Former World Champion to quit WWE after 13 years following recent worrying behavior? Exploring the potential

WWE icon Bayley has not had much success of late, whether in terms of fostering healthy relationships with the women in the locker room, wrestling on even the lower card at marquee events, or winning major matches. This is in spite of her trying to be the nice girl and the lovable, benevolent mentor.

The Role Model's efforts at balancing personal ambition with healthy competition and respect seem to have left her in the middle of nowhere. Her deranged social media activity over the past few days has hinted that she is experiencing psychological anguish. This could shockingly lead to her WWE exit after a 13-year stint.

The past two weeks have featured vignettes where she is seen in “duality of man” style videos, with her past self–an egotistic and selfish woman–speaking to her present self (the actually sorry, perhaps even original version of Bayley) about how she needs to make a change. The message is clear: she may have to succumb to the demons within if she wants to succeed again.

Right now, she has no friends, no titles, and has missed out on WWE's biggest shows like WrestleMania and SummerSlam. Clearly, it’s not working out for her. The abovementioned vignettes could continue to air while she remains absent from TV for the next few weeks. Or perhaps, they could build and build, and then suddenly stop airing altogether.

Bayley could even go on to eventually announce that she is quitting. In a certain sense, The Role Model would be quitting. This Bayley would have failed. And this Bayley would be gone. But after a few months, once the demons within have taken over her soul, a disillusioned Bayley could return as a dastardly heel and begin her ascent back to the top of the mountain.

Hopefully, given how big a star she is and how well she has already done with this character in a matter of weeks, this time it will translate to success not just from the character’s standpoint, but from the person’s standpoint, too. The WWE Grand Slam Champion has been overlooked for far too long, both as a character and as a legendary wrestler.

This juxtaposition is what makes stories feel real, resonant, and compelling for television. Triple H and Co. need to follow through on this the right way. That may mean Bayley “quits WWE” for a few weeks or months as part of the story. As long as her absence is followed up with a bang, it shouldn’t be viewed as a negative.

With no shortage of talent in RAW’s women’s division, The Role Model's time away would not be a relegation–it would be the rock bottom her character needs and the catapult that launches her back to the absolute top in a division that is stronger than it has ever been.

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WWE legend Bayley has different strengths as a babyface and a heel

While she is a natural underdog babyface, in terms of how strongly and prominently she is presented, the four-time WWE World Champion has always been better off as a heel. Her 380-day reign as the SmackDown Women's Champion came when she was a heel, as did her run with Damage CTRL, which helped make IYO SKY a star.

Her portrayal of the heel character, even last time around, was phenomenal in execution, and the initial run helped carry WWE through the pandemic. Given her stupendous character work of late and how nuanced the manner of storytelling has been under Triple H, The Role Model seems to be headed down a path similar to Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, and Seth Rollins.

With the kind of vignettes she has been producing, though, her work may end up eclipsing even the strongest of gradual babyface-heel transitions we have seen this decade.