SAN ANTONIO — It’ll take more than banged-up ribs to stop Ronda Rousey, who defeated Alexa Bliss for the second straight pay-per-view to retain the Raw Women’s Title in her first defense, despite coming into the match at less than 100 percent after a series of attacks to the champion’s ribs.
Alexa Bliss keeps Ronda Rousey on the defensive by attacking her injured ribs at WWE Hell in a Cell. Courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.
To her credit, Bliss was a little more prepared for Rousey than she was at SummerSlam even before she started in on the titleholder’s torso — The Goddess’ demoralizing loss in August had somewhat clued her in to what she was up against, and this was anything but a rout. But nothing Bliss did worked for long; Ronda adapted on the fly with a series of intricate new submissions and slams, and she even thwarted potential interference from Mickie James and Alicia Fox by throwing Bliss into her own reinforcements.
Down to her last-ditch effort, Alexa honed in completely on the champion’s ribs and didn’t hesitate to cue up assistance from Mickie and Alicia, who bent Rousey sideways against the ring post to administer extra punishment. (Natalya took out Alicia moments later; Ronda dispatched Mickie). Bliss’ continuous attacks on Ronda’s ribs kept her in the fight even as Rousey began to rally, but Alexa’s attempt to throw a straight jab led to her downfall: Ronda snatched the strike out of midair, hoisted Alexa up, dropped her with a Samoan Drop and locked in an armbar that forced Bliss to tap the second it was applied. With that, the reign continues, and the Raw Women’s division is wide open — or as wide open as it gets given who sits atop the mountain.
SAN ANTONIO — It’ll take more than banged-up ribs to stop Ronda Rousey, who defeated Alexa Bliss for the second straight pay-per-view to retain the Raw Women’s Title in her first defense, despite coming into the match at less than 100 percent after a series of attacks to the champion’s ribs.
Alexa Bliss keeps Ronda Rousey on the defensive by attacking her injured ribs at WWE Hell in a Cell. Courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.
To her credit, Bliss was a little more prepared for Rousey than she was at SummerSlam even before she started in on the titleholder’s torso — The Goddess’ demoralizing loss in August had somewhat clued her in to what she was up against, and this was anything but a rout. But nothing Bliss did worked for long; Ronda adapted on the fly with a series of intricate new submissions and slams, and she even thwarted potential interference from Mickie James and Alicia Fox by throwing Bliss into her own reinforcements.
Down to her last-ditch effort, Alexa honed in completely on the champion’s ribs and didn’t hesitate to cue up assistance from Mickie and Alicia, who bent Rousey sideways against the ring post to administer extra punishment. (Natalya took out Alicia moments later; Ronda dispatched Mickie). Bliss’ continuous attacks on Ronda’s ribs kept her in the fight even as Rousey began to rally, but Alexa’s attempt to throw a straight jab led to her downfall: Ronda snatched the strike out of midair, hoisted Alexa up, dropped her with a Samoan Drop and locked in an armbar that forced Bliss to tap the second it was applied. With that, the reign continues, and the Raw Women’s division is wide open — or as wide open as it gets given who sits atop the mountain.
