Bayley overcame the odds at Extreme Rules to defeat Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss in a handicap match to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship, but who could one of wrestling’s strongest champions face at WWE SummerSlam 2019?
There’s no doubt that Bayley is in the midst of an incredible reign with the SmackDown Women’s Championship, which has been WWE’s most prestigious title since Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair’s rivalry at SummerSlam 2018. One year later, Bayley is set to enter WWE SummerSlam 2019 as the Blue Brand’s representative, but who could she face at the second-biggest show of the year?
Bayley withstood her toughest tests yet. Not only did she defeat Alexa Bliss in singles competition, but she defeated both her and Nikki Cross at Extreme Rules in an excellent handicap match. The Huggable One pinned Cross off of a top rope elbow to grab the decisive pinfall, holding her head high after another emphatic victory. It’s been a joy to watch her hold that title, and she should be champion heading into SmackDown’s move to FOX in October.
Here are three possible opponents for Bayley to square off against at SummerSlam, but there’s honestly no shortage of elite talents and up-and-coming superstars who could feasibly step into the ring with Bayley with the all-important SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line.
Ember Moon
Since Bayley became the SmackDown Women’s Champion by cashing in on Becky Lynch at Money in the Bank this year, WWE fans have been hoping for her and Ember Moon to step into the ring together, preferably on Pay Per View.
Moon is one of the best pure in-ring performers on the WWE main roster, even if some fans are still having trouble getting behind her babyface character. In NXT, Moon had tremendous matches with Asuka and Shayna Baszler, playing the babyface role perfectly in her TakeOver bouts with The Queen of Spades.
There would be no babyface or heel in this matchup, though. It would just be about two of the very best in the ring going at it, with Bayley getting pushed to her limit by the underdog. While Moon wouldn’t have much of a chance at winning, this would be a back-and-forth battle that would put over both competitors big-time by the end of it.
Michael Cole frequently called Moon a future women’s champion while commentating her matches on Raw, and an amazing SummerSlam match with Bayley would be another step in the right direction for a rising star nicknamed “The She-Nom” by WWE announcers.
Sasha Banks
The obvious pick, right? Sasha Banks and Bayley have a storied history that is unmatched by any other pair of competitors in WWE. These two women have traded victories, put on all-time classics on Pay Per View, brawled, hugged, and won the Women’s Tag Team Championships together. They’ve done it all, and that’s not a blanket statement. No, that’s a fact.
Banks hasn’t been in WWE since WrestleMania 35, either because she’s taking a well-deserved break or because she’s understandably frustrated with how WWE handled her and Bayley losing the tag titles.
Whatever the case, WWE fans have sorely missed Banks, who is one of the absolute best wrestlers in the world. Whenever she returns, WWE fans will welcome her back with cheers and open arms, and it would be somewhat fitting for her first big title match to be at WWE SummerSlam 2019 against Bayley.
That’s because last year, it seemed like WWE were building towards a big match at WrestleMania 34 or SummerSlam between Bayley and Banks, but the two reunited when Sasha professed her deep, sisterly love for her best friend.
There should be no break up here either. This should just be a straight-up match between two great wrestlers who respect each other, and a 20-minute classic in Toronto between these two elite performers would be a perfect “Welcome Back” for “The Legit Boss”.
Sonya Deville
The backstage friendship between Sonya Deville and Bayley has been well-documented, and, as with Banks and Bayley, it’s evident that close friends tend to put on great matches against each other. Deville hasn’t received many major opportunities to showcase her skills as a singles competitor in WWE, but a title match at SummerSlam with Bayley would qualify as that. It would easily be the biggest match of her career thus far.
While there are so many candidates for this honor due to the loaded nature of WWE’s main roster, it’s not a stretch to say that Deville is the promotion’s most underrated in-ring performer.
She’s an excellent striker, one of the best submission wrestlers in WWE, a plus promo, strong as hell, creative in the ring, and capable of telling subtly layered stories inside the ring. Just look at her late 2017 work with Ruby Riott in NXT before her main roster call-up. Or how about her acting in segments with best friend Mandy Rose?
It’s been high time Deville gets a taste at competing for singles gold, and Bayley would be the perfect opponent for her. If Bayley’s program with Cross and Bliss is over, it would be ideal to watch her face up-and-coming stars across the SmackDown Live roster, increasing both the prestige of her own title reign and the stock of the performers she faces.
Bayley is the face of the SmackDown Women’s Division, and she can help make this division even better by strengthening the others. Deville has so much potential in WWE, and I think fans would be blown away by this hypothetical SummerSlam match.