Bayley is your new SmackDown women's champion!

5 reasons why Bayley became SmackDown Women's Champion at Money in the Bank 2019

Well, just as I finished writing "5 reasons why Bayley became Ms Money in the Bank", her cash-in took place and here we are. Bayley officially became the fourth person in history to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase on the same night of winning it, with the success rate of that being 100%.

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She joins Alexa Bliss (2018), Dean Ambrose (2016) and Kane (2010). It all came about when Charlotte Flair defeated Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women's championship after Lacey Evans interfered.

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A referee botch later and Charlotte Flair became a 9-time champion. Evans and Flair beat down The Man, with the crowd chanting "We want Bayley". She came out and gave the WWE Universe what they wanted and more, as she attacked Flair and ended up cashing in her briefcase.

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All it took was one elbow drop for Bayley to win her second singles title on the main roster. Here's why it happened!

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#5. Career rejuvination

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Bayley wasted no time in cashing in
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Bayley hasn't been in the women's title picture for a good part of two years. After her push between February to May of 2017, she was completely destroyed thanks to Alexa Bliss coming to RAW.

Instantly, all the work that had been put into her was undone and WWE went out of their way to make Bayley look terrible - with horrible storylines, stipulation matches and more. She was then demoted to being Sasha Banks' best friend.

SmackDown Live has presented a new opportunity for Bayley and it was immediately seen when her character developed a new edge to it. Having a solid match against the women's champion Becky Lynch only helped her cause and backstage officials likely felt that it was time for her to get a career rejuvenation.

#4. SmackDown needs a top babyface

Bayley instantly became SmackDown's top female babyface
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With Becky Lynch losing the SmackDown Women's Championship, it was clear that the intention was never for her to have a long run with both belts. As controversial as that might seem for some fans, we completely agree.

Even in the UFC, the entire "double champion" concept actually causes a lot more inconvenience than convenience and it's good that Becky Lynch can now focus on one title. It was evident that Lynch was going to be the top babyface of RAW, which is why SmackDown needed a top female babyface.

Enter Bayley. She's always had the potential to be WWE's top female babyface and WWE knew this, so they decided to finally capitalize on it. They were quick to add an edge to Bayley's character but they also felt the need to quickly establish her as the top babyface, which they did a surprisingly good job at.

#3. Best way to transition the belt to a babyface

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The Queen had yet another transitional reign

The entire idea of a "transitional heel reign" has been a concept for decades. It's like how Ivan Koloff won the WWE Championship from Bruno Sammartino so that Pedro Morales could become the new babyface champion.

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Similarly, The Iron Sheik defeated Bob Backlund for the WWE title so that Hulk Hogan could become the next babyface champion. It's a simple and effective way of getting another superstar over while not affecting their popularity by defeating a babyface champion.

In this case, Charlotte Flair won her ninth title, but once again, it was just a transitional reign and Bayley ended up being the beneficiary. It's crazy to think that so many of Charlotte's reigns have been transitional in nature.

Either way, it's an easy way of getting her to 16 championships. And it worked in this case because Bayley got a whole lot of momentum back.

#2. Feel-good moment

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Sometimes, a PPV just needs a feel-good moment to make it great. Money in the Bank was undoubtedly a PPV filled with botches (and a surprising number of referee botches), but the overall consistency was good primarily because they had the right people going over.

However, there's nothing on the show that could possibly eclipse what a great moment it was for Bayley. It was seen when she celebrated with the crowd as to just how much they wanted her to win and just how much they wanted her to get back on track.

This goes to show the faith that they had in The Hugger despite her being the victim of WWE's inconsistent and crazy booking. As we mentioned, sometimes a PPV just needs to have a feel-good moment to make it great and this was it.

With this moment alone, WWE cemented MITB 2019 as a memorable PPV.

#1. A shot at Sasha Banks

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Was Bayley's push a shot at Sasha Banks?

This may not be one that WWE fans want to read, but it's very possible that the Sasha Banks issue is what led to Bayley's sudden push. While Bayley was reportedly not very happy with the direction of the Women's Tag Team titles, she didn't make as much of an issue about it.

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The incident allegedly involving Sasha Banks reportedly led to a meltdown backstage and she was sent home for "personal reasons". She hasn't been seen since and while she is expected to make her return, Bayley was likely rewarded to take a shot at Sasha Banks or prove that if you stand your ground, good things will come.

We have no doubt that Sasha Banks will successfully return and become a Women's Champion again. SmackDown Live would be an ideal place for her because she's done her bit on RAW. Then again, Becky Lynch does need some solid contenders on RAW.

Meet the man who called CM Punk the softest man alive HERE

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Edited by
Nishant Jayaram
 
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