Brains beat out brawn this time

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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The Superstar Shakeup is already proving to be good for the Raw Women's Division. The Fatal Fourway match for the number one contender to the Women's Championship added two new faces to the mix. Alexa Bliss and Mickie James recently joined the roster after being a big part of the division on SmackDown Live. Those ladies joined Nia Jax and Sasha Banks to find who would be the number one contender to Bayley's championship.

I fully expected Banks to win and set up an eventual heel turn against her best friend, but I was pleasantly surprised when that was not the way the match went down. In the closing moments, the ever dominant Jax took out James by using Banks as a battering ram. She then sent Banks to the mat with a thunderous Samoan Drop. But before she knew what happened, Bliss recovered from outside, dropkicked Jax and sent the Samoan Superstar to the floor. Bliss took the opportunity to then pin Banks and officially take her rightful place as the number one contender.

Kick to the face
Courtesy: WWE

The execution of the finish was brilliant and I look forward to seeing what all Bliss can do on Raw. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to her on NXT, but when she was drafted to SmackDown Live I took notice. But couldn't you, after she won the championship on the blue brand twice. I liked it last week when she immediately called out Bayley and then backed it up by winning the Fatal Fourway. Next step comes at Payback and the crowning of a new Raw Women's Champion. I'm sure that'll leave some people blissed off...

My plans for the WWE Women's Division

Women's Championship
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Allow me to do a little fantasy booking with WrestleMania and the Women's Division. I know the likelihood of any of this actually happening is nil, but I had fun coming up with a plan that I know WWE could easily execute. I'm no booker, so I'd have to rely on WWE Creative to fill in the gaps of my plan.

Asuka
Courtesy: WWE

It all starts with NXT Saturday night before WrestleMania 33. Asuka drops the Women's Championship to Ember Moon. Later in the night we see Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan speaking to the former champion backstage. Fast forward to Sunday at WrestleMania and just before the Women's Championship match, Bryan announces that Asuka has agreed to the terms of a SmackDown Live contract and has joined the roster. She goes on to win the title that night.

Charlotte Flair
Courtesy: WWE

The Raw Women's Championship match comes down to Bayley and Charlotte Flair. Charlotte pulls off the win and regains the gold. The next night on Raw, Charlotte vows to never lose the Women's Championship and talks about how she's the most dominant female of all time. Cue Daniel Bryan's music. He and Shane McMahon come to the ring along with the new SmackDown Live Women's champ, Asuka. 

At some point during the back and forth, Stephanie makes her way to the ring too. Daniel gets to his point and lays down a challenge. A best of seven series between Charlotte and Asuka to unify the Women's Championship. The winning brand's champion then gets the women's division exclusively on their show.

Courtesy: WWE

Steph and Charolette finally accept and the matches will rotate between Raw and SmackDown Live. Of course we'll go to seven matches, with the championship to be determined either at Money in the Bank (because I'll be there) or a special event that features matches from both brands so there's no 'home field advantage'. During the course of the series, Charlotte reforms the Four Horsemen to help run interference. Sasha Banks (who works better as a heel IMO), Nia Jax and Natalya make up the new group. Stephanie "buys" Nattie's contract out from under the noses of Bryan and Shane.

Honestly, I don't really care who wins it all, I just want to see the women all on the same brand to offer more variety of matches, especially on Raw shows. 

Not so Fast(lane)

Spear!
Courtesy: WWE 

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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If you've been paying attention you probably know I'm not thrilled with the results from Fastlane. It is what it is, and I'll get to my feelings on the Goldberg champion win and YOUR 3 Cents too in a moment. But I also want to touch on the other travesty of justice that went down: ending Charlotte Flair's pay-per-view win streak.

Bayley retains
Courtesy: WWE

It was destined to end, I just wish WWE would have done it on a bigger show, like oh let's say the biggest freakin' show of the year in five weeks, WrestleMania. I don't mind so much that it's Bayley who ended the streak, but after seeing these two go at it on NXT and now on Raw, someone outside the box would have been refreshing. I guess I got my hopes up when I saw some speculation last week that NXT Women's Champion Asuka was mentioned as a possible WrestleMania opponent for Charlotte. I don't want to rush to judgment and will wait patiently to see what's next for the women.

Now to Goldberg. Quick recap: never been a fan, but that doesn't mean I don't respect what he did for the business in the late 90s and during his brief run in WWE. I'm not a fan of anyone coming in after a 13.5-year hiatus and being handed a title shot in his third match back. I'm even less of a fan of that person winning the championship in less than 30 seconds. And even lesser of a fan of that new champion facing another part-time performer (who has been suspended from UFC for drug violations).

Goldberg wins
Courtesy: WWE

Let's also approach this from another side. Why would Chris Jericho cost Kevin Owens the WWE Universal Championship when all signs are pointing to a match with KO at Mania? Wouldn't Jericho have wanted to be the one to end Owens' reign? Enough of my venting, here's what others are saying on the My 1-2-3 Cents social media sites. Some are for Goldberg, others share my thoughts.

