7 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 8)

5. Bliss Tries Subterfuge

Nia Jaxx Alexa Bliss
WWE.com

Once in a while, WWE does a decent job of subtle writing, where they actually provide some backstory or motivation without clubbing the viewer over the head repeatedly.

They pulled it off Monday night when Alexa Bliss confronted Asuka (who beat the champ last week) and warned that Nia Jax would be upset when she heard what the Empress of Tomorrow said about her – even though she had said nothing.

Bliss then tracked down Nia and buttered her up, with Jax not falling for it at first, then seemingly getting riled as Alexa ramped up. But when Bliss whispered what Asuka “said,” Nia asked her if she spoke Japanese (Alexa doesn’t), because Asuka doesn’t speak English (at least not fluently).

Jax saw through her friend’s trickery and called her on it without being heavy-handed. It was a decent piece of storytelling. Nevermind that Jax still went out and destroyed Asuka anyway – that’s just what good heels do.

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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.