WrestleMania 37 proved that WWE still doesn’t understand Bayley
Every time the WWE takes two steps forward, they find a way to take at least one step back, if not more.
This was certainly the case with their booking of Bayley at WrestleMania 37. Or, to be more precise, their lack of booking for Bayley at WrestleMania 37. Not everyone can be on the card, but leaving their longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion in catering was insane.
Even when they gave her some screen time in the form of tormenting Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan, they still couldn’t let her have her moment. That kind of insane booking strategy proves that the company still doesn’t get Bayley.
Bayley on NXT
Prior to signing her WWE contract, Bayley spent four years on the indies under different names. Then in 2012, she signed her developmental deal with the company and joined NXT, debuting not too long after FCW became the black and gold brand.
Like any wrestler, it took some time for her to find her footing and a character that clicked. But once the “Hugger” persona was in place, the sky was the limit. Bayley put on some of the best matches anyone watching NXT had ever seen.
Fans were drawn to her incredibly upbeat persona. It was hard not to feel supercharged by her entrance. But her in ring work was almost impeccable. As good Bayley was at that point in her career, she’s only gotten better over the years.
She would become the NXT Women’s Champion at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in an epic match against Sasha Banks. It was one of those bouts that people still talk about today, and became a benchmark for women’s wrestling in NXT.
Bayley on the main roster
Her reign ended after 223 days when she was defeated by Asuka. This kicked off the Empress of Tomorrow’s record-setting reign as the champion. Two days after failing to regain the championship belt, Bayley moved to Raw.
Like most people on the main roster, her career has had high points and low points. But it’s hard to argue that she hasn’t been successful for the most part. She has held every woman’s title the main roster has to offer as well as winning the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
As time went on, her face character got increasingly stale, and she took a big risk by turning heel. But it all worked out, and she was arguably moreover as a heel than she was as a face. Bayley was certainly doing incredible work.
She and Sasha Banks re-teamed and dominated the Women’s Division together for a large portion of 2020. At one point, they even held all of the gold available on the main roster, each of them with two belts.
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Bayley became the longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion of all time as well as the backbone of WWE’s pandemic booking. Her inevitable turn on Banks led to some truly incredible matches. Yet, Bayley was largely forgotten on the road to WrestleMania.
Bayley on WrestleMania 37
Outside of a feud with Bianca Belair and a couple of sporadic appearances on her own talk show, WWE didn’t seem to have much for Bayley to do after her run with Banks ended. This became particularly apparent as the WrestleMania 37 card came into focus and she wasn’t part of it.
This infuriated a lot of fans. As a villain during the pandemic, Bayley had done some of the best work of her career. She was over as a heel, and that is not an easy thing to do. But she was just too good to be denied. Somehow, that fact escaped WWE management.
During the Hugger era, her booking was inconsistent at best. Both Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks found themselves in similar situations at different points in their careers. Still, it always seemed like WWE didn’t really understand Bayley.
WrestleMania 37 confirmed that hasn’t changed. While she might not have been on the card, Bayley was a pseudo host, accosting Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan in various segments. She even took time out of one of the evenings to pester Michael Cole, which everyone loves to see.
But her final interruption of O’Neil and Hogan was stopped by the Bellas, who basically beat her up and left her on the ramp. Hopefully, WWE officials backstage heard all of the boos because the fans were not happy with that one.
Not to slight the Bellas at all, but them jumping Bayley just didn’t work. Having them take her down was an incredibly bad move, not to mention an unnecessary one. Her small contribution to the show was debased by having her job to the Bellas for no real reason.
If anything, she should have been the host instead of Hogan. Tampa booed him, too, every time he walked out. He is not the ratings juggernaut he once was and an increasing number of fans are tired of seeing him. Bayley would have been a better co-host with Titus in every possible way.
Next. NXT lost its luster the evening it debuted on the USA Network. dark
She has been a key component of women’s wrestling in WWE for almost a decade at this point. For some reason, the company takes every opportunity it can to disrespect Bayley and minimize her contributions. But fans love her and know how important she is, and that’s what matters.