Alexa's Terrible Bumping

[Urethra Franklin]

There were a number of problems with that match:

1. Asuka is a killer. Nobody wants to see her sell. You book her like Goldberg.

2. Alexa cuts a good promo and has excellent facials. She’s a good heel, but she might be 5’0. You cannot book her as a dominant heel like she’s Tamina or something. It’s completely unbelievable. She should be terrified of Asuka and certainly not on offence to the level that she was. I know Asuka won the match in the end, but the match itself was just so poorly laid out.

[Deleted]

This just makes me think. Imagine if Goldberg ended up wrestling Jericho in WCW and then have it be a competitive match. Also before someone says "she's not Goldberg" that's not the narrative prior to her debut nor is that the narrative they're giving her. Either way it would be bad if Goldberg didn't destroy Jericho.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 2, 2018 17:44:08 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

There were a number of problems with that match:

1. Asuka is a killer. Nobody wants to see her sell. You book her like Goldberg.

The thing is Asuka does take her lumps and hardly squashes people so there's something to be said for her selling a bit tho in saying that if they booked Alexa like a scardy cat heel in the ring as well as out the ring than this would be easy to map out

Alexa runs from Asuka constantly, eventually she sneak attacks Asuka, try to injure her as well, and once they finally get in the ring she gets overconfident and gets tapped out

[Deleted]

Jan 2, 2018 16:13:56 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Alexa is one of those people like The Miz was at where you see the passion and they are good enough to be at a top spot but she's stagnant and not improving at all

I think Miz is a great comparison for Alexa Bliss. She's a good performer but I doubt she'll ever be someone to go to for pure mat classics or anything, which is fine, but you have to accept that and find a different way to have great matches because the current formula isn't great. As great as Miz is now they still to a lesser extent seem to have the same problem with him, in that he thrives as a weaselly brat but they have him step into this hardened veteran role sometimes and I will never buy him as a physical threat. He doesn't carry himself like a guy that can fight, and that's especially so for Alexa. They are perfect rascally chickenshit heels who should be surviving more on cunning than ability.

I'm not really a stickler about bumping, it never was something that stuck out to me with Alexa even though those gifs aren't very encouraging. I thought she had fine matches with Mickie James and Charlotte recently, she's capable, but they are definitely playing her against her strengths. I really don't know what the idea is behind booking her the way they do.

[Final Countdown Jones]

As far as the "squash yes/squash no" matter goes; I don't want to be "that guy", but I'd offer for comparison, a match from New Japan: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kushida for the Junior Heavyweight title at Sakura Genesis. In their match before, the story told was that Kushida was a better wrestler, but Hiromu's unpredictability and recklessness helped him get ahead. This match ran 1:56 on the equivalent of a B PPV, but told what was essentially the story of Kushida trying to play Hiromu at his own incredibly reckless and chaotic game, ending up getting totally f***ed over because of it and defeated in swift, embarrassing fashion. But it still told a story, and from that, Kushida learned he had to go at it differently and use his talents to his advantage. From that, Kushida learned and had some character development, and he didn't look like an idiot or a chump for getting destroyed, he looked like a guy who got foolish and punished for it. Their next match was 20 minutes long and Kushida won it no less credible for the loss.

I bring it up because even if WWE legitimately doesn't care about any kind of actual long-term storytelling or character development, a squash here could have radically changed the dynamic in a very important way. Alexa's spent this whole reign with a chip on her shoulder, because she's not only beating everyone, she's beating them in straight-up fights with minimal cheating or heelishness, beating women with a f***ing punch and just in general running through the division. So here comes Asuka, and the cocky Alexa decides she's going to prove Asuka ain't shit, gets completely f***ed over by a better wrestler who punks her out and shows her up. Set the stage for Alexa to realize she needs to handle Asuka differently because here is an opponent who is tougher and better as a wrestler than she is, and Alexa has to instead resort to sneakier, more underhanded tactics to steal advantages where she can. Make the ensuing title match a war of attrition between a fighter who can effortlessly dismantle her opponent, and someone who wants to hold onto her prestige and her status as a "goddess" by any means possible. You get a f***ing story told in a match for once, and ease Alexa into a role where she's more comfortably playing to what she should be doing in-ring to begin with.

f*** this "she isn't Goldberg" thing; that sentiment is why Nakamura debuted spending his match selling Dolph's offense. People need to win matches decisively, and from there the effort needs to be put into making the matches tell a story and having their outcomes matter.

