Bayley: The Most Disappointing Wrestler of 2017 (So Far)

[Wildcat66]

She's not doing badly at all... you get a turn, but it's not a long one these days... that's the reality of life as a champion in WWE... it gets changed up far quicker than it ever did... if you get a solid 3 months, you've done well.

Bayley as a gimmick is in the same situation that Adam Rose was when coming up from NXT... the smaller scale and relative freshness of the gimmick in that setting was what got them over and the "smarks" interested to be chanting "this is awesome" etc...

The problem is, by definition, those gimmicks are the ones people hate most on the main roster... and are almost now conditioned to thanks to Cena and Roman...

Bayley on the main roster is going to be as dull and hated as Cena endlessly playing "goody two shoes" or Reigns trying to be the babyface hero... The sad thing is the gimmick does fit Bayley far better than it ever did either of those two guys... but they've ruined it for everyone...

When WWE has used women in that role before, like Molly, there's normally a wrinkle to it that makes them a heel...even when it's the guys like Kurt Angle or the Right To Censor who are being "whiter than white" they were heels.

For a face "goody two shoes" who isn't being a heel, at least under the radar, there aren't too many great stories they can have... it's either an underdog chase/redemption arc, which they've done or... the obvious relationship angle... perhaps that's where her "acting" would be exposed most... it's also quite awkward to play the whole "Never Been Kissed" angle they seem to want to go when she is known to have a boyfriend off-screen (and gay as a lot of morons seem to assume.)

Pretty much any other story forces her to become slightly heel in some way, which they don't want...

Is it unfair? perhaps as Bayley IS great at what she does... but while everyone saw Charlotte being a star (and getting more leeway cos of her lineage) and Sasha and Becky being the big names when they were all in NXT, people forgot Alexa was there... Her rise has been a bittersweet thing for WWE... they now have a cracking heel for their women's divisions... but their big face hope seems to be the casualty of that... they can't push Alexa as a strong heel for the future AND Bayley as the face version at the same time... they've chosen Alexa, rightly in my view as there's more potential for stories...

The way to get Bayley back on track is to bring back Molly Holly, or at the outside Beth Phoenix as a manager/mentor who encourages her to fight/gains her trust and then turns on her, a bit like Karate Kid 3. That would give Bayley a reason to become tougher/more ruthless as a character and have more of an edge to her career going forward... fool me once etc...

You summed it up a whole lot better than I ever could've. And your idea to revive Bayley's character sounds like something I can get behind. (Personally, i'd also consider giving this role to Mickie James, she does have the vet credibility that would make it work)

P.S: I just now saw this article about how to revive Bayley's career and I figured I share this with you and potentially discuss about.

http://popculture.com/wwe/2017/06/15/bayley-wwe-nxt/

My Opinion: The idea of having Bayley potentially returning 'home' to NXT sounds like an intriguing idea on paper, but the idea of Bayley losing EVERY match until she gets demoted sounds maybe a little too risky.

So how would I go about it?: Well, with Emma recently returning; you could have her feud with Bayley for a little while, telling her that she 'told her' she would struggle like she did on the main roster and get into her mind a little bit; at first, she doesn't seem to notice and keeps doing her thing, but as the fans continue to turn on her; she begins to start to struggle. This is not helped by Emma tormenting her with mind games.

From there, something snaps. She challenges Emma to a match at whatever PPV comes next and she accepts. The two compete in a good match, but it seems like Bayley is holding back; and this ends up costing her the match. The next night, Emma verbally tears into her; proving once and for all that being nice may have started out fun at first, but as time passes, it turns out to be her kryptonite and what ultimately will keep her from ever being what she could have been.

Suffering from a loss of confidence, Bayley begins to question whether or not she can do it on this level any longer; the losses continue to pile up until she finally hits rock bottom. To do this, you get Izzy to come over and admit her fandom to, say Alexa Bliss. That's enough for her to breakdown in a pile of tears as a friend of her's (Sasha Banks most likely) goes to comfort her.

