PRIDE OVER PAIN
Sasha Banks is on track for a heel turn leading into WrestleMania. The arc officially kicked off on January 31 edition of Raw as the Boss, ignoring any notion of common sense or strategy, refused to accept her defeat at the hands of Nia Jax on the previous night's Royal Rumble Kickoff show.
(Despite Bayley's friendly advice, Banks refused to let her reinjured knee slow her down, but what's going on within the mind of the Boss? Source: WWE Youtube)
From a creative standpoint, turning Sasha heel at some point can write itself. The Boss lives to be champion. Should Bayley win the title from Charlotte at WrestleMania, the quest for greatness could easily override friendship – a proven trope in professional wrestling. WWE creative is taking a different route, focusing on the internal.
(Banks gave everything she got, until she reinjured the knee against Jax on the Royal Rumble Kickoff. Source: WWE.com)
Ever since Banks lost the Raw Women's Title at Roadblock, her ego took a serious hit. Not only did the largest, angriest woman on the roster pull her punk card while on crutches, the former champion is a top level athlete who cannot rely on her body to do what she needs it to. She is hardwired to never back down and her pride was the fuel that demanded a rematch the next night on Raw, intriguingly, in light of an obvious injury that would slow her down.
Bayley pleaded with her to hold off until her knee healed, but a pensive Banks simply told her "I have everything to prove. Unlike some people, I am not okay with coming up short." After that verbal jab about Bayley's loss at the rumble to Charlotte, we next saw her later in the show heading to the ring. A dour Boss walked down the ramp with grim determination, indicating something darker at play within her mind as she awaited Nia Jax.
(Banks fought through the pain to once again give everything she had in a losing effort. Source: WWE.com)
Jax took every opportunity to work the injured knee as Banks refused to back down or submit even when any possibility of victory was gone. Bayley had to come to the ring to intervene as the giant continued her mission to cripple Sasha Banks even after the bell had rung. Banks never submitted before the timekeeper called for the bell. She laid in a heap semi-conscious from the pain but never tapped. This is where the angle gets interesting.
(The Boss defied reason and injury to combat the woman who wants to end her career. Source: WWE.com)
Banks only tapped out twice to Charlotte during their epic rivalry – both times during their Ironman Match at Roadblock. She tapped near the end of regulation and finally, to save her knee and live to fight another day, submitted in sudden death overtime, losing 3-2 and ending her third title reign. In Sasha Banks' mind, she was still in the ring at Roadblock, her face a mask of blood as she pounded the canvas in submission. She did not tap against Jax on Monday night. In a match that was strictly personal so soon after the Boss' fall from the top, this is the important part.
(Banks never tapped. Source: WWE.com)
The audience watched her bitterly walk into what amounted to an athletic suicide mission. Why? The apparent answer is that she had to bury any weakness she saw in herself for losing her title via submission – and not being able to give her latest challenger her just desserts the night before.
Another take, along with aforementioned blow to her pride, is that she doubted if her body could do it anymore, so she decided to plunge headlong into a fight she couldn't win, and if her knee blew out, she knew she went down a warrior in her last match.
(After getting Jax to unhand her best friend, Bayley helps a hobbled Boss to the training room. Source: WWE.com)
In other words, she would rather destroy her knee than live as a diminished wrestler who could no longer compete at the highest level. This is heavy stuff for scripting pro wrestling, but if you look back from this to Banks telling the world she did not "feel like a boss" any longer prior to Jax setting the feud off this makes sense. In her mind if she is not elite, she is nothing.
Now we just have to see how long before she turns her inner rage outward toward Bayley, who will most likely face Charlotte again for the title at WrestleMania. The only question left is when creative pulls the trigger: Will it be soon, or only after Bayley raises the championship in victory?
NAOMI MAKES HER STATEMENT
(Naomi gets some trademark hang time before putting away the champ. Source: WWE.com)
The women of Smackdown in the six-man tag match on the Royal Rumble Kickoff all got a chance to shine once again – especially Naomi.
