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During this week's WWE RAW, Shayna Baszler entered Alexa's Playground, which kickstarted a bizarre series of events for the former MMA fighter.
Baszler thought confronting Alexa Bliss and her "stupid doll" would be a walk in the park. However, that couldn't be further from the truth as Bliss' creepy doll, Lilly, ended up haunting her to a point where she screamed in terror as the show went off the air.
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The final moments of the segment saw Baszler confronting a mirror reflection of Lilly. Prior to that, the former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion was surrounded by falling set pieces from the ThunderDome, all thanks to the supernatural abilities of Alexa Bliss/Lilly.
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This segment has received polarizing reviews, with some even calling it one of the worst WWE RAW endings of all time. But let's not forget that the show ended on a cliffhanger this week, meaning there are questions regarding what exactly happened to Baszler.
The follow-up to the cliffhanger could very well lead to some interesting developments. With that in mind, let's take a look at five things that could have happened to Shayna Baszler after the bizarre ending to this week's RAW.
#5 Things got back to normal for Shayna Baszler after WWE RAW
One of the toughest parts about booking out-of-the-box segments is having satisfying payoffs in the long run. More often than not, WWE crosses its own limits when it comes to bizarre storytelling, things go back to normal soon after, and all is forgotten.
In the case of Alexa Bliss and Shayna Baszler's segment, it's likely that the latter could be walking backstage like her usual self on next week's episode as if she wasn't traumatized by Lilly in the first place.
Sure, this would be a cheap way to resolve the cliffhanger, but judging by WWE's track record, it's an expected outcome.
#4 Did the entire WWE segment take place inside Shayna Baszler's head?
Yes, the possibility that a WWE segment could be a dream sounds like perfect fan-fiction material. However, evidence from Alexa Bliss and Shayna Baszler's recent encounter lends some credence to this possibility.
When the entire backstage area turned into a horror setting, there was no one present there except Baszler. Moreover, Nia Jax had warned her tag team partner about Alexa Bliss' mystical tricks beforehand, so why didn't she come to Baszler's rescue when everything turned into chaos?
If this segment indeed took place inside Shayna Baszler's head, the bizarreness of it all would make sense. This possibility would also be an efficient way for her to return to normalcy immediately. Otherwise, WWE has a lot of explaining to do on next week's episode.
#3 Shayna Baszler fell into Alexa Bliss and Lilly's control
Shayna Baszler's screams marked the end of this week's WWE RAW, so the logical creative direction would be that things didn't end well for her after the segment took place.
Being trapped in the same room as Lilly the doll, did Baszler even escape it after the show went off the air? It's reasonable to assume that the supernatural doll and Alexa Bliss may control Baszler's actions after this week's show. Perhaps the former UFC fighter may even end up being the physical manifestation of the doll in the long run.
WWE could certainly add a few layers to the story by exploring Shayna Baszler's fractured mindset after her supposedly horrifying encounter (for the character) with Lilly.
#2 Shayna Baszler got trapped inside Alexa Bliss's jack-in-the-box
Back during Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt's WWE feud, Alexa Bliss played a significant role in resurrecting Wyatt's alter-ego, The Fiend. It was eventually revealed that The Fiend was trapped inside a jack-in-the-box object after being weakened by fire at last year's TLC pay-per-view.
If Shayna Baszler is set to disappear from WWE television for a while, becoming trapped inside the jack-in-the-box could serve as a fictional reason for her absence.
Perhaps being locked in a room with Lilly at the end of RAW symbolized that Baszler got trapped inside the mysterious box as well. But the chances of this scenario coming true entirely depend upon whether or not WWE's creative team members are even interested in highlighting the jack-in-the-box arc once again.
#1 Shayna Baszler got manipulated to attack Nia Jax on next week's WWE RAW
Sticking to the "Lilly and Alexa Bliss now control Shayna Baszler" theory, what if Baszler got manipulated to target Nia Jax after this week's RAW ended in a cliffhanger?
Jax and Bliss have a history with each other as friends and foes. Keeping Baszler and Jax's recent tag team stint in mind, it would make sense if Bliss/Lilly wanted to break the duo up by pitting them against each other. After all, this seemed to be Alexa Bliss and Lilly's possible goal before Baszler became their main target.
It would be best to book Shayna Baszler's attack on Nia Jax as a surprise instead of teasing the same over the next few weeks. If Baszler ambushed Jax during the very next episode, viewers could easily connect the dots as to what really happened after this week's RAW went off the air.
Feel free to check out the latest edition of 'Legion of RAW' with Dr. Chris Featherstone and former WWE Head Writer Vince Russo in the video embedded above.
What are your thoughts regarding Shayna Baszler's future on WWE RAW? Sound off in the comments section below.
