WWE Women’s Revolution gains momentum as Bayley turns heel

On September 2, 2019, episode of WWE Raw, we got to witness something that nobody saw coming – a heel turn from the WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley! This is for the first time in her career that Bayley has turned heel and this is actually a major decision taken by WWE since Bayley has proven to be a profitable star for the company as a babyface. She is one of the most marketable wrestlers in WWE. A major reason behind that is her popularity among the children, who are mostly in favor of the babyfaces. 

Bayley has been extremely profitable for the company in terms of fan engagement and marketing. Why then did WWE decide to play such a card by turning a beloved character into a heel character?

Out of the Four Horsewomen of WWE, Bayley is the only one who has stuck with the same shtick ever since her debut. While the ‘Hugger’ persona initially brought her all the fame, it soon became a dreary thing that appealed only to the younger members of the WWE universe. This helped in the merch sales but Bayley had a tough time winning over the majority of the WWE Universe in the live crowds, which consisted mostly of adults, who were tired of seeing her do all the repetitive stuff over and over again. Despite being a babyface, she received boos from a hostile crowd and it took quite an ugly turn when she was booed on the August 7, 2017, episode of Raw, while cutting a promo about a serious injury. Things had gone so far that the WWE Universe refused to take Bayley seriously, and all that happened because of the in-ring character she was portraying. The WWE Universe turned their backs on Bayley and favored the other members of the Women’s Division. The three other members of the Four Horsewomen – Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Sasha Banks reinvented themselves and were successful in theirs.

This is an age of reinventing oneself and widening one’s horizons in the pro wrestling world and nobody seems to let go of the opportunity to work accordingly. But Bayley kept holding on to her ‘Hugger’ gimmick and lost all the credibility that so rightfully belonged to her as a remarkable performer. Turning her heel is thus a very good decision as we will now get to witness another side of Bayley that we never really got the chance to witness before and this will also help her in gaining back the favor of the majority of the WWE Universe. Turning an amiable character into a villainous one is going to have a huge impact on the Women’s Revolution moving forward.

Bayley has sided with Sasha Banks, who returned to WWE a couple of weeks ago as a heel, and so we have got the Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection back, but in a repackaged form. Both women are now heels and have aided each other in taking out their respective opponents for Clash of Champions 2019. Some WWE news sources have speculated that Sasha and Bayley might go after the Women’s Tag Team Championships if Sasha manages to win the WWE Raw Women’s Championship from Becky Lynch and if Bayley retains her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte flair at the 2019 Clash of Champions PPV. There seems to be a good chance for Sasha and Bayley to become double champions in the near future.

Bayley winning the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship after cashing in her Money In The Bank contract at the 2019 Money In The Bank PPV was a great moment but her title reign went downhill ever since. Now that she has turned heel, it is going to help her in elevating her character and showcasing a side we had never seen before, ultimately causing the WWE Women’s Revolution to gain a lot of momentum.

 

Feature photo: Miguel Discart – from flickr