Courtesy: WWE

• Chad: (poop emoji) "Nostalgia only goes so far. The main event at the biggest show of the year shouldn't be between two guys who will wrestle probably six times this year combined."
• goodbirger: "As a casual wrestling fan, I dig it. It will make me want to watch for the time being. Also, I hate that belt. I wish they would use a throwback belt for the big title."
• Martin Endersby: (thumbs down) "Time for WWE to probably ditch the old guard and part-timers. There's more than enough young, rising talent out there."
• Greg Mehochko: "I agree with Martin. I know (or at least 'I'm pretty sure') WWE has something more "big picture" in mind. But you just took the main event (or co-main) of WrestleMania and gave it to two part-time guys."
• Garrett Turner: "If WWE really wants to build up their roster as legitimate, they would not have their Universal Champion (Kevin Owens at the time) lose in less than a minute to someone who hadn't held the world title in 13+ years!! I get the fact that he is a huge draw and brings back nostalgia. But if he gets winded walking to the ring, I dread what we have in store for us at WrestleMania between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. I feel like they should focus their efforts on building stars and not relying on those of the past."
  
• Ken Johnson: "He came back to put butts in the seats. He deserves to be champ for a week or so."
• Robert Wilson: "Yay, because the new young talent has no respect. They want it easy the old talent paved the way and still has a big following and spend the money there is a need for new faces but don't discount the vets."
  Thank you to everyone who weighed in. I will say this title change makes me feel a lot less sad about not being in Orlando this year for Mania. Hopefully, the show will still be great. I am curious to see what happens with this match now. And hey at least Neville retained the Cruiserweight Title... 

A Flair for the gold

Charlotte wins
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Now that Charlotte Flair has regained the Raw Women's Championship again, my hope is that WWE will stop playing hot potato with the title. Since the draft and brand split in July, the championship has changed hands between Charlotte and Sasha Banks six times. That's a rate of more than once a month. 

WWE has gotten behind the women's movement which has been outstanding. However, I'm a fan of longer title runs. Not each one has to set a new record by any means, but I wouldn't mind Charlotte keeping the gold now until at least WrestleMania. I wrote earlier, I'd like to see her wear it until SummerSlam where she loses it to Nia Jax. But all signs point to Bayley as the heiress apparent to the Women's Championship.

I'm enjoying the storytelling more on SmackDown Live when it comes to the women's championship. But I still maintain WWE could easily have all the ladies on one show and get plenty of quality stories and matches. Since the 205 Division is on Raw, I'd suggest putting the women's roster on SmackDown, but I know this isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Bayley beats Charlotte
Courtesy: WWE

I'll continue to enjoy the matches and stories and hope that Charlotte will hold that title for a while and carry on with her pay per view win streak. Woo! 

When words speak louder than actions

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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The go-home Raw for Hell in a Cell Monday night was full of more talk than wrestling. All participants in the triple main event had time to talk, plus the antics with Chris Jericho pursuing his list, Curtis Axel's promo and the Brock Lesnar-Paul Heyman response to Goldberg meant a lot less in-ring action. While I wasn't a huge fan of all the talk, there was one segment that stood out to me- the contract signing for the Raw Women's Championship.

Not only did Sasha Banks and Charlotte deliver passionate arguments about why they'll win Sunday, but also Mick Foley's call for concern put the segment over the top. Other than the Undertaker and maybe Triple H, no other WWE Superstar has been more associated with Hell in a Cell than Foley. His typically easy going demeanor quickly changed as he warned both women about the insanity they're about to face.

Courtesy: WWE

Mick's emotional recount of all the health problems he's faced through his career resonated with me. It was the best Foley segment I've seen in years. Both women were impacted but remained confident in their resolve. The other thing that made this segment so special was neither woman laid a hand on the other. The contract signing didn't end in the predictable chaos that most signings do. Well done Mick, Sasha and Charlotte. This segment made me even more excited about what I hope will be the HIAC main event. Wooo!

I'm still banking on Charlotte

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Sasha Banks has once again dethroned Charlotte as the Raw Women's Champion. I'm not going to lie, I'm disappointed to see this happen. Charlotte is without a doubt the most talented woman on the roster and I would argue one of the best overall Superstars. Maybe I've drunk too much of the Ric Flair KoolAid, but Charlotte stands tall in among her peers, both female and male.

I'm not surprised Sasha won the gold back. I was actually more surprised Charlotte regained the title at SummerSlam. I would have rather seen her hold on to it before the first loss, but I'm not going to be overly critical of creative because I don't know what's going to happen next. But for My 1-2-3 Cents on the situation, here ya go...

Chad and I discussed this on our draft podcast. We agreed women should have stayed on one show. This would have added depth to the roster and allowed WWE to come up with some compelling storylines that involve more than just the champion and the number one contender each month. Imagine Becky Lynch, Bayley, Natalya, Nikki Bella and the rest of the women all on the same show. Amazing stories could be told each week and ahead of each pay per view. It would also make the women's division more special. But I understand the desire to have women on both rosters. 

While I think the brand split has been overall a good thing, we're still getting a lot of the same when it comes to women's matches on both Raw and SmackDown Live. Now that Emma is returning from injury and Eva Marie's suspension should be coming to an end there's a new woman on each show to add to the equation.

As I continue thinking and typing at the same time, I like the idea of Charlotte becoming a modern day version of her father. Ric Flair was at the top of the NWA for many years, dropping the title only to win it again and in most cases, he was a bad guy doing it. While I'm all for legacy Superstars finding their own niche, the parallels between Charlotte and Naitch are undeniable. 

Enjoy the gold while you have it Sasha. I'm still banking on Charlotte to be the woman one more time. Woo!