7 Ups & 8 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (11 Oct)
2. Here's BAYLEY
WWE
Bayley taking a literal f*cking axe to the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men will surely make more children cry than the poor lad currently doing the rounds on Twitter after a Fox retweet, so impactful was this permanent and proper reintroduction of her as a bonafide heel.
A good argument for WWE against the many reasoned arguments that they can't tell longer form stories, the turn was well earned following weeks of her no-selling what a sh*thead she'd become since linking arms with returning partner-in-crime Sasha Banks.
The SmackDown Women's Championship loss to Charlotte Flair at Hell In A Cell clearly wrecked her wiring for good, even if that wasn't abundantly clear in her middling acting job on the night. This, brilliantly, left no cause for doubt. The new hair, gear, entrance and theme were all tells of a huge commitment in a new phase of the former 'Hugger's career.
It was important the booking followed through to a natural conclusion...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
