10 Times WWE Completely Misunderstood Sexuality

8. Bayley & Her Father

Sable Torrie Wilson
WWE.com

2017 was year WWE tragically managed to take a performer so organically over with their own audience that many compared her to John Cena as a future industry icon, and get her booed in a building that housed one of the organisation's best ever matches.

In Bayley, the company should hang their heads in shame for a chronically awful presentation of a performer with a purity that transcended audience members in age and gender. It's been a catastrophe on such a scale that it's legitimately tough to identify the lowest ebb, but May's 'This Is Your Life' segment makes a strong case.

The overly long nadir of her lousy feud with Alexa Bliss, Bayley's memory lane trip took a dark turn allegedly masquerading as comedy when each special guest made a joke about 'The Hugger's special relationship with her father.

Her dad came with her to school. He hassled her and her best friend. He...went on her first date? Yes, with as much implication as they could get away with on a PG rated broadcast, WWE less-than-tacitly alluded to the idea that her relationship with her father was far from just paternal.

It was perhaps worse that they stopped short of outright saying it - the lingering connotations were far worse in anybody's imagination.

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