9 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (Sept 26)
5. A Better Message
“You were groomed for the main event” is a perfect message for someone like Bayley and her faction to use against the likes of Bianca Belair and Asuka. Even if it isn’t 100% true, it still hits hard.
Bayley was the lovable underdog in NXT and early in her WWE run. She was portrayed as a naïve fangirl and was taken advantage of a few times. Her early main roster run was disappointing to say the least. Dakota Kai was actually released from the company. Iyo Sky was languishing in NXT when she should have been on the main roster at least a year earlier.
So while you could dispute whether Belair herself was “handpicked” for a world title reign, it’s certainly a stronger message considering she’s wearing the title, and more importantly, it’s reasonable for Bayley to believe that.
As clunky as parts of this interaction was at times, that portion hit well. Plus we now have a ladder match for the women’s title, which opens the door to all kinds of shenanigans.