10 NXT Stars That Failed On The Main Roster (And Why)

Zayn’s female counterpart in NXT was the Hugger herself; the junior member of the Four Horsewomen, the baby babyface with the heart of a lion. Her story is a little different, however.

Scuttlebutt (like gossip on a losing streak) is that Vince McMahon and his inner circle actually recognised the potential Bayley had on the main roster. The word was that they believed that she could be the XX John Cena, the protagonist they’d mount the new-ish Women’s division to.

The problem is that the powers that be are still fixated on an idea of the babyface that originated in the Attitude Era; the sarcastic jock who pays lip service to being good and noble, but who beats people up who look at him funny, claiming that they have bad breath and poop in their pants.

So Bayley, carefully built up over two years (two years!) of patient booking and storytelling, was called up and immediately thrown into title contention... and she began to tank, the crowd booing her mercilessly, as she struggled to apply her halting mic skills to playing her principled, straight-arrow, role model character as an opportunistic, sulky a**hole.

WWE have no one but themselves to blame for Bayley’s utter failure on the main roster over the last year. Truthfully, there may be no way back for the character now.