Alexa Bliss Beats Bayley to Retain Raw Women's Championship at WWE Extreme Rules

Alexa Bliss beat Bayley in a Kendo Stick on a Pole match Sunday night at Extreme Rules to retain the Raw Women's Championship.

A turning point in the match came when Bayley appeared to hesitate in using the kendo stick. That allowed Bliss to tackle Bayley and gain the upper hand. WWE provided a replay of the moment:

Repeating the finish to their Payback match, Bliss hit Bayley with a DDT to remain champion.

PWMania's Jason Solomon and Wrestling Inc's Raj Giri didn't think the way the match unfolded benefited the challenger in the long run:

Bliss came to Raw from SmackDown Live as part of the Superstar Shake-up, and it took her little time to establish herself as a player in the title scene.

The Five Feet of Fury won a Fatal 4-Way to become No. 1 contender, and she went on to defeat Bayley for the Raw Women's Championship at Payback.

By virtue of that win, Alexa became the first Superstar to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships, as she held the blue brand's title twice previously.

Bayley was determined to get the Raw Women's Championship back, but Bliss created additional adversity by introducing a hardcore element to their rivalry.

A few weeks ago on Raw, Bliss used a kendo stick to leave welts on Bayley's back, which resulted in Raw general manager Kurt Angle booking a Kendo Stick on a Pole match for Extreme Rules.

Bliss felt as though she had gained the upper hand due to Bayley being unwilling or unable to get aggressive, according to WWE Universe on Twitter:

"

"@itsBayleyWWE's not capable of getting extreme. It's just not in her DNA..." - #RAW #WomensChampion @AlexaBliss_WWE pic.twitter.com/nYSHANcziY

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 23, 2017"

Bayley is known as a lovable Superstar who is always open for hugs, but she has shown in the past that she can get serious when she needs to.

That was on full display in NXT when she beat Sasha Banks for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn and followed that up with another win over The Boss in an Iron Man match.

She also put the smiles aside in her battles with Asuka and took on a more aggressive approach to beat Charlotte for the Raw women's title.

Even so, Bliss posed a huge threat to Bayley at Extreme Rules since the former has shown on multiple occasions during her time on the main roster that she is willing to do anything in order to win.

Bliss often skirts the rules, but the Kendo Stick on a Pole match eliminated that issue and allowed her to do whatever she pleased to her rival.

Alexa took full advantage of that to beat Bayley for the second pay-per-view in a row, which could lead to a new feud for the champ on Raw in the coming weeks and months.

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