Wrestling veteran discusses how WWE failed to book 33-year-old multi-time Champion into a John Cena-like position (Exclusive)
Former WWE head writer Vince Russo feels that the company could have portrayed the leader of Damage CTRL Bayley as the female version of John Cena. The Role Model was a pure babyface when she made her way to the main roster in July 2016, coming off a strong run in NXT.
However, as the years went by, she lost her popularity due to some questionable booking decisions. She then turned the tide when she embraced a heelish character back in 2019 and has been a dastardly heel ever since.
On the latest episode of Legion of RAW, Russo said that when Bayley was a babyface, WWE should have gone all out and positioned her as the "John Cena" of the women's division.
The former writer mentioned that The Role Model has lost all credibility at this point due to numerous losses and doesn't seem like a big star anymore.
"When Bayley was doing the ponytail and the balloons, and the whole nine yards, and they were shooting the girls in the crowd, I made a statement very, very early on that Bayley could be a female version of John Cena. I made that way early on. At this point, credibility? She's a wrestler on the roster. That's all she is. There's nothing to her. There's no character, there's no gimmick, there's nothing." [From 11:15 - 11:52]
You can watch the full video here:
You can catch the full results of RAW here.
Bayley made a backstage appearance on WWE RAW
Things have not been going too well for Damage CTRL ever since the faction lost the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.
The stable also lost to Lita, Becky Lynch, and Trish Stratus in a high-profile match at WrestleMania 39. This week on RAW, Bayley appeared on a backstage segment, conveying to Dakota Kai and IYO SKY that she was trying to work with Adam Pearce to get them a Women's Tag Team Championship match.
Dissension in Damage CTRL. 👀
#WWE #WWERaw https://t.co/Fc1KYnb9Kk
However, cracks seemed to show among the three women when The Role Model mentioned that she was looking to get a title shot against RAW Women's Champion Bianca Belair. IYO and Dakota felt that they were equally deserving, and Bayley went back to Pearce to change his mind.
Do you think WWE could be breaking up Damage CTRL? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you use the quotes from this article, please embed the YouTube video and add a H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcription.