10 WWE Stomping Grounds Impulse Reactions
5. Bayley Vs. Alexa Bliss
.@AlexaBliss_WWE SLAPS the taste right out of @itsBayleyWWE's mouth in this back and forth contest for the #SDLive Women's Championship! #WWEStompingGrounds pic.twitter.com/HLprQJZCcS
— WWE (@WWE) June 24, 2019
The omens weren't great for 'The Hugger' going in to Stomping Grounds.
A 2017 rivalry with Alexa Bliss had murdered her original main roster push. This pay-per-view marked the first opportunity for 'Little Miss Bliss' to have a significant singles match since last year thanks to a raft of concussion issues, and she was elevated immediately into a title shot. The show even began with a quick advertisement for a WWE Network special coming after it - a 365 Special on Alexa Bliss.
Bayley's task in kayfabe was to prove she hadn't peaked in NXT, and that was soundly achieved by virtue of her latest victory. In reality, it was to prove why WWE's booking should have been much kinder to her all along. To this end, the match was a minor miss.
The two worked hard in spite of a crowd that had quietened down for the first time all night, whilst Nikki Cross' placement for Bayley's dive and the eventual miscommunication finish allowed for welcoming continuation of her surely-doomed relationship with Alexa Bliss.
If that praise feels faint, it's because that's perhaps all the pair warranted. It was at least the right result and the right finish - no mean feat for the women's division of late.