7 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (June 30)
1. Even Izzy Hates Bayley Now
Remember Bayley, circa 2015?
This was a performer who achieved the seemingly impossible and got over as a white meat underdog babyface, post-Attitude Era, because she was so damn heartfelt and likeable in her role that it was equally impossible not to fall for her. She was booked and performed to perfection. Any danger of the act becoming cloying was eradicated when she, at TakeOver: Respect, played the role of wronged hero and avenged with viciousness Sasha Banks' dastardly mega heel posturing. It was as pure and as great and as cathartic as wrestling gets. It was the wonder of pro wrestling, distilled.
Then, she made her permanent main roster bow on August 22, 2016. She caught, dropped and caught the RAW Women's Title hot potato to zero audience investment, wasting a baked-in arc that could have culminated at WrestleMania 33. Instead, WWE simply cast Bayley as just another face in a crowded division, winning a nothing Fatal 4-Way match also involving Banks, Charlotte, and Nia Jax. Bayley left 'Mania with the gold, but there was no simply no story to it, feel-good or otherwise. Her stock plummeted.
Things deteriorated from there. Bayley entered a feud (and into total recession) with Alexa Bliss, who beat her in her hometown, ridiculed her in the second worst segment of a dismal year in WWE TV, and was booked as a complete geek by refusing to "go to the extreme" in their Kendo Stick On A Pole match at Extreme Rules.
Bayley is now such a loser that her superfan, Izzy, has taken to supporting Bliss instead. This young girl once loved Bayley so much that the act reduced her to tears.
If anything indicts WWE creative in 2017, it is this.