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What’s the story?
Bayley was a hot topic of discussion from this week’s Monday Night Raw after she received a mixed response from the Toronto crowd. According to wrestlingnews.co, WWE officials were unhappy with the negative reception she received from portions of the audience.
In case you didn't know...
On the previous week’s edition of Raw, Bayley suffered a shoulder injury during her match against Nia Jax. In the immediate aftermath of the match, the extent of her injury was unclear due to the swelling around the shoulder.
However, Bayley was later sent for medical tests and it was revealed that she suffered a separated shoulder and would be unable to compete in her scheduled Raw Women’s Championship match against Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam.
The heart of the matter
This past Monday, Bayley appeared on Raw to address the situation in an in-ring segment and it was here that she encountered the aforementioned ‘mixed response’.
It seems as though WWE, nor Bayley, were expecting this reaction as they have edited out part of the promo on their official YouTube channel.
WWE have removed the part of the segment where Bayley decided to address the people booing in the crowd, which only resulted in inciting them further.
Corey Graves also referred to Toronto as “bizarro world”, which is often how WWE announcers describe a crowd that does not respond to their performers with the desired reaction, for example booing the faces and cheering the heels.
What’s next?
This is not the first time that Bayley has received this sort of reaction and it will be interesting to see whether or not WWE act upon this recent development by changing her character.
Alternatively, this injury lay-off could be a blessing in disguise for the former Women’s Champion and she may get a warmer reception when she does return.
Author’s Take
There has been a lot of debate after this incident on Raw with some fans suggesting that the audience's negative response was more due to their displeasure with the booking of Bayley rather than to her as a performer.
I disagree with that interpretation, although I do think WWE's handling of Bayley's character has led to this reaction. She has been portrayed as far too nice and naive during her main roster run and has stopped her from fulfilling her true potential on Raw.
Hopefully, this crowd reaction will result in a change her booking when she does return from this injury.
