What’s the story?
With WrestleMania 33 less than two weeks away, the card is taking its final form, but a there are still a number of names noticeably missing. Last year the women of WWE found themselves shoehorned into a 10-diva tag team match on the pre-show, and it seems as though the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship will fill that same void this year as well.
Cagesideseats.com has speculated that a number of RAW wrestlers may find themselves thrown into the match, with Summer Rae and Emma mentioned by name.
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Alexa Bliss became the first two-time SmackDown Live Women’s Champion in history when she defeated Becky Lynch for the vacant title on February 21, after which she proclaimed herself to be the ‘greatest female wrestler on the SmackDown roster’.
The rest of the roster understandably had something of a problem with that statement, and Bliss’ mouth wrote a cheque that her body may struggle to cash.
SmackDown Live GM Daniel Bryan announced that Bliss was to defend her Championship against the entire SmackDown Live roster at WrestleMania 33, although the match form itself is yet to be confirmed.
Bliss currently has four announced opponents in the shape of Natalya, Becky Lynch, Carmella and Mickie James, with more names expected to be announced.
The heart of the matter
Over on RAW, a number of stars find themselves doing a whole lot of nothing in post-brand split WWE. Emma and Summer Rae are arguably the two biggest names, and it isn’t entirely out of the question that either could turn up in the SmackDown Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania.
Both would provide a much-needed boost to the blue brand’s women’s division, with Emma, in particular, being criminally underused on the flagship show.
Rumours have been rife that a number of former Superstars may also return to challenge Alexa Bliss at the Show of Shows, but a number of active stars are also as yet without ‘Mania matches. Emma, Summer Rae, Alicia Fox, Tamina, and even former Champion Naomi could well find themselves in line for a Championship opportunity at the Ultimate Thrill Ride.
What’s next?
The SmackDown Women’s Championship match is one of the lower profile matches on the WrestleMania 33 card and, as such, may well take place on the Kickoff show, and it isn’t implausible that a number of performers won’t be announced for the bout until the match itself.
WWE will want to keep a couple of names back for surprise pops, and as such Alexa Bliss shouldn’t start feeling comfortable anytime soon. Emma and Summer Rae may come out of ‘Mania with gold just yet.
Author’s take
The continued under utilisation of Emma is borderline criminal at this point. The Australian is one of the best female wrestlers on the entire roster and a fine character to boot, yet for reasons that aren’t entirely clear the RAW creative team is somewhat apprehensive about pulling the trigger on her.
A move to SmackDown Live would undoubtedly be a good thing for Emma, and the Championship match at WrestleMania 33 is a great way to achieve that. Summer Rae also deserves better than what she is currently getting, and whilst she may not have Emma’s in-ring ability she could still be a valuable presence on WWE TV.
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