10 Things We Learned From WWE Raw In The UK (May 8)

7. Diminishing Returns

The Miz Maryse Dean Ambrose
WWE.com

At NXT TakeOver: London in December 2015, Bayley defeated Nia Jax in one of WWE's best ever matches in the UK. Bathing in the musical adoration of a devoted crowd, the NXT Women's Champion was irrefutably the next great babyface hope for the whole company, not just the women's division.

Flash forward to November 2016, and a stumbling start to life on the main roster was erased when her first Raw appearance in the UK garnered such glowing support from a Glasgow crowd that then-Champion and pay-per-view juggernaut Charlotte was repeatedly drowned out by songs dedicated to 'The Hugger', whom at that point wasn't even her promoted Number One Contender. It was a spine-tingling segment.

In May 2017, Bayley is now an ex-Champion, having broken Charlotte's streak, performed at WrestleMania and lived a 'dream' audiences have been acutely aware of since her NXT television debut in 2013. As she stood ringside to accompany Mickie James in her match with Alexa Bliss, the song remained the same, but the crowd were spent.

Silenced first by WWE's cynical noise control and then again by their own indifference, the lack of vocal accompaniment completely embodied the company's overwhelming and upsetting failure to nurture an industry-defining character and a division at large that remains on a knife-edge.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett