Was Bayley's Title Reign Disappointing?

Bayley held the championship for 4 months before dropping it at SummerSlam to Nia Jax. There has been many discussion online on whether or not her title reign delivered. I don't believe WWE used her to her fullest capabilities which led to the title reign not feeling satisfying by the time she lost it. In this video I discuss her entire championship run from the beginning to the end, and give reasons on why I think it fell flat.
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[@SlamCentral_]

Join the Discord! discord.gg/hDJqeH6sug

[@Jer1995]

The Damage Control feud should’ve been longer to at least give her more of a lengthy title run .

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah idk why it was just dropped soo suddenly To be fair what other material could you use for that rivalry given the fact that Damage CTRL are not the greatest on the mic I feel like that story for WrestleMania was peak with what they were able to do

[@Devondavis-fm2dz]

Bayley title reign should've been better

[@SlamCentral_]

I agree

[@toshinronin]

No it shouldn’t have

[@antoinegeorge4287]

@@toshinroninyes it should

[@IamNster]

Ngl while the feud she had for the belt made sense, Bailey always gave off "transitional champion" vibes to me. It felt like they gave her the belt only because it made the most sense at the time, but didn't necessarily have any big plans for her until it was time for her to drop it.

[@SlamCentral_]

Not once did I feel like Bayley’s championship reign was interesting It was just nonsense after nonsense

[@eddiecampbell9663]

That's because her title reign was transitional....u do know some of the greatest champions in history have been transitional champion....

[@SlamCentral_]

@@eddiecampbell9663 Damian Priest was a transitional champion and his title reign was 100x better than what Bayley received You can make a transitional championship reign interesting with the right booking

[@CATRINA-r2e]

​@@SlamCentral_ Dakota should've been stay at smackdown and feuding with Bayley Also they tease Blair Davenport to having a confrontation with Bayley But It didn't happen even in a match

[@davidspitefulwwe]

Her first month as champ was good. Creative didn’t do anything after!

[@SlamCentral_]

The first month was alright for me Bayley felt like she was third fiddle in that feud because it was a personal one between Tiffany and Naomi Bayley just happened to be in between them because she offered Naomi a title opportunity and Tiffany didn’t think that was fair The triple threat was easily the best match of the reign but everything afterwards was just meh

[@unforcedterror3136]

05:45 “the match ended in yet another roll up”? She pinned her with a fucking awesome crucifix driver!

[@850bigboy]

what's messed up about this is that this could have been her very last time being a top women's champion in wwe. basically her & asuka are both going to be in the same boat

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah it sucks because the interest levels of her regaining it have dropped TREMENDOUSLY for me I really wanted them to do her justice after she has done the job for many people, but they fumbled HARD

[@850bigboy]

@@SlamCentral_ yeah for some reason wwe never looked at bayley someone who could be looked at as a face of the women's division or big money draw for the women's division. i think the only time that she got a chance to really show she could carry the women's division was back during the pandemic era

[@Edgar-uw5iz]

I liked it, it seemed good and entertaining, but what was happening with Bayley's reign as champion was not her fault but rather the lack of respect since she never had rivals, nor a story, she was never put on posters, nor did she have screen time, nor did she have prominence and that makes me sad and upset but her Babyface is fine and the fans love her but I feel very sad for Bayley and now I'm wondering after Summerslam: What will happen with Bayley being a Babyface without the title?

[@SlamCentral_]

It’s sad because I really wanted to see this babyface championship run work but now it’s like how do you build intrigue back into her character I don’t want her to turn heel because I would like to see Naomi turn heel first Orrrrr I would like to see Bianca Belair turn heel again and run a rivalry with a face Bayley, that’s a whole new dynamic we never experienced yet

[@Edgar-uw5iz]

@@SlamCentral_ Okay.

[@TZeditzzz]

Bayley is such a good competitor idk what triple h was thinking when he booked her like this

[@SlamCentral_]

Especially after all of that losing she did to put other talent over She gets rewarded with the worst reign of the Renaissance Era soo far

[@TZeditzzz]

@@SlamCentral_ hhh should've booked damage cntrl better instead he made the whole group look like a loser and bayley an even bigger loser

[@sukhmeet8665]

Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan have completely outclassed the title on Smackdown for an entire year. Iyo was barely a champion as was Bayley.

[@SlamCentral_]

I really don’t understand why every story can’t get logical storytelling like the main stories in this company Women’s division on SmackDown has been cooked but I have faith they’ll atleast make us care for Nia Jax because she has been booked incredibly strong

[@VegetaPrinceofSaiyans1]

​@@SlamCentral_ Nia Jax VS Bianca Belair VS Jade Cargill. Should be at Bash at Berlin

[@ajaejones2423]

Wasn't Bayley the longest reigning Smackdown Women's champ at one point.

[@rileyholden-zc9ip]

@@sukhmeet8665 Asuka too hhh completely mishandled her

[@willgomez5454]

They messed up by making damage ctrl move to raw we could've had all three original members have a triple threat at mitb or summerslam with dakota winning. This would've given each member their time with the gold

[@drewneedsmoresleep6680]

The truth very few people are saying is the booking knows how to build a story, hit the climax, but then…they drop the ball. They seem to have no idea what to do next. This should have been the year of Bayley. Great matches, showing she was a true elite champion in WWE history. But they just like forgot about her. She wasn’t even in promotional images for PLEs. What a waste, cause Bayley has been elevating the women’s division since she got on TV.

[@blitzboy_6558]

WWE messed up the feud between Bayley and Damage CTRL. She should have continued feuding with IYO as well as another member of the group before moving on instead of ending things so abruptly at WrestleMania. Even the buildup on the road to WrestleMania wasn’t great.

[@ahmedyusuf3340]

Idk why wwe is booking Bayley like that even she was the champion she’s booked weak like they don’t care about Bayley anymore odd booking 🤔

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah it’s mad weird because you’re supposed to make the champion feel believable

[@jayy.7189]

bianca belair would have made a much better champion

[@donutcollectsYT]

Loving the donut collects early video access 😆 But dang is it a shame that such a great championship reign with someone as good as Bayley was wasted. They could have easily booked an amazing reign for her even in the small time between mania and summerslam. WWE is better then it has been in years but there are still definitely some weird decisions🙃

[@SlamCentral_]

That’s the perks of becoming a member 🏋🏾 Yeah I agree, Bayley is one of the legends of the business and the fact that she wasn’t treated as such is really baffling to me. Creative should’ve gave her something interesting other than running around looking like the third fiddle in her own rivalries Bayley’s story going into backlash: gives opportunity to Naomi, Tiffany doesn’t like it, Naomi and Tiffany beef, Bayley is in the middle Bayley’s story going into Clash At The Castle: Piper is the Hometown hero for the crowd Bayley’s story going into SummerSlam: Nia Jax won Queen of the Ring and Tiffany felt more important than the main champion

[@reptvismy13threason]

It was super disappointing in the way that she was never the focus of any of her feuds. Backlash was to build Naomi and Tiffany as credible challengers, CATC was to give Piper her moment, she got NOTHING for MITB, Summerslam was for Nia. Not once did Bayley look strong in her any of defenses too. She won all of them via roll ups or non finishers.

[@James-rm7sr]

I was disappointed. I love Bayley. If I could watch one female wrestler for the rest of my life. She would be it. I feel she got handed a rather raw deal with her run. It was evident as her run to win the title they weren't behind her on it. The booking was the worst part. They kind of done the same with Cody so much Baby face vs Baby face or when against a heel they seem unable to do anything without help. She didn't believe in it, because of the way those back stage treated her.

[@editionmixlegit]

Answer to the title of this video: yes. But it's always the same with Bayley, probably her only good reign was in NXT...

[@loudhouse1876]

Yeahh I don't know why they dropped the Damage CTRL rematch, potential Bianca feud due to tension, and did all those Naomi backstage segments for no reason (thought Naomi would turn heel)

[@kb75315]

Naomi vs Bayley cooked wym 😂 that was one of the best tv matches the women have produced this year.

[@krillinnnit]

yea idk what he talking bout 😭 Naomi & Bayley were great in that match

[@kingdjack6]

Another problem was Sky title reign was just there the only real thing out was the feud with Bianca at the start and brining Sane in at the beginning hell the WWE Woman Championship the few title holders have like yeah oh ok.

[@MetalMadness_00]

Sky retaining would've been her crowning moment

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah Iyo didn’t feel like the leader of her own group which made the “champ” feel like a side character Bayley did the heavy lifting character wise and it fit because she’s better as an obnoxious heel At the moment Bayley beating Iyo was the perfect move She was extremely over and got the crowd to become sympathetic towards her, but how long can we ride with a character when the booking starts to become dry

[@Kskillz2]

Bayley v Nia was actually good! Wtf are you on?

[@pingpongballz5998]

Bayley was a boring champ. Also is it me or is she out of shape? Shes slower in the ring. She's bigger.

[@JamesSelcraig211]

you're wrong about Chelsea Green

[@jxzayne2523]

Do u guys realize the whole Smackdown is a problem cuz many potential heels are in Raw

[@SlamCentral_]

I’ve stated this in previous videos The draft left SmackDown with scraps

[@nesoukkefka1741]

Still can't believe they miss the opportunity to turn Bianca Belair heel and make her feud against Bayley, I really thought they were going to do that after the 4 VS 4 match in the smackdown before backlash, sadly Belair is stuck in the team division with Jade Cargill at the moment.

[@weswith360s]

Bayley was better as a heel champion

[@SlamCentral_]

I agree, her best work is as a heel

[@odysseus2k1]

is it just me or is smackdown kinda boring since the last 2 years, especially the women's division? i mean, on raw you have rhea and liv, and the women's division there has always been better. even when iyo was champ, it was boring and forgetful.

[@loudhouse1876]

ngl smackdown's division rn clears raw in terms of the women right now. There's a lot of top stars on smackdown but raw doesn't rly have many that are being pushed due to the Rhea/Liv story

[@jjosifovic]

Bayley has always been the GOAT to me. She has been the most unselfish women in that locker room and has constantly been taking losses in order to get other people over. Like u said she had bad booking since she returned from injury n WWE through either Vince or Hunter never treated her better than what she is after the injury. Great video.

[@yassebro6948]

When they turned her face she lost all her magic, she became vanilla

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah there was almost no substance behind her character It’s sad because you could’ve atleast explored something between her and Bianca since they have soo much history

[@yassebro6948]

@@SlamCentral_ also sucks because she's one of the top workers, but at least she got a bit of recognition by winning the rumble

[@VinceAustinStoneCold]

Great Video ‼️ But is there someone sleeping behind you in the bed ?? 😂

[@SlamCentral_]

Lol nah my girlfriend was just chilling back there😂 I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

[@RShaun]

Somebody didn’t watch the whole video!! 😮😂😂😂

[@toshinronin]

No on really cared and she wasn’t over

[@ajaejones2423]

She was over when Damage control turned on her, I heard those cheers, she got a massive pop when she beat Iyo Sky.

[@rileyholden-zc9ip]

Wwe damaged Bayley's character so bad they turned her face

[@yandhi_6382]

The smackdown women's roster is a product of not having good wrestlers and solely relying on storytelling to do the heavy lifting. Either get a mid card title or get better workers because this ain't it

[@UselessVoidBobo]

They shouldn't have split Bayley and Damage Ctrl...

[@JoseAguilar-mg3fw]

Triple H is stuck in the thin line between giving the women credible long reigns and booking them boring. Even Rhea last year as great as she was her reign was boring. Triple H has fumbled a lot of storylines and feuds in the women division.

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah Rhea’s reign lacked credible opponents Nobody was believable enough to stand a chance against her No one was getting booked anywhere as close as powerful as her

[@gregoryfuller9736]

Rhea sucks and you guys overrated w everyone hhh is loser bitch that need to be fired

[@RShaun]

I won’t forgive them for having her enter the ring as champion before Piper Niven on Smackdown as if Bayley was the contender.

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah idc if it’s her hometown I need the champion to go last all the time

[@JamesSelcraig211]

bro is so negative about this all, geez oak

[@josie_foxx]

As much as I love bayley she never really had that great of a title reign I think if she was still heel it would've been better imo

[@SlamCentral_]

Her best run of her career was during the pandemic, she made the best out of the situation She should’ve had a second run as a heel but they fumbled that

[@MrWaifuTaker]

Am I a POS for still liking Bayley?

[@SlamCentral_]

Not at all

[@lilahbellie5501]

No, you’re entitled to like who you like

[@KDB349]

No? I'm confused on why you'd even think that.

[@jamillion10]

This is coming from someone who only started watching wrestling just over a year ago but... I think she's better as a heel. I don't know if this is a hot take but I feel like her being all goody two shoes is weird and doesn't fit. The ONLY time I was like "DAMN BAYLEY" was when she called out Nia Jax for being reckless

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah I believe Bayley is overall better as a heel She fits that obnoxious heel role perfectly They dropped the ball not having her go against people she originally bullied for the past two years as a heel Would’ve been interesting how they told that story with her now being a face instead

[@burn_axel]

I mean it’s not fair when your competition has pounds of weight over you smh… there’s are reason there was divisions before so competitors wouldn’t have situations where your opponent could literally sit on you and win and honestly it kinda sux to have all these “heels” winning titles, I’d be happier if Jade Cargil (hopefully there’s a good Jaxx vs Cargil feud coming) was Champion, but even she got screwed over during the Queen of the ring Tournament due to Nia Jaxx antics. Nia vs Bailey was bad from the start anyway both are heels and the could fans could never really get behind them anyway. Nia just squashes people and Bailey was still looking for redemption after her run w/ DMG CTRL

[@ajaejones2423]

Bayleys been a face since Damage control turned on her.