The next week, a solemn Bayley comes to the ring, no inflatable buddies, no hugs, no nothing. Instead, you just get normal Bayley. She gives a passionate speech on how much she loves wrestling and loves fighting for the fans, but realizes that she can't keep letting her fans down any longer.

And then, the bombshell; she reveals that she went to Triple H's office and openly requested to put her back in NXT. She explains that this move would help her find her 'killer instinct' that she now admits she lost along the journey upward. But she assures herself and the fans that one day, she will return better than she ever was and thanks them for all their support. She leaves the ring, hugs a few lucky members of the audience...

And poof! You have her go to NXT, have her fight some of the girls there and after sometime has passed, you either bring her back for Survivor Series or just after Wrestlemania season as a more serious, more ruthless, but still lovable competitor.

But again, this is just one way to go about it; you guys have come up with a lot of great ways to revive the Bayley character and I truly am happy that we're having this discussion right now. As someone who wants to go into writing in the future, this really has helped the catalyst that sparked the 'road to redemption' storyline for Bayley. The one you just now heard.

So, why stop there? Let's keep going and enter in the Hug Express and keep this debate/discussion/bi-curious wrestlefest going for a little while longer.

 

[JoeMallard]

Okay, for mine this was a booking problem.

1st you had the hill to climb, overcoming the odds and becoming womans champion. Instead of leaving that star making moment to Wrestlemania, they do it at a nothing RAW for no apparent reason without appropriate build.

Then you have the breaking of Charlottes PPV streak. Which instead of doing at Wrestlemania, they did at the pissy PPV just before Mania that fuck all people watched.

Then you have some throwaway fatal 4 way where Bayley beats her biggest adversaries. All of this should have happened at once. To make her look like a star on the biggest stage I think could have made all the difference.

This is all that needs to be said, giving Bayley the title in the least dramatic fashion completely ruined her character. She was the female version of Sami Zayn(who still hasn't even won a title and has gained popularity) and should be receiving the same type of booking he's had since he debuted, but WWE screwed to pooch and ruined what should have been a great character in the women's division.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

You summed it up a whole lot better than I ever could've. And your idea to revive Bayley's character sounds like something I can get behind. (Personally, i'd also consider giving this role to Mickie James, she does have the vet credibility that would make it work)

P.S: I just now saw this article about how to revive Bayley's career and I figured I share this with you and potentially discuss about.

http://popculture.com/wwe/2017/06/15/bayley-wwe-nxt/

My Opinion: The idea of having Bayley potentially returning 'home' to NXT sounds like an intriguing idea on paper, but the idea of Bayley losing EVERY match until she gets demoted sounds maybe a little too risky.

So how would I go about it?: Well, with Emma recently returning; you could have her feud with Bayley for a little while, telling her that she 'told her' she would struggle like she did on the main roster and get into her mind a little bit; at first, she doesn't seem to notice and keeps doing her thing, but as the fans continue to turn on her; she begins to start to struggle. This is not helped by Emma tormenting her with mind games.

From there, something snaps. She challenges Emma to a match at whatever PPV comes next and she accepts. The two compete in a good match, but it seems like Bayley is holding back; and this ends up costing her the match. The next night, Emma verbally tears into her; proving once and for all that being nice may have started out fun at first, but as time passes, it turns out to be her kryptonite and what ultimately will keep her from ever being what she could have been.

Suffering from a loss of confidence, Bayley begins to question whether or not she can do it on this level any longer; the losses continue to pile up until she finally hits rock bottom. To do this, you get Izzy to come over and admit her fandom to, say Alexa Bliss. That's enough for her to breakdown in a pile of tears as a friend of her's (Sasha Banks most likely) goes to comfort her.

The next week, a solemn Bayley comes to the ring, no inflatable buddies, no hugs, no nothing. Instead, you just get normal Bayley. She gives a passionate speech on how much she loves wrestling and loves fighting for the fans, but realizes that she can't keep letting her fans down any longer.

And then, the bombshell; she reveals that she went to Triple H's office and openly requested to put her back in NXT. She explains that this move would help her find her 'killer instinct' that she now admits she lost along the journey upward. But she assures herself and the fans that one day, she will return better than she ever was and thanks them for all their support. She leaves the ring, hugs a few lucky members of the audience...

