Let me start with Becky Lynch. I am happy she got a title win. Smarks are obviously happy. But the WWE seriously needs to put the work into her to make her into a star. As I said before, there are three situations where a company should give someone a major piece of history, like being the first person to hold a new title. They are either a hot act and very popular, have already been given a top-tier career, so having this accomplishment on their resume would not look awkward, or the company plans to give them that great career following the person being booked to make history. Where does Becky Lynch fall in? She may be over with smarks, but she isn't that popular. She has not had a great career so far at all. I don't think she's ever won a PPV singles match since coming to the main roster. And she wasn't exactly getting the best development prior to Backlash to lead up to her big win. The only thing you can hope is that the WWE actually starts pushing her a lot better than they have.
This situation makes me think back to the Sasha Banks issue from last week's Raw. The WWE advertised Sasha Banks having a big announcement, hyped it throughout the show, teased that she might retire, and it just failed to draw. Sasha Banks is loved by many wrestling fans, but she is not over with the wider audience. The WWE has not put the work into her to help her get over with the wider audience. Putting her in a situation where they would have expected her to draw was just unfair. They have given her the inconsistent career of a credible jobber since she debuted on the main roster. And it is the same thing with Becky Lynch. She has gotten the career of a credible jobber. Some might say she has been pushed even worse than Sasha Banks. Just handing her history now does not automatically make her a star. Do not expect her to draw for you. Don't even expect her to be that over for you. You can't expect women that get juggled around like that to get too over. Just because Mickie James got over off of this type of career doesn't mean it was an asset in her success. It was an obstacle to be overcome. The WWE cannot misjudge how over these women are just based on NXT and Internet reactions.
Onto Alexa Bliss. This is an interesting choice for Becky's first title feud. Alexa is not the greatest women's wrestler on Smackdown's roster. Even as far as heels go, Natalya is more credible than her. Of course, Smackdown's women's division has more women hired without wrestling experience and are still not too credible than Raw's women's division. If Eva Marie was around, she probably would be in this first title feud in some way. Either way, this is not the feud I would have gone with.
Alexa Bliss's style is tied mostly to her agility. She does some nice flips. Even though she isn't more experienced in the ring, I still see a lot of fans liking her. Even in terms of her in-ring work, they like what she does. I think that's a little hypocritical. Kelly Kelly wrestled pretty much the same style. She relied on agility and did flips. And wrestling fans pretty much hated her. I remember reading a report for a match between Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim on Superstars. The writer called it a typical "divas" match. When I watched it myself, it was much better than I imagined. Personally, I do not dislike either woman or their in-ring work that much. But if you are going to say one of them doesn't know how to wrestle and even sucks, it is kind of hypocritical to say another worker that wrestles a similar style is good.
A lot of it comes down to character. Even if you are not a great wrestler, wrestling fans will forgive that if you are an entertaining character. Look at Enzo. I see fans criticizing this guy's in-ring work all the time. But he is so good on the mic and such an entertaining character, fans forgive his wrestling ability and still want to see him get pushed and get the tag titles. Kelly Kelly was not that great at showing emotion. She was very generic. Alexa Bliss is not only attractive, but she has good charisma. Look at Dana Brooke. Her best attribute is her charisma. If Dana could do some impressive flips and high-flying spots smoothly, she would be more like Alexa Bliss.
I have seen some fans compare her to Trish Stratus. And these fans don't seem to have a problem with that. Alexa Bliss succeeding like Trish did and having that kind of career would be diva-like. At this stage in the game, I would say Alexa Bliss is a little better than Trish in some areas prior to Trish winning her first Women's Championship. She has a few more impressive spots than Trish did. I would also say her character is better. Trish benefited from debuting in the Attitude Era and during a hot time in the diva era. She was able to lean on her sex appeal much more than eye-candy divas today. And yet, Alexa Bliss is able to portray a character that even wrestling fans can enjoy in the PG era. Depending on how successful Alexa Bliss is, there might once again be an eye-candy centerpiece in the WWE, despite the WWE giving Becky Lynch the new title first.
I said before that this was not the feud I would have gone with. What would I have done? Becky Lynch vs. Natalya. I can hear the groans now. Some fans may hate the idea. But if Becky Lynch is the centerpiece, or is at least in line for a good push while holding the title, why not have her feud with a woman with more wrestling credibility than Alexa Bliss? And remember that point I made earlier about Becky having never won a PPV singles match on the main roster? Her last PPV singles match was a loss to Natalya. She got the win back on Smackdown, but it might have meant more for her first successful title defense, and first PPV singles victory, to be against this heel she already has a history with on the main roster.
How would you make this match between Natalya and Becky more interesting? Add some kind of gimmick to it. Make it a street fight. Or a submission match, since both women have submission finishers. One of the things TNA does right is put their women in gimmick matches to freshen up stale feuds and matches. Their women have had a ladder match and cage match this year. It is funny how this is supposed to be an era in the WWE of treating women with more respect, but they don't give them special matches. What have they gotten since the revolution started last year on the main roster? Beat The Clock? That doesn't count. During the diva era, you had these kind of matches. Sable was in a strap match. Trish Stratus was in some hardcore matches. Lita and Victoria had a cage match. Even after Trish and Lita retired, the WWE would still book some gimmick matches here and there. It wasn't all Bra & Panties matches or costume matches. It would be a proper finishing touch to the rivalry between Becky Lynch and Natalya.
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