Bayley is scheduled to battle Charlotte Flair for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship at Clash of Champions. The following will expound three important reasons why Bayley should retain her championship on a stage made for champions.
Since losing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship with Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 35, Bayley has finally carved out her own path and discovered her inner self. Thanks to the Superstar Shake-Up, Bayley ventured out to SmackDown Live to put her unremarkable Raw run behind her. On the blue brand, she has been able to start over and remind everyone how good she really was.
In May 2019, she won the Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed in on Charlotte Flair on the same night to become the SmackDown Women’s Champion. Ever since then, she has been a fighting champion who successfully retained her championship against the likes of Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, and Ember Moon.
Now that she has been champion for four months, she encounters the very same woman whom she cashed in her MITB case on to become champ in the first place: Charlotte Flair. Since Clash of Champions is in Flair’s hometown, it’d be easy to say that Charlotte will put an end to Bayley’s title reign and take over SmackDown Live when it moves to Fox.
However, Bayley could still defy those odds to prove Charlotte wrong, retain her SmackDown Women’s Championship, and demonstrate why she should be the rightful face of the SmackDown Live women’s division. With that being said, let’s draw out three key reasons why Bayley should win at Clash of Champions on Sept. 15.
3.) Bayley’s heel turn and reunion with Sasha Banks needs to evolve
Although Bayley has established her new beginnings on SmackDown Live, she will never give up her loyalty to her best friend, Sasha Banks. Their bond may have cracks here and there but it’s never broken.
Last week on Raw’s main event, Bayley tagged with Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch to battle the Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in what the WWE called the “Champions Showcase.” Sasha Banks decided to interfere in this match and force a disqualification so that she can get a chance to deliver a statement to Becky Lynch, who is now her official opponent for Clash of Champions.
In order to deliver this statement, Banks whacked Lynch with a steel chair multiple times. When Bayley entered the ring to snatch the chair from Banks, many thought she was rightfully stopping Banks from wrongfully pummeling Lynch with the chair.
Instead, Bayley swerved the WWE Universe and pummeled Lynch with the chair to continue what Banks had started. Like with The O.C, Bayley and Sasha Banks’ reunion was ‘too sweet’ and they are bound to pervade the landscape of the women’s divisions on both Raw and SmackDown Live.
Bayley should retain her SmackDown Women’s Championship at Clash of Champions because she needs to continue her momentum from her reunion with Sasha Banks. Their partnership is best for business and should not be held back from making the women’s division the best it can be.
Also, she needs to solidify her heel turn with a victory over Charlotte, the hero of the PPV’s location in North Carolina. Now that she is a villain, Bayley must eviscerate any hero who stops her from ‘hugging’ that SmackDown Women’s Championship, especially the ‘selfish’ Charlotte Flair.
2.) Charlotte Flair is overpushed
Literally. Bayley did ‘push’ Charlotte Flair off her chair during a Moment of Bliss segment. Figuratively, it is clear that Charlotte is given way too many championship opportunities to count, and this is why Bayley labels Charlotte as “selfish.”
Since joining the main roster, Charlotte Flair has become a nine-time Women’s Champion. Although Charlotte is very talented and deserving of her accomplishments, almost everyone in the SmackDown women’s division remains in her shadow because Charlotte takes up all the spotlight.
She’s put on this pedestal not only because she has a famous last name, but also because that famous last name challenges her to surpass expectations to prove that she earns everything she receives. Despite this truthful mindset, she will never be capable of having the perspective of Superstars like Bayley who had to start from scratch and make a name for themselves.
While Charlotte Flair’s Queen character is built to look down on others, Bayley’s ‘huggable’ character has always been built to climb the ladder and look up at her future aspirations, just like she did when she climbed that ladder to win the MITB Briefcase in May 2019.
Although her new heel character may persuade many to question her down-to-earth underdog-like persona, she still maintains that persona. Despite her new heel character, Bayley can still be seen as an anti-hero superstar whom the fanbase can look up to for her good morals of loyalty and ambition.
1.) Bayley still needs time to fully execute her plan of elevating the SmackDown women’s division
Indeed, Bayley is not only loyal to her best friend, but she is also very loyal to the SmackDown women’s division. She has preached time and time again that she wants to elevate the SmackDown Women’s Division by battling SmackDown Superstars like Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega, Carmella, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Mickie James.
On average, it takes an American president four years to preach his plan of making America great again and will more than likely take him four more years to execute his plan to fruition. Analogically, it took Bayley four months to preach her plan of elevating the SmackDown women’s division and will more than likely take her four more months to execute her plan to fruition.
Although Bayley turned heel, she is still an anti-hero who wants the best for the WWE Universe. She is like the vigilante who attempts to facilitate change for the better in the SmackDown Women’s Division when upper management does not have the guts to implement change effectively.
Bayley is, essentially, the people’s champion, and she will soon become the undeniable face of the SmackDown Women’s Division. But first, she must defeat Charlotte Flair. Then, she will become the most electrifying woman in all of sports entertainment.
So, there’s only one thing left to ask: Do you smell what Bayley is cooking? Wait, wrong question. Do you see what Bayley is hugging?! She is hugging the SmackDown Women’s Championship because it rightfully belongs to her for a very, very long time.