Why, Bayley, Why?!!!
That’s the question many of us have been asking all week!
In a shocking turn of events, WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion, Bayley, officially turned ‘heel’ at the September 2nd edition of WWE Monday Night RAW!
Bayley and Becky Lynch teamed up in the main event against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. During the match, Sasha Banks interfered and attacked Becky teased coming to the aid of Becky Lynch in their tag match when she took away the steel chair out of Banks’ hands. After a brief staredown between the two, Banks’ questioned Bayley’s interference. And that’s when the unthinkable happened: with chair in hands and showcasing a smirk, Bayley turned and whacked Lynch on her back as she tried to come to – only to repeatedly and viciously assaulted her with multiple chair shots!
Surprisingly, the crowd reaction was huge! There was mixture of cheers, shock and awe in seeing a beloved fan-favorite turn and align herself in the path of a heel.
The next night on Smackdown Live, Baylet cut her first promo as a heel. It was same but different. She delivered her promo in her usual tone and using her nice girl facial expressions but now with a slight sarcastic twist. She still said she saw herself as a role model and a hero for the kids where she can still teach them values like loyalty and friendship, such as her having her longtime friend Sasha’s back.
Bayley’s looming showdown with Charlotte Flair at Clash Of Champions changed the panorama. Flair was coming in as her usual mean, reigning Queen heel persona. That all went out the window when Flair came out and confronted Bayley on her turn. During the verbal exchange and trash talking, Sasha Banks made her way to the ring only to have Charlotte attack her. After a few moments, Bayley and Sasha get the upper hand and beat down Charlotte. In a repeat of the night before, Bayley bashes her with multiple shots to her back, leaving her in pain while she celebrated with Sasha. Seems like Charlotte might be forced to turn babyface or be a ‘tweener.
Looking back in perspective, Bayley’s heel turn can be a result of many factors:
1) her gimmick was getting stale
2) as a champion, she’s gotten mostly mixed reaction going into matches
3) inject some new depth to her character
4) aligning with Sasha will rub off a mean streak
5) establish a two-woman power trip in the division since Sasha will be challenging Becky Lynch for the RAW Women’s championship.
Bayley is/was, in hindsight, a female John Cena: great with kids, positive role model, gimmicky and a hot merch seller. Seeing her in the weeks and months to come as a heel will get some getting used to.
We’ll see how Bayley does against Charlotte at Clash Of Champions next week as she defends her title as a heel. And if Sasha will have any involvement in helping her BFF retain.