7 Questions We're Asking After WWE Payback 2017
4. What's With The Anti-Hometown Bias?
Of all the bizarre quirks that Vince McMahon possesses, his insistence on having wrestlers lose, often in embarrassing fashion, in front of their hometown crowds, is one of his most baffling.
The UFC realizes that booking athletes to fight in the cities they're from is not only an easy way to make money, it also helps build stars. Stipe Miocic is a great recent example. The heavyweight champion is an outstanding knockout artist with a crowd-pleasing style but he'd yet to really catch on with the audience at large. UFC ran a show in Cleveland, Ohio, giving Miocic the chance to defend his title in front of his hometown, and not only did he deliver big time by knocking out Alistair Overeem, he also came off like a gigantic superstar to those watching at home.
Payback took place in San Jose, California and WWE frequently touted that Raw women's champion Bayley would be defending in front of her hometown crowd. The audience was hot for "The Hugster" and a win over Alexa Bliss would have made for a tremendous feel good moment for both Bayley and the fans as well as a great visual.
So of course she lost.
WWE has a long history of this, and it's flat out inexplicable. Having someone look like a star in front of their local audience takes no effort whatsoever and elicits the type of reaction the company spends untold hours trying to inorganically manipulate in every other circumstance.