And poof! You have her go to NXT, have her fight some of the girls there and after sometime has passed, you either bring her back for Survivor Series or just after Wrestlemania season as a more serious, more ruthless, but still lovable competitor.

But again, this is just one way to go about it; you guys have come up with a lot of great ways to revive the Bayley character and I truly am happy that we're having this discussion right now. As someone who wants to go into writing in the future, this really has helped the catalyst that sparked the 'road to redemption' storyline for Bayley. The one you just now heard.

So, why stop there? Let's keep going and enter in the Hug Express and keep this debate/discussion/bi-curious wrestlefest going for a little while longer.

I like it! Would you chance having her be the one to beat Asuka? After all, she is the one who lost the title to Asuka. If she were "demoted" back to NXT but then was the first one to beat Asuka, that might give her a huge boost. She could have a short run with the title before dropping it and coming back up to the main roster and possibly feuding with Asuka on the main roster.

The thing is, that would really destroy what they have planned for Ember Moon, which I believe is to have Ember Moon beat Asuka at Takeover Brooklyn III.

Long term however, this would be better for Bayley, the fans, and WWE as Bayley is a huge money maker

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Nikki Cross is taking the title from Asuka soon, that much is clear...

Sending Bayley back is a bad idea... it shows that they failed but that she is carrying the can for that failiure. The only times that has ever worked in the past were with Henry and Big Show and both times they legit needed the seasoning/their attitudes adjusting... but more importantly they were on $1m a year 10 year deals... so a year out of that time in developmental vs what they got back was a fair risk.

Bayley doesn't have an attitude problem OR need seasoning... she needs to be used better in a crowded division where others seem to be the focus. She found a niche with her gimmick and perhaps was told not to bother learning others as "that's what we're gonna make you a star with" and if so, WWE did her a disservice.

I think the best way, rather than NXT is to put her in the Mae Young Classic and have her go pretty much all the way... I am sure one of the new Japanese women will win it... but if she can go to the semis and "hang" with them, then that reboots Bayley as a more serious competitor.

Oh and BTW in my previous post I meant to type NOT Gay... bad typo to make.

 

[Wildcat66]

I like it! Would you chance having her be the one to beat Asuka? After all, she is the one who lost the title to Asuka. If she were "demoted" back to NXT but then was the first one to beat Asuka, that might give her a huge boost. She could have a short run with the title before dropping it and coming back up to the main roster and possibly feuding with Asuka on the main roster.

The thing is, that would really destroy what they have planned for Ember Moon, which I believe is to have Ember Moon beat Asuka at Takeover Brooklyn III.

Long term however, this would be better for Bayley, the fans, and WWE as Bayley is a huge money maker

Probably not, at this point she's likely too big for the NXT women's title.

 

[Wildcat66]

Nikki Cross is taking the title from Asuka soon, that much is clear...

Sending Bayley back is a bad idea... it shows that they failed but that she is carrying the can for that failiure. The only times that has ever worked in the past were with Henry and Big Show and both times they legit needed the seasoning/their attitudes adjusting... but more importantly they were on $1m a year 10 year deals... so a year out of that time in developmental vs what they got back was a fair risk.

Bayley doesn't have an attitude problem OR need seasoning... she needs to be used better in a crowded division where others seem to be the focus. She found a niche with her gimmick and perhaps was told not to bother learning others as "that's what we're gonna make you a star with" and if so, WWE did her a disservice.

I think the best way, rather than NXT is to put her in the Mae Young Classic and have her go pretty much all the way... I am sure one of the new Japanese women will win it... but if she can go to the semis and "hang" with them, then that reboots Bayley as a more serious competitor.

Oh and BTW in my previous post I meant to type NOT Gay... bad typo to make.

Tyson Kidd and Emma also got sent down to NXT after their main roster runs flopped. They didn't have attitude problems or needed seasoning, they just needed something to do and this was the 'something' that they needed. This ended up saving their careers and for a while Tyson was even a tag champ with Cesaro.

