3 Ups & 11 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 18)
4. Bliss Transforms Herself
The main event is likely to be pretty divisive. There are going to be some who really enjoyed it, and others who will crap all over it.
Alexa Bliss faced Asuka in a nontitle match that started off just fine, with the Empress showing her normal aggression despite her trepidation during the earlier Alexa’s Playground segment. But then the lights went out, and when Raw returned, Bliss had changed costumes, put her pigtails up into a disheveled mess, and donned black lipstick.
She transformed!
Bliss suddenly was able to fend off Asuka’s attacks, absorbing her kicks and strikes, eventually catching the Raw Women’s Champion in a Sister Abigail for the clean pin. And then she reverted to the happy Bliss to go off-air.
Um, what? Obviously, this is something WWE can only get away with during these empty arena shows, and that’s all well and good, but it wasn’t very good. So now Bliss is capable of transforming herself into an impervious monster? It’s somewhat intriguing, but it just came out of nowhere, and again, Asuka being terrified didn’t really work. Her attacking constantly was good, but then she’d freeze for what seemed like an eternity, which is out of character.