10 Positive Developments In This AWFUL Post-WWE WrestleMania 35 Season
6. Bayley
WWE is finally doing something with Bayley beyond 'complete and ritual bastardisation of what made her character work so well in NXT'.
It is a push born from spite, if two successive TV losses in fact constitutes as a push, but this version of Bayley feels drastically different purely by virtue of feeling even slightly different. That character was a dork going full Jumpin' Jeff Farmer force for two remarkably poor and damaging years, even with the Women's Tag Team Title wrapped around her waist.
The nicest thing anybody of influence in WWE has done for Bayley in that timespan is Batista telling her on Instagram that she has a "badunkadunk". She was almost literally given a good old pat on the behind for efforts which, while an iffy gesture of support, is far more than WWE managed.
The continued absence of Sasha Banks has driven the worst impulses of WWE. Bayley, following her switch to SmackDown, is now in possession of a spine, some fire, and the character motivation to turn heel and renew her career. Her match with Charlotte Flair was polished, heated and dramatic - a much-needed reminder to both fans and management that she can go. Perhaps her weird, symbiotic onscreen relationship with Banks was the problem all along.
Or perhaps the women's roster in WWE is as strong as the Undertaker's interest at a personal appearance.