WWE Royal Rumble 2018: Is Bayley A Super Sleeper?

Based on speculation among members of the WWE Universe, the favorites to win the first ever Women’s Rumble at WWE Royal Rumble 2018 are Asuka and Ronda Rousey. But could someone like Bayley be a super sleeper?

Last year at around this time, Bayley was preparing for a big-time feud with Charlotte Flair, which led to some big highlights for the Huggable One. Bayley won the Raw Women’s Championship for the first time, broke Charlotte’s undefeated streak at Fastlane, and successfully defended her title in a great Fatal Four-Way match at WrestleMania 33.

But as we head into WWE Royal Rumble 2018, Bayley is perhaps the biggest afterthought in the entire Raw Women’s Division. She’s had no big wins, she took a pin in a tag team match over Mickie James, and it’s rare to see her cutting a promo on television.

This is all the result of a severely botched feud last summer between Bayley and Alexa Bliss over the Raw Women’s Championship. Bayley failed to look like a convincing threat at any point in their feud, and both the “This Is Your Life” segment and subsequent match at Extreme Rules will live in infamy as examples of how to destroy the integrity of a nuanced babyface character.

However, in pro wrestling, what seems broken can always be fixed. If it were up to me, I’d keep Bayley on the down low and just have her move to SmackDown Live after WrestleMania 34. That way, she can feud with fresh faces and get back on track.

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If you really want to start thinking about potential shocks, what if Bayley wins the Royal Rumble? I’ve argued for Becky Lynch as the first ever Women’s Rumble winner, and part of the argument centered around the need for the first winner to be a babyface who can give the crowd a feel-good moment.

Another argument? Let’s just have someone who’s really good at this pro wrestling thing win the Rumble. Bayley fits the bill (Stephanie McMahon and Ronda Rousey, for example, do not).

Bayley seems to have little-to-no chance at winning the Women’s Rumble, which is why I dub her a “super sleeper”.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the match, the WWE could afford to go with an “out of nowhere” pick, so long as it is someone the audience can respect. While Bayley’s character fell flat last year and even resulted in her being booed at Toronto after suffering an injury, the fact is that her place as one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world has already been established.

There are a few storylines that could result from Bayley winning the Rumble, and one of them could be a revenge story with Bliss, who never got her compeuppance. In reality, the WWE probably just decided to end the rivalry and save face, avoiding any further embarrassment on their part. They are inept at booking babyfaces, and they very likely tacitly admitted this by abrutly terminating Bliss vs. Bayley.

In storyline, it’s even worse, because it seems as if Bayley “gave up” on pursuing the Raw Women’s Championship, despite the fact that she beat freaking Charlotte Flair and…wait for it…successfully defended the title against three other women at WrestleMania.

Bliss is still the Raw Women’s Champion thanks to her – and I’m approximating here – zero televised title defenses since Oct. 30. You can check my math here.

Anyway, the WWE could decided to pull both a “shock” and “long-term booking” card by having Bayley vs. Bliss at WrestleMania.

The problem here is two-fold. First of all, that leaves Asuka completely out of the picture. Second of all, if you make it a Triple Threat match, the women no longer have a singles match at WrestleMania for the title as a result of the Rumble. Wasn’t that supposed to be a big reason for having the Rumble? Would another multi-women’s match support WWE’s narrative that there is a women’s revolution in their company?

Or Bliss could drop the title, and we get Bayley vs. Asuka. But we’ve already seen that in NXT, and it would be damaging for Bayley to lose at WrestleMania when her character is still in a state of “rehab”. Because the only way she comes out of a loss looking good is if WWE books her properly in defeat…and they won’t. Because they never have on the main roster.

She also can’t beat Asuka’s undefeated streak, because it would be weird for her to have back-to-back WrestleMania moments.

Another possibility is a feud with Sasha Banks, which would be excellent and would be quite popular. But there’s honestly an issue with that. Part of Bayley’s problem on the main roster is that her insanely good feud with Sasha in NXT has defined her, and she hasn’t been able to break free from that. It’s been a bit constraining, and it would be much better for the two of them to finally appear on separate brands. The WWE has teased a break-up story and a reversion to their rivalry several times, but I’m guessing they’ve never pulled the trigger for a reason – turning either of them heel is far easier than it sounds.

Next: What Were The 15 Greatest Royal Rumble Moments Ever?

Despite the fact that there are dead ends to many of Bayley’s booking options after winning the Rumble, the point is that all of these are at least conceivable in some way and carry logical supporting arguments. Most of them fan speculation surrounding a shocking Rumble win for Bayley come from her most ardent supporters on social media, and she is only a super sleeper. That said, there is a chance she wins, and that chance can’t be overlooked, because WWE has a way of giving us surprises when we least expect them.