[pegasuswarrior]

Not saying the points are invalid. But what kills me is how I’ll read this and see the examples (valid), and then there are people who want to see Michelle McCool in the Hall of Fame. If only the threads were as brutal during that era. Heck, some of them may have actually been, but my, Alexa Bliss would’ve almost been Antonio Inoki during that era.

[cabbageboy]

WWE seems to only know how to book one match anymore, namely one where a face sells, sells, and sells for a heel for 80% of it. It doesn't remotely take into consideration that there are other kinds of faces and other kinds of heels that require a different match. Alexa Bliss is laughable as a dominant heel that beats everyone clean. It's a joke. If she must be pushed at all have her cheat outrageously, pull of screwjobs all the time, cower in fear. Last night we also had Samoa Joe beating up Roman ad nausea to the point where I just flipped over to the football game. Ditto Cesaro/Jordan. There has to be some kind of give/take in a match or else one party looks like crap even in a win.

Seriously right now if WWE had 1980s Flair he would probably dominate 80% of the match and do a ton of boring leg work the entire time. You know, instead of him getting beaten up by the face a ton, do his whole act, beg, sell, and finally cheat to gain the advantage and THEN work the leg.

[Chiral]

Jan 2, 2018 17:20:44 GMT -5 Final Countdown Jones said:

Given a few years and more work, Alexa can definitely imrpvoe, but right now the real problem is they're putting together these matches for her where she doesn't really get to improve because she's working so completely wrong for her size and her style. She's probably the most miscast person in WWE right now as a worker and with her push, and as long as she's kept in this "someone has a massive hard-on for her and it's ruining the entire f***ing production" zone there's no chance for her to grow.

I have been thinking lately that Stephanie has had her hands on the top women's division wrestler and is basically doing her self insert fanfic of her as an active wrestler; there's been this consistent "evil diva that almost always wins and never goes away but randomly they're nice" for like 10+ years in the women's division. I may be reaching but that character type just makes me think of Stephanie.

[Yacht Persona]

I think it's safe to say the rocket was strapped to her a little too quickly, but Vince and Kevin Dunn like her, so yay.

[xxshoyuweeniexx]

Jan 2, 2018 18:25:43 GMT -5 pegasuswarrior said:

Not saying the points are invalid. But what kills me is how I’ll read this and see the examples (valid), and then there are people who want to see Michelle McCool in the Hall of Fame. If only the threads were as brutal during that era. Heck, some of them may have actually been, but my, Alexa Bliss would’ve almost been Antonio Inoki during that era.

To be fair to McCool, she became a pretty damn good in ring worker, to the point where girls like Eve, Kelly Kelly, and Beth Phoenix praised her for some of their matches. Don’t get me wrong, they overpushed her and that Piggy James stuff with Laycool was much worse than Alexa calling Bayley a virgin. But she became a lot better than people gave her credit for.

[King Devitt: What Plants Crave]

This is probably why she dominates 90% of her matches. She doesn't have to bump then.

Jan 2, 2018 11:34:38 GMT -5 Pgarodactyl said:

Jan 2, 2018 11:20:52 GMT -5 Surfer Sandman said:

Sounds like textbook chickenshit heel tactics to me.

I think the issue here is that, up until the bell ringing, it WAS chickenshit heel tactics. Once the bell rang, there was no more chickenshit antics.

Because in ring she's booked like the female version of 2002 HHH.
Dominant heel champion who never gets her comeuppance.

[cjh]

She has no problem taking bumps in that her actual falls to the mat are fine and safe, but she does seem to be worried about taking hits to the face, causing her to fall too soon. Bryan Alvarez was speculating today that it could be fear after the broken nose she got in NXT.

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Jan 2, 2018 19:58:25 GMT -5 cjh said:

She has no problem taking bumps in that her actual falls to the mat are fine and safe, but she does seem to be worried about taking hits to the face, causing her to fall too soon. Bryan Alvarez was speculating today that it could be fear after the broken nose she got in NXT.

I doubt that. If that were the case, it'd be pretty hard to script her matches if she won't let herself get hit in the face.

[1 Free Moon-Down with Burger]

Jan 2, 2018 22:30:02 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

Jan 2, 2018 19:58:25 GMT -5 cjh said:

She has no problem taking bumps in that her actual falls to the mat are fine and safe, but she does seem to be worried about taking hits to the face, causing her to fall too soon. Bryan Alvarez was speculating today that it could be fear after the broken nose she got in NXT.

I doubt that. If that were the case, it'd be pretty hard to script her matches if she won't let herself get hit in the face.

Not sure what you're getting at. Its a matter of selling.

They're not going to ban all face area moves just for her. She's just gonna go out of her way to not get hit. To the point of making the opponent look like trash.

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Jan 2, 2018 22:42:21 GMT -5 1 Free Moon-Down with Burger said:

Jan 2, 2018 22:30:02 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

I doubt that. If that were the case, it'd be pretty hard to script her matches if she won't let herself get hit in the face.

Not sure what you're getting at. Its a matter of selling.

They're not going to ban all face area moves just for her. She's just gonna go out of her way to not get hit.

I know that, I'm just saying I highly doubt she has a fear of that since she's had a busted lip a few times on camera. Comes with getting hit in the face, so yeah. That idea has Swiss cheese levels of holes in it imo.

[cjb01: Limited Edition Item!]

I like Bliss but I ain't gonna defend her bumping, it's terrible, it just is. She looks like in some instances that she flat out ignored that class in the PC.

Someone needs to tell her that wrestling involves at least looking like a body part is touching your face in a bump, past broken nose or not, otherwise it just looks like every single move whiffs and you're just falling over clumsily.

And since she's facing Asuka, who is a strike heavy person, it's not a good mix. Asuka went for like three straight dropkicks in that match and Alexa sold all three of them like shit.

[cjb01: Limited Edition Item!]

Jan 2, 2018 22:44:30 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

Jan 2, 2018 22:42:21 GMT -5 1 Free Moon-Down with Burger said:

Not sure what you're getting at. Its a matter of selling.

They're not going to ban all face area moves just for her. She's just gonna go out of her way to not get hit.

I know that, I'm just saying I highly doubt she has a fear of that since she's had a busted lip a few times on camera. Comes with getting hit in the face, so yeah. That idea has Swiss cheese levels of holes in it imo.

Kinda like when you said Alexa is a great bumper by quoting a post with multiple Gifs of different portions of Alexa's runs where she is terribly bumping? I'd say that's swiss cheese level logic more than anything...

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Jan 2, 2018 22:45:59 GMT -5 cjb01: Limited Edition Item! said:

Jan 2, 2018 22:44:30 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

I know that, I'm just saying I highly doubt she has a fear of that since she's had a busted lip a few times on camera. Comes with getting hit in the face, so yeah. That idea has Swiss cheese levels of holes in it imo.

Kinda like when you said Alexa is a great bumper by quoting a post with multiple Gifs of different portions of Alexa's runs where she is terribly bumping?

I only saw one instance where she messed up out of the 3, and that was a blink and you miss it on the big boot from Charlotte. It's no big deal, it will improve in time. I'm sure other greats sucked at bumping too when they started.

[1 Free Moon-Down with Burger]

Jan 2, 2018 22:47:56 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

Jan 2, 2018 22:45:59 GMT -5 cjb01: Limited Edition Item! said:

Kinda like when you said Alexa is a great bumper by quoting a post with multiple Gifs of different portions of Alexa's runs where she is terribly bumping?

I only saw one instance where she messed up out of the 3, and that was a blink and you miss it on the big boot from Charlotte. It's no big deal, it will improve in time. I'm sure other greats sucked at bumping too when they started.

Other greats probably weren't in the main event of their divisions when they learned how to bump. Lol.

Dude. I know you're a big Alexa stan but you can step back from time to time.

[cjb01: Limited Edition Item!]

Jan 2, 2018 22:47:56 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

Jan 2, 2018 22:45:59 GMT -5 cjb01: Limited Edition Item! said:

Kinda like when you said Alexa is a great bumper by quoting a post with multiple Gifs of different portions of Alexa's runs where she is terribly bumping?

I only saw one instance where she messed up out of the 3, and that was a blink and you miss it on the big boot from Charlotte. It's no big deal, it will improve in time. I'm sure other greats sucked at bumping too when they started.

"When they started"

She's been wrestling since 2013... she's been Main Roster since the beginning of 2016, and the Main Event of BOTH shows. This should have cleanly been addressed by now, not getting worse. 

This isn't just an incident with Bliss though, Sasha and Bayley have also hard regressed in some similar ways.