Opinion: Alexa Bliss will beat Ronda Rousey at Summerslam
Ronda Rousey will challenge RAW Women's Champion, Alexa Bliss, for her championship at Summerslam on Sunday. This is the second time the former UFC Bantamweight Champion will be challenging for the premier Women's Championship in pro-wrestling in just her fourth match.
Considering the reputation and the brand value that Rousey brings to the table, it is hard to think that the WWE is not going to put the championship on her at Summerslam. She has been built up extremely strong in her WWE run till now, even getting the better of Triple H on multiple occasions. And on Sunday when she takes on the 5'1" Alexa Bliss, it almost feels inevitable that she is going to steamroll through her on the way to her first world championship in the WWE.
Yet, it is what every fan is expecting at this point and the company might be tempted to throw a curve ball at the WWE universe. The fact of the matter is that this is going to be just Rousey's fourth match in a wrestling ring. And although all her matches till now have been good to great, it should be put down to the WWE's immaculate booking that has managed to highlight her strengths while hiding her shortcomings in the ring.
She will have nowhere to hide, though, if the WWE decide to make her the champion of the RAW women's division. As the champion, she will be expected to continuously put on great matches. There is a certain pressure that comes with that and it might be too early for Ronda Rousey to win the championship.
Alexa Bliss brought up the elephant in the room this week on RAW, by pointing out that she had more world championship runs than Ronda has matches in the WWE. And that is exactly the reason why WWE should hold back from putting the championship on Rousey already.
The WWE fans have been known to turn on superstars if they feel like they are being shoved down their throats. And after the initial hype around Ronda dies out, that is exactly what it is going to feel like if she is struggling to put on great matches as champion.
The company is at an all-time low in terms of having quality babyfaces. AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan can be relied on for that role but both of them are not the youngest guys on the roster. It is only a matter of time before they move on from the business. WWE will need to earmark talent that can take up their roles.
Rousey has that potential to be a huge babyface for years to come. But there is a long way for her to go before the WWE can be sure that the fans are going to cheer for her every single night of the year. She needs time to earn her stripes in the WWE. And the company cannot simply fast track her run to the top in order to make some quick cash but hurting her long-term value in the process.
Alexa Bliss needs to retain her title at Summerslam by hook or by crook. Obviously, she cannot get a clean win over Rousey because that will the kill the former UFC champion's momentum. But there are ways that WWE can move Ronda away from Bliss' championship and straight into another feud.
At this point of time, Nia Jax helping Bliss retain the championship seems like the best option available. This way, Bliss gets to keep her championship while Ronda gets to dive into a different high profile feud immediately, getting to earn in-ring experience without having the pressure of carrying a world championship.