Plenty of Superstars are in the running to face Bayley for her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship, but one overlooked contender who deserves a shot at a feud, eventually, is Carmella.
As of this writing, Bayley does not have an opponent to defend her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against for tomorrow night’s TLC Pay-Per-View. Granted, she has been feuding with Lacey Evans as of late, so it is likely that perhaps a match between those two will be added to the card at the very last minute.
But, in any case, officially, Bayley does not have a title opponent. And even if she does face Evans on PPV, it seems unlikely that she will lose the title, meaning that it is about time for WWE to consider who Bayley could feud with after this feud with the Sassy Southern Belle is over and done with.
The options in front of Bayley among the SmackDown women’s division are a plenty. Nikki Cross, Alexa Bliss, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Dana Brooke … the list goes on. Heck, even Bayley’s own long time frenemy, Sasha Banks, is a viable future contender in her own right.
However, there is one WWE Superstar on SmackDown’s roster who needs to be booked into a feud with Bayley for her title sooner rather than later. This Superstar is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S and her name is Carmella.
It was actually a few months ago back in September that a feud seemed to be brewing between these two for a couple weeks, but after a Sept. 24 tag match, such a teased feud seemed to evaporate without a proper resolution. I’m here to argue why we still need that resolution.
Their history from NXT
Before either Bayley or Carmella had their respective SmackDown Women’s Championship reigns, Money in the Bank briefcase wins or even get called up to the main roster, they spent a few years in NXT. It was down there, where it was still a developmental show rather than a third brand, that a genuine friendship blossomed between the two offscreen.
They became the best of friends away from the ring and the creative team behind the black and gold brand were smart enough to bring that real friendship in front of the cameras. Their relationship was suddenly thrust into storylines, especially when Bayley was still holding the NXT Women’s Championship.
Back then, they never had a full on feud with each other as their only one-on-one title match started and ended as a means of mutual respect between the two. That could change for a storyline on the blue brand.
Interestingly enough, when both Superstars found themselves on the main roster, WWE never capitalized on their history. They rarely crossed paths in the last couple years and when they have, I don’t recall it ever being mentioned that the two were good friends, had history in NXT, or even that Carmella was called up before Bayley.
There’s a lot of storyline potential to base off of their history and rather than let it go to waste, WWE should strike now while the iron is hot.
Carmella deserves a great babyface title feud
Carmella has been an underrated member of the WWE roster for a long time now. I feel like most viewers took notice to her impeccable heel character work, but it was not until the fallout during the end of her SmackDown Women’s Championship run and ensuing face turn that people started to take notice to her in-ring ability.
Particularly starting with her Aug. 28 title rematch vs. Charlotte Flair, Mella started to showcase more of what she was capable of in the ring, rather than highlight her character work as a cowardly heel running from her opponent. Suddenly, fans were stunned to see her pull out hurricanranas and super kicks left and right.
She really started to grow her fanbase thanks to a run alongside her Mixed Match Challenge pal and co-winner, R-Truth. The former 24/7 Champion has won a lot of people over in the last year, but she has yet to really showcase her babyface fire in a Women’s Championship feud.
No better time to start than now and there’s no better opponent for her to showcase this against than her best friend, Bayley. Which, speaking of Bayley …
Bayley deserves a great heel showcase
In the same way that Carmella needs a feud to showcase the best of her abilities as a babyface, Bayley deserves a showcase to spotlight the best of her heel abilities.
With that said, in the past couple months since completely transforming her look for a complete heel evolution, Bayley has yet to really give fans a reason to dislike her as a heel. A lot of us are impressed – at best – by her heel work, but we still love everything she does because, well, it’s Bayley and Bayley’s amazing.
If the goal for WWE is to mold Bayley into a heel that fans love to hate, then Carmella could provide that perfect gateway. Again, keep their history in mind. Seeing Bayley be so unreasonably cruel to a former best friend in Carmella could make for some compelling television and draw the ire of her fanbase.
Above all else, this feud is worth highlighting on television simply because this is bound to be a great feud in general.
Even if WWE – for whatever reason – decide not to put a spotlight on their history together or their past in NXT, both Bayley and Carmella are fantastic athletes capable of putting on tremendous work both in the ring and on the mic against anyone who is put in front of them.
Pit these two against each other and I guarantee that magic will occur.