7 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Feb 5)

3. Bayley Looks Strong In Defeat

asuka bayley
WWE.com

It had been a long time since Bayley looked like she was one of the top female wrestlers on the roster, but Monday’s match against Asuka showed that she still has the skills – they’ve just been forced into hiding after poor booking.

Bayley hung with Asuka for a while, but eventually succumbed to a cross-armbar. During the match, however, the Huggable One got to display a little more fight and fire than she had in recent weeks, similar to how Sasha Banks also had a strong showing against the Empress of Tomorrow last week.

The common denominator here is Asuka, obviously, but also that WWE clearly is trying to build Asuka up by having her win these super-competitive matches against top female superstars. In the process, wrestlers like Bayley who have languished are getting a chance to shine and remind fans that they are pretty damn good in the ring themselves.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.