I don't know if WWE are planning to put in any of their females in this tournament though, I mean; if they were it would be nice, but it probably wouldn't be all that fair either.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

There's always been an element of punishment to sending someone back to developmental... In Show's case he had put on too much weight and was smoking, something Vince is known to abhor... Henry was too green and while he hadn't done too much wrong in the ring, he'd hurt a couple of people.

Tyson and Emma didn't NEED it it's true that Tyson's case his run had been botched and they simply couldn't reboot him on the main roster... at that time sad as it sounds, he was more valuable beside Nattie on Total Divas and Trips managed to turn it into a R.A type role for the male NXT talent, perhaps to appease Tyson but more likely because he recognized it was a shit sandwich and that any problems attitude wise were likely with Nattie (they're there...she's gotten a lot of leeway over the years) but punishing her would cause heat with The Harts...

Let's face it, Tyson's return wasn't spectacularly successful, the team with Cesaro was working but most of it was on Cesaro's popularity rather than Tyson doing anything "better" than he had in the past and it was on the knife edge of being "just another thrown together team OR something very special" when he got hurt... all that really changed in NXT was buying a pair of Beats...

In Emma's case there was an element of punishment still for her shoplifting transgression to it, along with the fact they had botched her gimmick completely on the main roster. How anyone ever thought that dance/music would work is beyond me but...remember she was also dating Zack Ryder at the time, another person who has often had the short end of the company's dealings so all of it could have been as much based on that as her own cock up...

If you don't remember, they DID fire her, only for WalMart's CEO to insist Vince to rehire her... that was a lot of public embarrassment for the company and Vince personally who NEVER makes public climbdowns. Much of the stink had been that they had a deal to sell merch in Walmart with Cena at the focal point... so for Vince to be in that position was something Emma has paid for for a long time... only now could you probably say she MIGHT be free from it... but even then, one mistake and boom, it's back.

She was lucky to get the chance to go back to NXT at all... but again, more likely than not there was a chance for Trips to spin it to not make it seem like a punishment.

Like Kidd, she didn't really change too much up, but she showed her work ethic again which helped heal the rifts...what happened when they return her? Emmalina debacle... so yeah, history repeats

Neither needed the return but it was convenient for them and the company and as much a political thing as for their benefit.

Bayley absoulutely DOESN'T need that... it would be admitting they don't know what to do with her and would damage her as a worker. If they REALLY can't turn her around, they're better to let her go out "on loan" to Japan for a year than send her back to NXT.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I wouldn't call Bayley the MOST disappointing wrestler of 2017 though even I, as a fan of her NXT work, have been disappointed by her run on the main roster so far. I do not blame Bayley herself whatsoever. From the looks of it she is trying to stay true to herself and what she believes in. The interview segment she had with Graves showed this. If there are genuine offscreen conflicts coming from her wanting to legitimately portray herself, then I commend her for standing on that ground. The problem is with the creative team. They should have pushed her as more of an underdog. The feud with Charlotte was botched big time. Charlotte's PPV streak was hyped up ridiculously, only for Bayley to end it at a bottom tier PPV that no one cares about, Fastlane. The show that only exists for the purpose of throwing together a card a few weeks before Wrestlemania. They could instead have had her end the streak at, oh I dunno, Wrestlemania!? Big title win moment, and she would then still lose the title to Alexa. She would be in a better place. She has been handled poorly and a demotion to NXT would only make things worse. I think a feud with a heel Sasha as well as a long-term road to redemption storyline against Alexa would do wonders for her. In fact, have Alexa stay Raw Women's Champion until Wrestlemania 34. Then re-do the Bayley VS Alexa feud for the title at the biggest show of them all. Best case scenario. Either that or switching her over to Smackdown since Raw's creative team has no idea how to book her. Or maybe they continue doing what they are doing and she fades into obscurity, which is what no one would want to see happen.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

And here we are.

Bayler came in as one of very few wrestlers that was an actual babyface, that could deliver underdog babyface fire in a convincing and believable way. Fans bought in and fans were behind her.

A few months later, and she's fucked. It's actually amazing.

