Alexa Bliss is ready to replace the Four Horsewomen

With Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks now main roster regulars, NXT’s divas roster was left depleted in the aftermath of Takeover: Respect. But with the advent of Asuka at the same show and the continued presence of Dana Brooke and Emma, Bayley wasn’t without contenders.

But instead of going with any of those three women, NXT is pushing Alexa Bliss. Two weeks into her feud with Bayley, she seems ready to take over as the top mean girl of NXT.

Alexa Bliss is perfectly bad. Image credit: WWE.com.

Alexa wrestled a solid match with Peyton Royce on this week's NXT. Peyton got in far more offense than I think I’ve seen before, but Alexa Bliss looked like a million bucks as she did everything she needed to pick up the win over Royce. Blake and Murphy surprisingly remained only as ringside spectators, though one suspects they will become far more important once she regularly starts wrestling Bayley.

Asuka also showed that she’s ready for a hotshot to the top of the NXT roster. She went one on one with a wrestler she faced before in Japan (and perhaps, Shimmer) in Billie Kay. Much like Peyton, Billie got in a lot more offense than in previous matches, but Asuka continues to have all the kicks, suplexes and submissions to be a menace to anyone. And she still has the best flying armbar of any wrestler in the world.

While Asuka and Alexa are clearly positioned well, this week’s programming makes me suspect we will start seeing wins for Billie Kay and Peyton Royce soon as well. Both were independent standouts and a feud between the two and the team of Emma and Dana might be good for all four women.

This week’s show was main evented by Baron Corbin versus Rhyno, in yet another rematch between the two. This time Rhyno was meant to be the face in their battle, but he again fell to Corbin and the End of Days. It was far from the best main event in NXT history, but they can’t all be winners.

Enzo Amore and a clearly hurting Colin Cassady picked up a surprise win over Dash & Dawson as well, albeit one that came at the price of an epic beatdown by the second coming of the Brainbusters. Dash & Dawson should make great competitors for the tag titles in the next few weeks.

Of course, the biggest news story of tonight’s broadcast was the NXT debut of James Storm. Storm is apparently a fifteen year veteran of the independents (at least according to NXT’s announce team), but he clearly was positioned here as another big signing for NXT. And honestly if WWE really wants someone to help get Baron Corbin over, an actually competitive feud with Storm could do him wonders.


Storm ended his drubbing of Danny Burch by yelling "Sorry about your damn luck!" He made that catchphrase famous in TNA, but I cannot be the only person that thinks it is insane that the company did not get legal protection on the phrase. Because they didn’t, Storm is able to return to his face persona in a matter of seconds on NXT television, a happy change after over a year of his work as discount Bray Wyatt.

James Storm makes some intriguing possibilities for match-ups in the next few weeks, much as Samoa Joe did with his arrival. With the arrival of talent like him and Asuka as well as the impending debuts of people like Athena and Biff Busick, it is hard to not continue to see NXT as the best brand in televised wrestling.