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Bayley lost the SmackDown Women's Championship to Charlotte Flair at Hell in a Cell on Sunday night, when she was forced to tap to the 10-time Women's Champion. Charlotte is someone who FOX pushed to be part of SmackDown moving forward so it was expected for her to pick up the Championship heading into the draft this week.
Bayley was granted a rematch this week on SmackDown as the main event match and she made her way to the ring showing off a new look and new attitude. Bayley took a pickaxe to her Bayley Buddies, which signaled the end of her carefree, popular gimmick and the beginning of the new Bayley.
This is the first time Bayley has been able to turn heel in WWE, but why did she feel the need to debut a new look on SmackDown this week? Here are some possible reasons.
#3 Bayley is fed up of being overlooked
One of Bayley's biggest issues as SmackDown Women's Champion was the fact that she was constantly overlooked. Becky Lynch was granted a lot more opportunities as Raw Women's Champion than Bayley was whilst she was representing the Blue brand, which looked as though it got under Bayley's skin.
Sasha Banks came back as a heel and proved that she could get things done much quicker if she no longer played by the rules. Bayley's new look and new attitude has already helped her to win back the SmackDown Women's Championship, which means that she could be booked much better in the coming weeks since it's expected that she will now remain on SmackDown with the Championship.
It also means that she and Sasha Banks will be able to continue to team together on The Blue brand.
#2 Her old look was becoming stale
Bayley has had the same look and character since she was in NXT more than five years ago. She was the last member of The Four Horsewomen to be moved to the main roster and was the last member to win a main roster Championship. She has been consistently booked badly by WWE in favor of Charlotte Flair and it's easy to see why.
Bayley's entire gimmick was the fact that she was going to hug her opponents and that when she pulled her ponytail tight, the finish line was in sight. Bayley has gotten rid of the Bayley Buddies, been given some fresh entrance music and no longer has the side ponytail that sold her so much merchandise. Instead, she has gone for a much shorter hair cut and much darker in-ring attire for her new character.
Bayley needed to shake things up and get herself noticed and she picked the right time to do it. The shock factor has definitely hit social media and it allowed her to pick up the SmackDown Women's Championship by pinning Charlotte for the second time in five months.
#1 Bayley wanted to make headlines ahead of the draft
Charlotte Flair wasn't even Women's Champion heading into SmackDown's debut on FOX but she was the woman that the Network was fighting to keep on the blue brand. Becky Lynch was the woman that was wanted on Raw, which must have been hard for Bayley since she was the Champion but she wasn't getting any attention.
Bayley is part of the draft on Monday Night Raw and what better way to get the Network's attention ahead of the draft than switching up your look and becoming an online trend ahead of the show?
Bayley picked the perfect time to decide to change up her look since she will now be the most talked-about female wrestler on social media over the next few days and as the new SmackDown Women's Champion, this would give her a fighting chance when it comes to being drafted above Charlotte.
Bayley and Charlotte are the only high ranking women in Monday night's draft so there's a chance that Bayley could be picked ahead of The Queen for the first time.
