WWE: Booker T is wrong, Bayley is great at many things

WWE legend Booker T’s analysis of SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley was lacking.

For months, Bayley has ruled over WWE SmackDown as champion, and she’s hitting another gear with the Women’s Tag Titles around her waist. She and Sasha Banks have been the best part of the Blue Brand for quite some time now, and, right now, there aren’t two wrestlers in WWE who have captivated attention quite like them.

It’s safe to say that Bayley has been one of WWE’s top performers for years, even including a period of time where the company messed up with her booking as a babyface. But even though she was one of WWE’s best babyfaces of this era in NXT and had success as a babyface champion on the main roster, she is producing her best work right now as a heel.

That’s why it was a little discouraging to see WWE legend and commentator Booker T stop short of calling one-half of the Golden Role Models “great”.

Here’s what he said on “The Hall of Fame with Booker T and Brad Gilmore”, with a hat tip to WrestlingInc.com’s Joshua Gagnon for the transcription:

"“I’m always on Bayley’s case, but Bayley is the quintessential worker,” Booker said. “She may not be great at anything, but she’s good at everything. So, when I watch Bayley go out and perform, now taking on this new persona — which is something that I couldn’t wait till this happened — I think it’s good for her.”"

Now that’s the definition of a backhanded compliment. On the surface, Booker is praising Bayley for being a jack-of-all-trades type, but that’s the kind of praise that is fulfilling for a mid-carder – not someone who has held the belt with aplomb for months and is now #BayleyDosStraps.

Sasha Banks came to Bayley’s defense with a shot of her own at Booker and his legendary tag team Harlem Heat, so it was nice to see the SmackDown Women’s Champion’s best friend speak up on social media.

Booker’s analysis is selling Bayley short, because she’s quite clearly great at something. In fact, she’s great at multiple things. Firstly, she’s great in the ring, which her matches with Sasha Banks and Asuka in NXT make evident. Those stand the test of time as some of the best matches and rivalries in this era of wrestling.

Next, her character work. It’s exceptional. Anyone who is still struggling to praise Bayley’s heel work is probably biased in some way, judging by the types of troll accounts who frequent my mentions with criticism for her. From messing with her fans (from when she was a babyface) at live events to laughing it up on every show, Bayley knows how to get under your skin. And if you don’t like her, she’s probably doing her job right.

Bayley is blossoming right now, and every segment she and Sasha are in are must-see. And it’s also been nice to see how Bayley finds a way to “sell out” Sasha or speak over Sasha to reenforce this new, inflated ego she’s found as a heel and to tease who will really be the babyface at the end of it. That also shows you that Bayley has staying power as a heel, having found a new character and running with it better than anyone in WWE this past year.

She’s great. You can say it. You may not like to say it, especially if you want to “work” us by selling a heel short (Booker likes to do this, I must admit!), but she’s proven she has earned that label. Hell, she earned it before this heel run, but now it’s entrenched.