Last night’s Extreme Rules saw Bayley invoke her rematch clause for the Raw Women’s Championship in a ‘Kendo stick-on-a-pole match’ against Alexa Bliss.
Bliss ultimately retains her championship, however, the main talking point was how easily she overcame Bayley. The match lasted around five minutes and many fans are calling it a ‘squash’ match.
But why did WWE decide to have Bayley lose so emphatically? Do they have a plan for her coming out of this devastating loss?
Maybe they do; here are 5 possible reasons why Bayley was squashed at Extreme Rules.
#1 It ends her feud with Alexa Bliss definitively
While many things are up in the air after this surprising turn of events, one thing that seems fairly certain is that the Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss feud is over.
After all, this was Bayley’s rematch after losing the Raw Women’s Championship to Bliss at Payback and she lost clean. The former champion doesn’t exactly have a right to demand another shot at the title after this defeat and you’d imagine that she will now go to the back of the line.
Perhaps this was all WWE intended to do with this match, Bliss looked strong and will likely go onto a new feud for the ‘Great Balls of Fire’ pay-per-view, while Bayley will look to bounce back from this defeat.
#2 Reset Bayley’s character
While Bayley’s run on the main roster so far has been fairly well received by fans, despite a mixed reception from the crowd at Extreme Rules, her character is nowhere near as compelling as she was in NXT.
Personally, I believe she got too much too soon; she captured the Championship just six months after her main roster debut and on an episode of Monday Night Raw, which was shocking but didn’t feel as big of a moment as it could have if it occurred on pay-per-view.
A huge part of Bayley’s charm in NXT was her long wait to capture the NXT Women’s Title, fans got behind her innocent character and waited with anticipation to see her rise to glory.
That hasn’t happened on the main roster as she found success fairly quickly. The shattering defeat to Bliss at Extreme Rules could be a way to give Bayley somewhat of a reset and begin a long journey back to the top of the Women’s division, which will hopefully lead to the fans getting back on side with her.
#3 Bliss is simply more brutal
Alternatively, the manner of this result could be more about Alexa Bliss than Bayley. While Bayley is portrayed as naive and quite harmless, Bliss has been brutally aggressive and, in that sense, it’s perfectly logical for Alexa to win a ‘Kendo stick-on-a-pole match’ against Bayley so convincingly.
It could also be because WWE has a plan for the Raw Women’s Champion moving forward and they needed her to look dominant in this match.
Bayley may just be a victim of circumstance and the WWE Universe may be looking into this defeat for her in too much detail.
#4 Planting seeds of a Bayley heel turn
As mentioned previously, Bayley got a mixed reaction at Extreme Rules and the audience in attendance were arguably in Alexa Bliss’ corner. Perhaps WWE pre-empted this and used this match to plant the seeds for an upcoming heel turn for Bayley.
Also, on the pre-show, Nia Jax said something fairly interesting in regards to Bayley. She talked about how everyone’s heard Bayley’s story of being a lifelong WWE fan and loving pro-wrestling, and she said, “people are over it”.
Jax could be on to something here and this could explain the reaction that Bayley received last night, while also setting up a feud between the two.
Additionally, the manner of Bayley’s defeat could see her unleash a more aggressive side of herself, firstly against Nia Jax and then maybe against one Raw’s babyface female talents, completing her heel turn.
#5 Beginning of a Bayley vs. Sasha Banks feud
If I was to hazard a guess, I would say that Sasha Banks will be the next woman to challenge Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Championship.
One way to transition into this feud would be for Sasha to stand up for her friend Bayley after her loss at Extreme Rules and attack Bliss on her behalf. This could be an alternative route that eventually leads to Bayley’s heel turn.
If Banks is to face Bliss for the title at ‘Great Balls of Fire’, Bayley could execute her heel turn that night by costing ‘The Boss’ her chance at the Championship and setting up a feud between the two best friends as we head into SummerSlam.
Another match between Bayley and Banks, almost exactly two years on from their classic match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn could potentially lead to yet another memorable bout between the two.
Additionally, reversing the roles, with Banks as the face, and Bayley as the heel would freshen their longstanding story while also revitalising Bayley’s character.
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