Weekly DDT Podcast #2: Who could be Bayley’s next challenger on SmackDown?

In the latest episode of the Daily DDT Podcast, Weekly DDT, Bayley’s heel transformation last WWE SmackDown was discussed.

Today, we release the second episode of Weekly DDT (the official Daily DDT Podcast) with myself as the host. My guest this week was Tom Colohue (who not only writes for us, but for PWTorch and Sportskeeda as well) and we both took the time to talk about everything from the fate of the Firefly Fun House, to Mike Kanellis’ public request for a release, to Eric Bischoff being replaced as WWE Executive Director of SmackDown, to the main event of last Friday’s show.

Specifically, we reacted to Bayley’s drastic transformation from huggable jiggly puff to murderous honey bun.

In case you missed the first night of WWE Draft action, Bayley walked into the main event having chopped off her hair into a bun and proceeded to slaughter the Bayley Buddies before our very eyes. This gruesome pre-match skirmish prepared Bayley well enough to regain her SmackDown Women’s Championship from Charlotte Flair. But I don’t want to talk about the transformation itself for now. I already did that in a previous article and, again, me and Tom Colohue spoke about it at length on the podcast.

I want to take a moment to reflect on the state of the SmackDown women’s division as it stands right now. Not only because we touched on that as well during the podcast, but because I touched on my worries for where the division stands post-Bayley-heel-turn in another previous article, and in talking about it aloud with Tom, I find myself growing even more concerned.

See, as Tom and I discussed, there’s become a lack of competitors who pose a legit threat to Bayley’s title; competitors who automatically can make you feel like Bayley’s title is in jeopardy. Looking at the SmackDown women’s division, the biggest threat to her title is Sasha Banks, and she’s still a heel; Tom and I both agreed that a face turn and/or eventual feud shouldn’t take place till further down the line, maybe WrestleMania.

So, behind Banks, the best babyface bets are Carmella and Alexa Bliss due to their history. All due respect to Carmella, she’s not the most believable threat to the title, and for Bliss, she’s so fresh to being a face still that fans could have trouble siding with her. Yes, with time, the right women can be built up and turns could be made if necessary, but looking at the landscape now, the fate of future SmackDown Women’s Championship matches worry me without a babyface worth getting behind vs. Bayley.

I elaborate further on all this in my chat with Tom, with you can check out now at the link below:

And remember, new episodes of the Weekly DDT Podcast get posted every Friday at 10 a.m. EST.