3 Ups & 11 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 18)

7. What The What?

Alexa Bliss
WWE

Ever since coming into WWE, Asuka has been this fearless, nearly unbeatable buzzsaw (save for her matches against Carmella). That’s why her interactions with Alexa Bliss were so mind-bogglingly stupid.

Asuka was a guest in Alexa’s Playground, where the Empress very clearly was trying to stay on Bliss’ good side, smiling and dancing and nervously complimenting her constantly. It was like watching someone trying not to trigger a tantrum from an angry giant, with Asuka playing it very big and over-the-top.

Had there been some buildup between the two of them, with Bliss tormenting Asuka or getting in her face previously, this would have made some sense. But this was their first interaction in ages – and Bliss hasn’t actually wrestled a match since November, which was her only match in the past four months.

Sure, we (and Asuka) saw Bliss throw a fireball at Randy Orton last week, and that likely was the reason for Asuka’s actions, but even then, her antics were somewhat out of character. Would the Empress nervously dance around to keep an opponent from getting upset? It needed some better buildup than what we got.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.