13 Ups & 9 Downs For WWE In 2022
5. Damage CTRL Has Failed...
...and it's the biggest indictment of Triple H thus far.
The picture above has been specifically chosen because WWE likes to stage moments like this that can be captured to help fans remember a time that never actually existed. That's not Bayley's belt, and she's failed to climb ladders both literal and metaphorical since returning at SummerSlam. Those Tag Titles do belong to Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky, but they preside over a division so neglected that the straps scarcely even need to exist at present.
The castle is still made of sand, and if 'The Game' wants to rebuild it brick by boring brick, he shouldn't have started off by keeping 'The Role Model' heel.
There's a decent narrative thread buried deep beneath the surface of Damage CTRL - Bayley was both privately and publicly somebody who constantly wanted to elevate others with her performances and any status she could attain, a diamond for any locker room that shouldn't still be getting spurned by management - but the heel unit slotted so listlessly into the weekly churn that Raw controlled them before they even had a chance to make it the other way around.
The story isn't a story, but a series of wins and losses against different collections of wrestlers in matches greeted by indifference or worse. It was good for management and the wrestlers themselves to commit to all of it, but it'd be even better now for them all to admit defeat.