Bayley's main roster career - a story of missed booking opportunities
What a difference a year makes. Just one year ago, the WWE Universe was clamouring for Bayley to join the main roster. The rumours of a brand split were in the air and Bayley's move to the big leagues was inevitable.
Fast forward 12 months and WWE's most over babyface is now getting booed out of buildings and has no direction in the RAW Women's division. So how did WWE manage to ruin Bayley's momentum in the main roster? We take a look at her brief career and all the places WWE dropped the ball with her.
To really understand why Bayley was so over with the fans, we need to dissect her run at NXT. Being part of the Four Horsewomen stable put her on the stratosphere of women's wrestling down at NXT. The Four Horsewomen quickly changed what it meant to be a woman wrestler in the WWE.
They broke the mould by regularly main eventing NXT shows. Bayley was regularly featured in those main events, be it fatal four-ways or number one contender's matches. She put on some great matches with the likes of Becky Lynch and Charlotte. But her talents were on full display when she squared off with 'The Boss' Sasha Banks.
NXT TakeOver Brooklyn: Bayley's crowning moment
The NXT Takeover: Brooklyn match in 2015 with Sasha Banks was Bayley's time to shine. Charlotte, Becky, and Sasha were moving to the main roster. At that time, Sasha was the NXT Women's Champion and a new guard needed to step in to take her place.
Bayley put her best foot forward and the two women stitched together a spectacle that lasted for almost 20 minutes. That match put Bayley at the top of the NXT roster and with the three other Horsewomen gone, the women's division in NXT rested on Bayley's shoulders.
She carried on as a fighting champion before a phenomenon called Asuka hit her. Coming out of Japan, Asuka was unbeaten in NXT – a record that she holds to this day. A championship match was inevitable and NXT Takeover: Dallas was the setting.
Bayley put up a great fight and went toe-to-toe with the Empress of Tomorrow. After a brutal match with Asuka, Bayley was caught in the Asuka lock and passed out. The referee ended the match and crowned Asuka the new champion. Bayley had lost the championship and the fans were distraught.
Bayley would have her rematch at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II. The same arena where she had created history a year ago. Asuka once again retained her title in style and Bayley was done with NXT. The fans knew that she was moving to the main roster and chants of "Thank You Bayley" filled the Barclays Center that night.
The long awaited main roster debut
Before her debut in the main roster, Bayley teamed with Sasha Banks at WWE Battleground to take on the team of Charlotte and Dana Brooke. They crowd erupted in jubilation as Sasha and Bayley beat the team of Charlotte and Dana. The next night, Sasha won the WWE RAW Women's Championship. The landscape of the women's division was quickly changing at that time.
Bayley officially made her debut on the 22nd August episode of Monday Night RAW. She challenged Charlotte for the women's championship but the Queen refused and instead had Dana Brooke fight her. Bayley easily took down Dana and was entered in a triple threat match for the Women's Championship with Sasha and Charlotte at Clash of Champions. Charlotte Flair retained the championship, and Bayley was out of the main event picture as soon as she had entered it.
A long, dragged out program with Dana Brooke didn't help her cause either. Bayley was losing her edge. The process was so slow and gradual that the fans never even noticed as she kept slipping down the card.
In the meantime, Sasha and Charlotte were playing catch with the women's title leading to seven championship runs between them. Bayley finally had her moment at RAW on February 13 when she beat Charlotte for the championship. This was her moment though the fans would rather have her win at Wrestlemania.
Beating the streak
Charlotte was on an undefeated PPV streak heading into Fastlane. She was chasing the Women's championship for the fifth time and Bayley stood in her path, undeterred. Bayley managed to retain the title and beat Charlotte's streak with some help from Sasha Banks.
WWE had subtly undermined Bayley's ability to win a championship against a top contender. Bayley retained the championship but under questionable circumstances. A quickfire fatal four way at Wrestlemania saw her crowned the winner but her stock had dropped considerably by then. Bayley had lost the aura she had carried so gracefully during her time in NXT.
Bayley's Doom: The Superstar Shakeup
The superstar shakeup brought Alexa Bliss to the RAW women’s division. Bliss was a two-time Smackdown women’s champion and exceptionally talented on the microphone. She had set the Smackdown scene on fire with some stellar performances and a match with the RAW women’s champion was on the cards. The two women collided at WWE Payback in Bayley’s hometown of San Jose, CA.
By this time, WWE had gained the reputation of making their superstars job out in their hometowns. It happened with Enzo and Cass at Summerslam, with Sasha Banks at Hell In A Cell and Bayley was no exception to this rule. She lost the title to Alexa Bliss, much to the dismay of her home crowd.
The loss brought Bayley crashing down, but fans felt that she would overcome the stiff odds put before her. But that was far from the reality as things only kept getting worse for the Huggable One as Extreme Rules drew closer. Alexa became the first woman to hold both the RAW and Smackdown Women’s titles. Her ascension came at the cost of Bayley’s push.
WWE attempted to replicate their best segment ever, rating-wise called ‘This Is Your Life’, with Bayley and Alexa. At a time when the company was low on ratings, it seemed a risk worth taking on paper.
But the segment turned out to be nothing like the original. It came out as a poorly executed angle that shifted the focus from the Alexa-Bayley feud to Tracy and Phil, Bayley’s former best friend and ex-boyfriend. Even the talented Alexa Bliss could not save this trainwreck of a segment.
The last nail in the coffin came at Extreme Rules in the Kendo stick on a pole match. Bayley had Alexa cornered with the Kendo stick in her hand. However, Alexa capitalised on Bayley’s hesitation to use the kendo stick. Alexa stuck Bayley with some powerful shots before ending the match with a DDT.
The match made Bayley look like a weak contender who was too kind and gentle to be in the wrestling business. A point that had been insinuated all throughout her rivalry with Alexa Bliss. The bad booking had taken away the last arrow in Bayley’s quiver – her in-ring performance.
Road to redemption
As fans, we understand that Bayley cannot be in the main event picture all the time but booking her as a weakling is not an option. The stipulation of having kendo sticks in the match was in fact, Bayley’s idea. Her merchandise sales are strong and there is still hope of bringing her back from the plunges of oblivion.
Hopefully, WWE will realise that Bayley is indispensable to the women's roster and give her a meaningful feud that will help her ascend to the top once again. As they say, anything can happen in the WWE.