I know we're now technically in an era where good/bad booking is completely irrelevant given the WWE Network business model, but Jesus Christ this was like a clinic on how to kill a hot babyface.

She wins the belt randomly on a Raw then ends Charlotte's PPV streak on a random show with no hype, a month beofre WrestleMania. Then she loses the title in her hometown, which accomplishes nothing, despite what others may try to tell you. A hometown loss doesn't generate heat anywhere outside of the building that night. So it's heat you can't actually use and it just disappoints your paying customers. People outside of San Jose aren't getting mad at Alexa Bliss for beating Bayley in San Jose. The only people who cared were IN the arena. Unless the next PPV is ALSO in San Jose, losing in her hometown accomplished nothing in terms of heat.

Then she gets bullied and picked on, which is fine since Alexa is a heel, but she doesn't stand up for herself at all and is made to look pathetic. People aren't going to get behind that. She was also made to seem incredibly fucking lame with the suggestion that she's never "kissed a boy" or whatever. Her fans are little girls, that doesn't mean she has to be. It's silly and insulting to the intelligence of the audience. And again, it doesn't build "sympathy" it just makes her lame. Don't believe me? Over 50% of the crowd at Extreme Rules was cheering for the bully heel Alexa Bliss. Mission accomplished you fucking idiots.

Then when Bayley gets the kendo stick and finally gets a chance at payback against the bitch who's been trashing her, BAYLEY DOESN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO HIT HER WITH IT. That is a complete castration of a babyface (work with me here). HOW can she get any more lame and pathetic? Who could possibly still cheer for a person like that? It's a terrible way to book a heroic pro wrestler. Losing the kendo stick match to Alexa is fine, but she absolutely needed to get some manner of revenge by beating the shit out of Alexa with the cane.

At some point it's up to a wrestler to say "that doesn't work for me brother." Bayley needs to start standing up for the integrity of her own character. It would also help if the people in charge of her career weren't morons.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Here something that I just realise after watching the 5 way match at no mercy, bayley only had one non title match on ppv since her official debut on the main roster last year. Sure you could count her tag team match she had a battkeground 2016 as a non title match on the main roster but she was still on the nxt roster at the pont so I don't count it. The only non title match she had was the traditional survivor series match at last year's survivor series outside of that it was pretty much all title matches.

That's the problem I thing the women's on the raw rosters have, it's that they are overexposed. Last year you the focus was on sasha and charlotte while everybody else was in a holding pattern then they switch to bayley and charlotte and nia jax and sasha. Finally charlotte went to smackdown and alexa took her place and was part of the core four womens that we're focus on while everybody else is on a holding pattern.

I think that's the problem with not just bayley but mist of the raw rostr, they either get all the tv time or not at all, those that get all the tv time lose all the luster they had in nxt and those that get no tv time can't get over.

I think if you want to recapture what they had with bayley, take her off tv for a while and don't put so much focus on her just like they did in nxt.

 

[nWo2]

Nope, Baron Corbin sits here for me!

 

[ShinChan]

Bayley is a perfect example of how to ruin a potential star. You know how? Just get rid of the most powerful weapon from the arsenal. The arsenal doesn't look good anymore. Bayley is a perfect underdog and we all know how she was booked on main roster. You can't blame the talent once you give them nothing to work with and get rid of their strengths.

 

[JoeMallard]

Bayley is a perfect example of how to ruin a potential star. You know how? Just get rid of the most powerful weapon from the arsenal. The arsenal doesn't look good anymore. Bayley is a perfect underdog and we all know how she was booked on main roster. You can't blame the talent once you give them nothing to work with and get rid of their strengths.

I said that as soon as she won the title, she would lose everything that would make fans care about her. That moment happening at Summerslam this year at the earliest would have gotten the fans invested in an underdog Bayley, but creative blew their wad on a random episode of Raw.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

But at the same time, if a talent is over exposed and is given title shot after title shot, not matter what you do with a character, fans will turn on that said character. That'S what happened with BAyley and to a point Sasha banks. They could have done everything right and it wouldn'T have change anything, fans would have stop to care about them anyway.