10 Times WWE Went Wrong With Bayley On The Main Roster
The Bayley ball has been bounced big time.
It was no more than one year ago that Bayley was all the rage down in NXT, with fans counting down the days until she was called up to WWE's main roster. On the August 22, 2016 edition of Raw, she finally arrived with plenty of fanfare and to a monster reaction from the Brooklyn crowd.
It looked like she was bound for big things in Raw's women's division - assuming she was handled properly - but it didn't take WWE long at all to completely bungle her booking. Since then, it has been one thing after another, and now, she could very well be approaching "damaged goods" territory after all the abuse her character has endured these past ten months.
Hope remains for Bayley and her loyal fans, but coming off that atrocious interview she had on Monday night with Corey Graves, she will need a ton of rehabbing to get back to where she once was. In theory, she should be the easiest Superstar for WWE to do right by, considering how well she fits into today's family-friendly landscape - but officials can't help but portray her the wrong way.
For whatever reason, WWE hasn't been able to figure out how to utilize the former NXT Women's champion, but surely these ten instances haven't helped her progress in the slightest.
10. Her Initial Main Roster Debut Was A One-Off (Battleground 2016)
Right out of the gate, WWE made a mistake by bringing up Bayley to the main roster ahead of her actual Raw debut.
Going into Battleground 2016, rumors ran rampant as to who Banks' tag team partner would be against Charlotte Flair and Dana Brooke, and ultimately, it was revealed to be Bayley. The crowd came unglued for Banks' former foe, and the two obviously enjoyed teaming together for the first time in several years.
Bayley was showcased quite a bit and came across like a total star, but it was weird that WWE held off on promoting Bayley to the main roster full time until after SummerSlam. At that point, she might as well have stuck around on Raw and continued to feud with Asuka heading into TakeOver: Brooklyn at the same time, similar to what Banks did the year prior.
Perhaps management was testing the waters for how fans would react to her, but either way, her Raw arrival in August would have meant more than it did if she hadn't already appeared for an ultimately inconsequential bout at Battleground.