Raw gave a nod to their own continuity last night (Jan. 8, 2018) when they acknowledged Nia Jax’s attack on Alexa Bliss from last August. The above conversation referenced the real-life friends role as “frenemies” in kayfabe, and teased that a win in the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble could earn Nia the title match against Bliss she’s been wanting for a long time.
Of course, it was part of some mind games by Alexa to get Jax to attack another threat to her crown, Asuka. Setting aside that the reveal of the bit is sloppy and stereotypical - English isn’t her first language, but The Empress of Tomorrow does “know” it. Maybe what Bliss said was a really grammatically complex sentence that made Nia realize Asuka wouldn’t have said it? - this could establish a Rumble showdown between the two potential challengers en route to a WrestleMania showdown with the long-running champion.
That would make sense, but before having Alexa tap out to the undefeated Superstar last Monday, WWE’d spent time setting Paige up as Asuka’s first big main roster challenge. Is that still going on, or...
Worst case scenario, of course, is that this says something about the nature or severity of the injury Paige suffered at the Uniondale house show last Wednesday. If WWE knows she’s going to be out and/or limited to a job managing Absolution for the foreseeable future, they could have switched plans to the Nia and Alexa program.
Or they could just be putting as many irons in the fire as possible before the Rumble. It’s a match designed to set-up multiple future ones, and it would be nice to have multiple angles going for women at once. Even if the same women were starring in several storylines simultaneously.
Time will tell. In the meantime, we should probably just be happy they haven’t completely forgotten about Nia laying out her bestie after SummerSlam.