10 WWE Stars Who Should Be WAY More Over Than They Actually Are

1. Bayley

seth rollins
WWE.com

How. The f*ck. Did WWE. Accidentally turn Bayley heel?

Bayley at one point in 2015 was the hottest wrestler in the company, NXT, main roster, full time, part time, whatever. She was the perfect figurehead for the Women's Revolution - despite or because of not being a part of its main roster transposition - because she was the antithesis of the Diva model. Bayley was nice. There were precisely zero sexual overtones to her character. She was a proxy to wrestling fans - female and male, her gender was incidental - who wished to live their childhood wrestling dreams through her. She was completely authentic in her role as a fleshed out woman with a pronounced inner child.

On the main roster, she has become an actual child, proving conclusively that Vince McMahon does not grasp nuance. She once recited childish poetry in her series with Charlotte. She held her title aloft in that same series as if it were a toy she was allowed to play with first. Opposite Alexa Bliss, she was scared of inflicting pain with a weapon. Surely, as a "superfan", she should have known to expect that sort of thing at some point?

The Bayley character is dead right now. There's scope to rebuild her, and reenact the winning streak with which fans started taking her seriously. Then again, the RAW creative team couldn't even be relied on to plagiarise correctly.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!