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Bayley's turn on Sasha Banks is a turning point for both women's careers

By Sanjay Dutta
Modified Sep 20, 2020 00:16 IST
Bayley and Sasha Banks held all the women's titles at one point
Bayley and Sasha Banks held all the women's titles at one point

2020 had been one of the most interesting years in WWE history. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, WWE has had to adapt to the changing times. The creative team at WWE has produced several interesting ideas over the past few months. Apart from trying out new things and pushing for fresh ideas, WWE has also had make adjustments to their roster due to the pandemic.

There have been many Superstars who have grabbed the proverbial brass ring during this period. While stars like Drew McIntyre, Asuka, and Seth Rollins have stepped up big time, Bayley and Sasha Banks have been the MVPs of the post-COVID era in WWE.

Following the departure of two of its biggest names, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, there seemed to be a huge void in WWE's women's division. Banks and Bayley have filled that vacuum and became the backbone of the division in the process.

The duo defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross on the June 5 episode of SmackDown to capture the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Next, Banks defeated Asuka—albeit questionably—to win the WWE RAW Women's Championship. With this, Banks and Bayley became the first women's tag team to hold all the titles in their division.

The demise of Bayley and Sasha Banks' uneasy alliance

For a while, it seemed like the duo were unstoppable. However, as they say, all good things eventually come to an end. Banks and Bayley's downfall began when The Boss dropped the RAW Women's Championship to Asuka at SummerSlam.

The duo suffered another jolt a week later at Payback where they lost their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship to Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax.

After failing to recapture the title from Jax and Baszler, Bayley turned on her longtime friend and tag team partner, Sasha Banks, and laid her out following a brutal beatdown. Bayley's attack on Banks was one of the highest viewed segments on WWE programming in recent memory.

Fans have been wanting to see Banks and Bayley face off against one another for years now. Their match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn in 2015 is widely considered to be one of the best women's matches in WWE history.

Since Bayley's main roster debut at Battleground 2016, The Role Model has been paired up with Banks for the majority of her run on RAW and SmackDown. The duo has teased a feud for brief periods over the last four years, but they have failed to recreate the magic of their epic rivalry in NXT.

With that said, this is the first time Bayley has turned her back on Banks. Many believed that SmackDown Women's Champion would be a career babyface before her heel turn last summer.

Nevertheless, what makes Bayley's turn on Banks all that more special is the way it happened. For the longest time, Bayley was known to be a bubbly, do-good character, whose friends including Banks would turn on her first.

Interestingly, it was Banks who initiated the former Hugger's turn to the dark side. In the main event of the Sept. 2, 2019 episode of RAW, Bayley and Becky Lynch teamed up to take on the team of Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. The match ended in Disqualification after Banks attacked Lynch and hit her with a backstabber.

Following the match, Banks continued to attack Lynch but Bayley entered the fray and took the steel chair from Banks, which she intended to use on Lynch. Afterward, Bayley looked at Banks and proceeded to attack Lynch, the biggest babyface in the company at that time.

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While Bayley didn't fully morph into the current evil version of herself for another month, the attack on Lynch was the start of The Role Model's descent into her dark side. Isn't it ironic that she would end up attacking the very person who was the catalyst for her heel turns a year later?

For the first time in years, it seems like fans will finally get the feud between Banks and Bayley that they've longed for. In this week's edition of SmackDown, Sasha Banks appears for the first time since Bayley attacked her. The Boss got emotional while talking about Bayley's betrayal.

Still, Bayley attacked The Legit Boss once again when she mentioned the SmackDown women's title. The segment was one of the highlights of this week's SmackDown. Given what the WWE Universe has seen from the duo so far, the feud between Bayley and Sasha Banks is turning out to be one of the most intriguing feuds of the year.

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