Why WWE Squashed Bayley On Last Night's Raw
It's understandable that WWE want to recharge Alexa. The company's first two-brand women's champion surprisingly became one of the division's chief assets after her premature call-up, and her residual pre-injury popularity demands more than a bargain-basement weekly talk show spot. But she could have earned her decisive squash against just about any lowly mook on the roster. Why, then, was Bayley the sacrificial lamb?
Until she became one of part of the 'first-ever' (history notwithstanding) Women's Tag Team Champions alongside Sasha Banks at Elimination Chamber, Horsewoman Bayley's WWE career was completely moribund. Mired in a permanently stalled programme opposite her future belt-winning partner and with no major prospects on the horizon, it seemed as if The Hugger's once considerable upside had been, like the forlorn tube guys during her WrestleMania entrance, well and truly deflated.
February's title triumph seemed to suggest that at long last, Bayley was in line for a renewed push, even if it felt like the horse had bolted on her WWE career long ago. Apparently, that wasn't the case; in New Jersey, The Boss 'n' Hug Connection were displaced by Australian nuisances The IIconics - a duo about a million percent below their level.
And whilst Sasha was nowhere to be seen on the follow-up Raw, her deposed partner was on hand to be summarily dismissed by Bliss, now in her working boots. It didn't just feel like the end of a push, but an active burial.
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