[@Dracoocodm]

I need the Ethan page vid😭

[@1990POE]

Side note this is also the worst women’s tag team champions run ever. They barely are on tv

[@SlamCentral_]

I mean the women’s tag team titles have been in the gutter for YEARS and it’s never going to recover because they don’t push the only legit teams they have There should be no reason why Jade and Bianca are being pushed more than the people that need it Jade and Bianca will be over off of name value alone Alba and Isla NEED creative to give them something to work with

[@larontezmoore3313]

​@SlamCentral_ They have been on TV for the past few weeks, even on NXT

[@SlamCentral_]

@@larontezmoore3313 yeah and what have they been doing on TV? Getting beat up and looking like losers That’s not valuable TV time, and 5 minutes is not going to do anything for anyone when it’s given sparingly

[@larontezmoore3313]

@@SlamCentral_ They legit been going back and forth with the Bianca and Jade. It was never one sided.

[@SlamCentral_]

@@larontezmoore3313 You’re forgetting about the 5 minutes of TV time

[@MagicShow-y4e]

I hate to say this but it is really bad. Thank God Nia Jax ended it.

[@SlamCentral_]

We can only hope Nia would save it but her not appearing on SmackDown last week is not promising lol

[@BC2023NYC]

The summerslam match I thought was decent but otherwise yea it was a disappointing reign n agree with transitional champion vibes. I honestly thought once tiffy won mitb that nia was gonna beat bayley and Tiffany was going to cash in on her.

[@SlamCentral_]

Wow someone that disagrees with my view on a match who’s actually respectful about it😭 I’m glad you found enjoyment in that match I agree with Bayley feeling like a transitional champion, you need those here and there to make things feel fresh but Bayley is not one of those talent that you use that on She deserved a more lengthy reign given the fact that she sacrificed 2 years of her career to put over other talent making her look like a complete loser

[@BC2023NYC]

@@SlamCentral_ I agree n yea I’m too grown to be going back and forth with people on here like I’m a little kid. We can agree to disagree. Agree on transitional champ we need those but bayley deserved better. We shall see how long nia reign last and how that goes because we all know it’s a matter of time until Tiffany cashes in

[@zachjohn3217]

5:30 at least you admit you're a negative nancy. I do agree how Bayley title reign is hurt. I have to go through trenches with Cody's reign, i'm enjoying his title reign but my goodness the insults, criticism, hate, takes, and etc are everywhere to see. Especially this channel...

[@SlamCentral_]

Unlike other channels I actually give valid criticism rather than just straight up hating I open you up to why I feel a certain way about something and it’s up to you to either listen and not throw a fit about my opinion or throw a tantrum because I wasn’t afraid to state it Plus I’m not enjoying Cody’s reign right now but there’s not much he can do when creative is just feeding him scraps, people took that video wayyy tooo the heart Cody is great but with SmackDown lacking heels, there’s not much to play around with until The Rock comes back

[@swaviechan999]

I really enjoyed this video it’s about time someone pointed this out I was so excited for the match between iyo and bayley at wrestlemania 40 and it sure as hell delivered I was seriously hoping that creative would book Bayleys title reign a lot better especially with all the loses she took last year and it sucks how they just misused her and the crazy thing is all the wwe women’s championship reigns have been terrible Asuka’s was pathetic Iyo’s was lengthy but lacked consistency and now bayley’s reign is pretty much forgettable I seriously hope wwe do better with the women’s division this is honestly sad.

[@ddd.._]

yes

[@BC2023NYC]

Sometimes they chase is better than the reign n that’s what happened here. It happens sometimes but bayley was definitely more interesting as a heel.

[@SlamCentral_]

Yeah I understand what people mean by this but the thing is like damn give us SOMETHING😭 I’m not really enjoying Cody title reign but atleast he’s giving us SOMETHING to work with even though the creative team is giving him scraps

[@BC2023NYC]

@@SlamCentral_ Random question do you think Cena very last match should be against someone he has history with Orton or punk perhaps or putting over a new star like Bron

[@kingsyris3163]

Video cool and all but. Stream summer slam.

[@FlameMirage]

so was Io's

[@KDB349]

Yeah, i'm gonna be honest with you. I care more about Bayley as a face. I don't care about Bayley as a heel. She knows how to be annoying, yes. That doesn't make me want to see her or care about what she does. I feel like Bayley's road to the championship, her road to wrestlemania was good. The betrayal of Damage Control was done very well. I loved seeing her beat Iyo for the championship. But after that its like the writers gave up, they had no idea what to do with Bayley and that killed all her hype. It was like they were more interested in getting Tiffany and Nia over. Don't get me wrong i love Tiffany but still... Bayley deserved better.