Naomi returned to TV on Team Blue's go-home show for the Rumble stating she wanted Alexa Bliss' gold. Ever since the brand split, she has made great strides in her presentation and move set to carve a distinctive path and get noticed, even without a meaningful storyline going into 2017. Social media had noticed and she has a vocal contingent of fans who can't get enough. One visit to twitter on a Tuesday night makes that evident. WWE is noticing too.
(The return of Mickey James opens up yet more match-up possibilities for the women of Smackdown Live. Source: WWE.com)
After Becky Lynch lost her women's title rematch with Alexa Bliss thanks to Mickey James, the Lasskicker has been focused on the crafty veteran and making her pay. In some ways, it's a downer to see her excellent rivalry with Bliss on hold this soon, but seeing SD Live's distaff ring general in a dream match with an all-time great is too good not to book. Naomi's emerging popularity makes a title shot against Little Miss Bliss a great moment, as well as a challenge for both.
(While the match ended with the baby faces victorious, many more possibilities emerge for all the women of Smackdown Live. Source: WWE.com)
Bliss' improvement in the ring is a direct result of her feud over the title with Lynch, but she has yet to have an epic match in her WWE career. Naomi is in the same position, but her timing is much improved on her high spots since Survivor Series and her athleticism provides a good contrast with the champion's conniving heel style. After showcasing Lynch, Naomi, James and Bliss with Nikki Bella and Natalya, Smackdown one-ups Raw in overall women's booking again.
Raw is just now getting a second feud outside the title picture going, while Smackdown Live boasts not only a fresh title feud, but also good personal conflicts between Lynch and James in addition to Nikki and Natalya. The only woman not entrenched in these feuds is Carmella, and she is finding a way to always get on TV with James Ellsworth as her valet helping her cheat to win. As the Smackdown creative team has stepped up to give their wrestlers avenues to showcase themselves, the in-ring talent has met the challenge in NXT.
STRANGE TIMES IN ASUKA CITY
(It's still Asuka City, suplexes and all. Source: WWE.com)
Months ago, I cited the need for the women of NXT to step up and show they were a worthy stable to compete with their champion, the best female wrestler in the world, Asuka. Athletic and creative efforts in this direction bore their initial fruits at NXT Takeover: San Antonio. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay cemented their status as the top female heels in the brand. Their ring skills while solid, are still developing compared to the elites on the main roster, but both have made immense creative strides. If they continue to build on the match they had in Texas there will be some great television in store. The opponent that truly made this match her breakout, however, was Nikki Cross.
(Cross is the only woman to date that has been hardnosed enough to shut Asuka down. Source: WWE.com)
Cross built a solid technical resume wrestling as Nikki Storm in the UK and Europe prior to coming to NXT. In her first televised appearance as a high-energy baby face, she demonstrated her strength and skill, but was pretty much just a smiling grappler. Once she joined Sanity as the feral kid sister archetype of Eric Young and company, the gimmick fit her like one Lego to another. Early on we could see that she had the intensity to be the next plausible challenger for the Empress of Tomorrow beyond Ember Moon.
As good as the Fatal Fourway match was at Takeover, she at times overshadowed Royce and Kay, until the pair suplexed her through a table. Prior to that Cross showed us a character who may not have the skill of Asuka, but who could match the champion's intensity.
(Now that her compatriots are growing into a solid women's division, the possibility of Asuka moving to the main roster sometime in 2017 could be a tantalizing reality. Source: WWE.com)
Fearless and angry, she established herself as a top woman under WWE's brand umbrella. With the Asuka/Moon feud teased at the end of Takeover, look for Cross to get even more opportunities to showcase her gritty brand of athleticism with Moon, Royce, Kay, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose and the rest as 2017 unfolds. Now the biggest question isn't who will step among the NXT women, but rather when will WWE bring Asuka to the big show? The personalities of the women's division are responding to the pressure.
Next time in Glitter and Slam we'll look at the Elimination Chamber card as well as keep an ongoing eye on the matches and creative direction for the women of WWE programming.
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