5 possible opponents for Bayley at WWE SummerSlam
The self-proclaimed Bayley Dos Straps has had a historic run atop the WWE SmackDown Women's division as the SmackDown Women's Champion. Bayley's current title reign has lasted over 290 days and counting.
With her recent victory against Nikki Cross, Bayley has seemingly run out of opponents. So what's next for the champ? Are there any possible challengers for the title? There are many potential showdowns that could provide Bayley a worthy opponent.
WWE SummerSlam is right around the corner, and currently, there's no scheduled opponent for Bayley on the card. That should be changing soon as the duo of Bayley and Sasha Banks have continued to rule over the WWE, thus attracting some new potential competition.
In this article, we will discuss the five likeliest opponents for Bayley at SummerSlam. While it looks as though Bayley has a firm grasp on the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship, could her next challenger pose a threat to her reign?
#5 Nikki Cross
Maybe it isn't likely that these two cross paths so soon, but Bayley's ability to continue to defeat Nikki Cross has begun to change the challenger. Nikki's normally jovial and fun personality, has become that of an obsessed opponent that is tired of being outmatched repeatedly.
We saw the frustration on full display on the latest installment of WWE SmackDown when Cross was defeated once again by Bayley. Cross shoved Alexa Bliss, her friend and tag-team partner, when Bliss was trying to give her encouragement following the loss. This fracture in her relationship with Cross could lead to a different version of Cross going forward.
Although Bayley has gotten the best of Cross, the two have put on solid matches. However, Bayley has used several cunning tactics to earn the victory. While it seems as if there's no story left to tell, it would be interesting to see a more determined Cross take the fight to the champ.
It's highly likely that we get to see this match one more time because there aren't any other clear challengers involved with Bayley at this time. That could change on the upcoming episode of SmackDown, with WWE introducing a new opponent ahead of SummerSlam. With a short window to build a new storyline ahead of the pay-per-view, I don't know if we will get someone new in the championship picture.
Given their past couple of matches, a third match between the two could be fairly well received. The match has been done, but a new Nikki Cross persona could add an extra layer to the story.