Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY) have struggled to make fans care about their villainous antics, according to WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray.
The group formed at SummerSlam 2022 in July. On this week's RAW, they attacked Candice LeRae backstage before Bayley defeated RAW Women's Champion Bianca Belair in the main event. The show-closing segment, which featured Nikki Cross' return, received mixed responses from fans.
Bully Ray, known as Bubba Ray Dudley in WWE, spoke honestly about The Role Model's group on Busted Open:
"People are just not in to Damage CTRL right now. They don't care about Damage CTRL, and if they don't care, they're not going to care if the babyface beats them up. It's just kinda like, 'Okay, fine, yeah, we get it, move on.' Damage CTRL doesn't have a s**t load of heat, and if the devil ain't got no heat, Jesus can't blow a comeback. This is why strong heels are so important."
Bayley looks set to receive another RAW Women's Championship opportunity after her non-title win over Belair. Earlier this month, she failed to dethrone The EST in a Ladder Match at Extreme Rules 2022.
Bully Ray thinks Bayley is far superior to her Damage CTRL stablemates
While Bayley has performed on WWE's main roster since 2016, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY only received their call-ups to RAW three months ago.
Bully Ray believes the Women's Tag Team Champions still have a long way to go to reach the same level as the Damage CTRL leader:
"It's not about Bayley or IYO or Dakota, and I really shouldn't even say IYO and Dakota in the same breath as Bayley because I don't look at those two women in the same way I look at Bayley. I believe Bayley is considerably better than IYO and Dakota, and why wouldn't she be? She's been around a lot longer, she's got a lot more polish, she's worked with considerably better talents than the other two have."
Former WWE writer Vince Russo also disliked this week's RAW main event. He thinks the current RAW Women's Championship storyline has made Bianca Belair look like "just another wrestler on the roster."
What are your thoughts on Bayley's faction? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Busted Open and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.