you know you are in for quality wrestling. It was clear that Banks was the only logical winner, but the match never felt uninteresting.

That’s thanks to the quality of wrestling from the women in the match, especially Banks, whose left-arm selling and high energy were thoroughly impressive. And at one point, it truly looked like Emma had stolen the victory from Banks.

The finish was masterful. Sasha had Fox in the Bank Statement, only for Emma to swoop in and roll Banks up. And then Banks seamlessly rolled out of the pin and turned it into the Bank Statement for yet another satisfying victory. The road to SummerSlam was set.

Or not…

Because on the episode of Raw right before SummerSlam, Sasha STILL had to go through another challenge in Nia Jax despite already reaffirming her status as the No. 1 contender.

On the one hand, it was frustrating that Sasha had to be in this match. But on the other hand, you can see WWE wanted to keep stacking the odds against her to make her SummerSlam win feel even more special.

Maybe more importantly to the neutral fan, we got a legitimate hidden gem match out of Sasha vs. Nia. To date, it has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube. We saw creative offense from Sasha, a wonderful nearfall where she grabbed the ropes with her fingertips after a Samoan Drop (Nia’s shock and scream was a nice touch!), and an agonizingly good Bank Statement finish that MUST be rewatched.

It was a perfect way to FINALLY punch in Sasha’s SummerSlam ticket.

SummerSlam and Aftermath

The big match at SummerSlam didn’t disappoint, and not just because the payoff was the babyface winning after facing challenge after challenge and being “ducked” at the last PPV by the cowardly heel champion.

There were so many great storytelling layers in this match. Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss went AT IT right when the bell rang, and you knew this match was going to have another level of intensity. You could sense the animosity between these two, as WWE did a fantastic job of keeping them away from each other since Great Balls of Fire, which was more than a month before SummerSlam.

Banks sold the hell out of a shoulder injury during this match, which was used near the end of the match. It played a key role in the finish, too, as Bliss seemed to avoid the Bank Statement by using Banks’ shoulder against her, only for Banks, just as she did with Nia, to use her wrestling skills to get her finisher back in and win the match.

It was incredible to see Banks win her first title on Pay-Per-View and do it against a heel champion who had frustrated both her and her best friend Bayley for months. This victory was the definition of a satisfactory babyface triumph, which should have led to a lasting title reign for Banks.

Unfortunately, she would drop the title not but eight days later to Alexa Bliss on Raw in a match that felt a lot less fiery and a lot more deflating than it should have.

What could have been and what could still be

The Aug. 28 episode of Raw result overshadowed what was an incredible feud between Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss. As one of the best wrestlers of this generation, Banks was undoubtedly fantastic in this rivalry each and every week, showcasing her talents in the ring even in matches that didn’t directly involve the champion.

Meanwhile, Bliss was coming into her own, providing great promos and comments around the matches while improving steadily in the ring. Again, their PPV matches were highlights of the respective shows.

As good as Bliss’ work in the Fall was with Mickie James and Charlotte Flair (read more of my thoughts about her breakout stardom here), Banks should have really had her launching point to superstardom as champion after the feel-good SummerSlam win.

It would have made a ton of sense for her to hold the title until the Elimination Chamber, where Bliss could have had a star-making win on the same night that Banks and Bayley began their own program.

Nia Jax could have beaten Bliss at WrestleMania 34 for the title and the same stories could have been told for Bliss as a star player afterward. It’s just that in this alternate universe, Sasha would have been the strong babyface champion for several months with a real reign, and that would have been the most just outcome.

Even so, Bliss and Banks still had a fantastic rivalry that summer, and there’s always the chance Banks can get one more satisfying victory over a woman who will always be one of her fiercest rivals. Sasha Banks has inexplicably never won a singles title since SummerSlam 2017 and has thus never had that true reign as champion, but, hopefully, that will all be rewritten whenever she faces her true greatest rival, Bayley, in 2020.