WWE TLC 2019: Bayley should have been booked for a title defense
Neither the Raw nor SmackDown Women’s Championships will be defended at WWE TLC 2019, but while Becky Lynch will have an opportunity to win the Women’s Tag Titles, Bayley won’t be on the card at all.
Bayley has been one of the best wrestlers in the company this year, but she won’t have a match on the final Pay Per View of the year at WWE TLC 2019.
She main evented Survivor Series with Shayna Baszler and Becky Lynch in a dream champion vs. champion vs. champion match, tapping out to The Queen of Spades in a loss that should have motivated her character to kicking things up a notch in her second reign as SmackDown Women’s Champion.
WWE were rumored to be considering adding Lacey Evans vs. Bayley to the TLC card, but they did not announce the match on Friday Night SmackDown. It appears “The Hugger” won’t have a title defense at the PPV, which is a disappointment for wrestling fans.
Bayley vs. Evans would have been one of the best matches on a TLC card that looks strong from top to bottom. The Women’s Tag Titles Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match between The Kabuki Warriors and CharLynch would have been the card’s main attraction, but Bayley and Evans could have had another strong women’s match. As it stands, there will be only one women’s match on the TLC card, which is a travesty.
It’s even worse that the SmackDown Women’s Title will be left off the card, since it main evented TLC last year when Asuka climbed the ladder to take the title off Becky Lynch, courtesy of Ronda Rousey’s interference. The title was involved in the hottest feuds and angles in WWE at the end of 2019, and while Bayley has done a great job as champion, WWE hasn’t been putting either the Raw or SmackDown Women’s Titles in prominent positions. This has led to WWE-hired commentators – and former pro wrestlers – Corey Graves and Paige to take the company to task for its neglect of women’s wrestling.
Becky not defending the Raw Women’s Title is more understandable since she’s in a first-time ever TLC match for the Women’s Tag Titles. But Bayley not being on the card? That’s a huge oversight and a missed opportunity from WWE, who already didn’t book United States, Intercontinental, or WWE Title (absentee champion Brock Lesnar is “back”) matches. There was space on the card for Bayley to defend her prestigious title against a true rising star in Evans, yet WWE didn’t jump on it despite the fan interest.
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Fans will want Bayley to have a great opponent for the Royal Rumble, especially now that they’ve passed her over at TLC. Bayley’s character work as a heel has been tremendous, and a dream feud with Carmella could be a great choice for the Rumble. “The Hugger” needs to play a key role for the company this upcoming WrestleMania season, and it’s frustrating they didn’t give her an opportunity to gain momentum heading into 2020 with a quality match against Evans.