As some of you may have seen, I stumbled upon this match during tonight’s Hulbert House Show. I was asked to name my favourite Alexa Bliss match, which admittedly rocked me some. Look, I sincerely like Alexa Bliss. Sure, I portray that via silliness on occasion but at her best, Bliss was good TV. With that being said, I think she’d be the first to concede that she’s not exactly a grappler for the star rating spreadsheet.
As a result, I turned to the cagematch. It was there that I found this, as it’s allegedly Bliss’ best singles match. Granted, it’s only 0.01 ahead of the 2-seed, but still. How do I not remember this? Surely of all the people on earth, I should know this existed, high chancellor of all things BlissCross. After finding the match, my confusion has become clearer, as this is from July 2020. To translate, we are at the Performance Center for a pandemic SmackDown.
Nonetheless, I mentally committed to reviewing this and while I generally avoid this “era,” I’ll make an exception for our former World’s Tag Team Champions. The scenario is simple, as Bayley has pitted Bliss and Cross against each other, having to wrestle for #1 contender status. Bayley and Sasha Banks are on commentary for this match, also. Hilariously, it is genuinely quite good. I know you don’t believe me, but I will proceed nonetheless.
They tell a familiar tale, but one that fits this story and more importantly, is executed well too. Initially, it’s like a spar, as they exchange holds in some extended chain wrestling exchanges. No strike is thrown, it’s just two friends grappling, even if rather competitively. As things barely veer in Bliss’ direction, Cross sports increasing frustration, steadily upping the ante along the way. Bliss responds accordingly, launching two slaps, first upsetting Cross and then landing with the second.
Strikes fly back and forth afterwards, earning a celebration from Bayley and Banks, who eat a forearm each for their troubles. As they trend towards a more conventional WWE TV match, Bliss is the de facto heel, reverting to type and quite aggressively working over Cross’ injured ribs. She never quite goes full mean girl though, which is necessary for the tale being told. Instead, she’s simply embracing the obvious route to victory.
Even still, the segment is a little long for what they want to achieve here, though understandably so. Cross’ comeback follows and they go into a lively finishing stretch from there, with Cross taking a heavy bump on her missed crossbody off the top. The finish is cute too, as Cross uses an Alexa-esque trick, buying some time with her injury only to opportunistically snatch a small package. Obviously, that’s exactly where this story should’ve gone.
Their friendship made Bliss soft while equally arming Cross with a knowhow that was dangerous in her hands. Based on this match, their seemingly inevitable feud could’ve been quite good, and ideally would have truly elevated Cross in a way that ASH failed to. Instead, things went in a very different direction and Bliss entered a new, spooky chapter the following week. Look, that whole thing once made me quite mad but life is fleeting and ultimately, who cares?
Clearly, the grapplers involved had a blast and I’m sure a whole lot of people that I don’t know enjoyed it too. Fine by me, these are the games we play. Thankfully, I can at least cite this match moving forward, as it’s genuinely quite good in ways that I didn’t necessarily anticipate. While certainly not on the level of their rivals in this scene, Bliss and Cross were very steady during the PC TV era, which they probably deserve a smidge more credit for.
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