On the final Raw before their Royal Rumble 2019 title match, Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks will be on opposing sides of tag-team action. Scheduled for this week’s Raw is Rousey and Natalya taking on Banks and Bayley.
This week’s Raw will take place in the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. No other matches have been made official for Monday’s show.
“With the animosity between The Baddest Woman on the Planet and The Boss ramping up over the past week, both on the last edition of Raw and on social media, what will it look like when the two have a chance to get their hands on one another just six nights before their title clash?” – WWE Press Release.
Ronda Rousey & Natalya vs Sasha Banks & Bayley Stats
This will be the 4th time that Rousey and Natalya have teamed together on WWE programming. They are a perfect 3-0 so far. They were victorious against the teams of Alexa Bliss & Mickie James, Nia Jax & Tamina, and in a triple threat match involving Jax & Tamina and Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan at Tribute to the Troops.
Bayley and Sasha Banks teamed together 22 times in 2018. They finished the year with a record of14-8.
Banks said recently it’s her goal to be a double-champ, holding both singles and tag-team gold.
“It’s just cool at the start of 2019 going into the title picture and hearing the tag titles are coming,” Banks said to Talk Sport. “So for me, my goal is to be a double champion.”
Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley was recently asked about some interesting topics. She did an interview where she spoke with Metro.co.uk about various topics including if she is satisfied with where she is in WWE at the moment.
“I never really look at other people, I just worry about myself. I’m always wanting more and there’s always a lot more to be done but we’re working on it and trying our best.”
The follow-up questions were about how vocal she is backstage and if she thinks that she is listened to by WWE officials. “Very vocal, we bother them a lot,” Bayley stated. “Sometimes, yeah. It’s a process.”
After months of talk of the possibility, WWE has made it official as there will be an introduction of tag team titles in the women’s division in the near future. Just last week on an episode of RAW, WWE aired a video of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announcing the news while being dressed up like Santa Claus.
Bayley was asked will the women’s tag-team division change things at all, which is when she responded by stating that there are so many talented women and they need something else to fight for as all of the stars want to be the champion. She thinks they also need more to look forward to and something else to give the fans.
Posted January 1st, 2019 in WWE, News. Tagged: Bayley.
Bayley recently talked to The Starpromoting the upcoming WWE Live Tour 2019 which is set to take place at the Sheffield FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, England on May 16.
Besides talking about the tour, Bayley also said that she believes WWE WrestleMania will be headlined by female superstars in the future.
She said she does not know when or where it will happen, but according to her it is inevitable.
“Oh yes, I believe it definitely will happen,” said Bayley. “I don’t know when or where but with everything we’ve accomplished over the past few years I definitely know its going to happen. I don’t know who it will be. But I can’t wait for the day.”
Bayley also talked about the fact that how it was looked down upon for girls watching wrestling, and how much that is changing right now. She recalls her childhood when she used to be called weird for watching wrestling.
“It’s very cool to inspire other girls to be a WWE star. They used to say it wasn’t a girlie thing and it’s something i used to get all the time – they looked at me weird because I watched wrestling. But now it’s such a normal thing to be a fan and cool to be a female superstar some day.”
You can listen to the full interview on The Star’s website by clicking here.
WWE’s Sheffield tour has names such as Bayley, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor and Dolph Ziggler lined up for the event. Matches already set for the card are Braun Strowman vs Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose. You can check out more info here.
Ivory responded, “Can I have a year to get in shape, first?!” Bayley then said, “How about I give you until Oct. 28?” — Evolution takes place on October 28.
There’s a personal connection between the two as Bayley met Ivory when she was 12 years old and the then-WWE star asked her if she’s going to see her in the ring one day.
“I remember having the opportunity to meet Ivory as a kid, and she was the first woman’s wrestler that I met. She looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to see you in the ring one day aren’t I?'” Bayley said in an interview earlier this year.
“I took that sign that I was going to make it and then I met her again at Wrestlemania 30 or 31 as a member of the WWE roster and told her that story.”
– At WWE Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia, Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins beat The Riott Squad in a Six-Woman Tag Team Match. The match ended in a unique fashion as Rousey made Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan submit simultaneously to a double armbar. Rousey took to Instagram on Sunday to thank Australia, The Bella Twins and even The Riott Squad.
Rousey wrote, “Yesterday moved me to my core. Thank you Melbourne. Thank you Australia. Thank you everyone who smiled back at me at #WWESSD … thank you @thenikkibella and @thebriebella for having my back in the ring last night…. And thank you #RiotSquad @rubyriottwwe @sarahloganwwe @yaonlylivvonce for being the force we had to reckon with.”
Last night WWE presented their biggest event of the summer. As is often the case when the promotion is in the New York area, plenty of celebrities were backstage. Additionally, several wrestling personalities were backstage as well.
Who Was Backstage At Summerslam?
Shane McMahon hasn’t been seen on camera for several months but was backstage last night. Ric Flair was also on hand to witness his daughter, Charlotte Flair, win back the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
Bayley and Sasha Banks were both backstage at Summerslam too. The other 2 members of the 4 Horsewomen of NXT were involved in the Smackdown Women’s Championship match.
David Arquette was everywhere around Summerslam this year and it’s assumed he was backstage at some point as well.
Teddy Hart was backstage. He wrestled for Joey Janela’s Lost in New York on Friday and was likely wrestling somewhere nearby on Saturday or Sunday as well. Additionally, it is being said that both Carmella and Charlotte’s ring-gear yesterday, which were both pink, were worn in honor of Jim Neidhart.
Comedian Jon Stewart was at Summerslam but did not continue his rivalry with Seth Rollins.
PW Insider is also reporting that Stokely Hathaway, a manager from EVOLVE, was also backstage.
Former UFC Middleweight Champion, Chris Weidman, was in attendance. He tweeted out the following:
In a video posted on Instagram this afternoon, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle announced two more matches for Raw tomorrow night in Jacksonville, Florida.
https://instagram.com/p/BmGnKyrAvj1/
In a rematch from last week, Sasha Banks and Bayley will take on The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan). Banks and Bayley scored the win after putting Morgan down with a combination of a Backstabber into a Bayley-to-Belly.
After picking up a win over “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt on Raw last week, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder said they’re the best team on the planet. The Revival will take on Raw Tag Team Champions The B-Team tomorrow night on Raw.
Two other matches have already been announced for Raw tomorrow night. Ronda Rousey will go one-on-one with Alicia Fox as she competes on Raw for the first time ever, and Bobby Roode takes on Mojo Rawley.
– Ronda Rousey will compete on Raw for the first time ever tomorrow night as she takes on Alicia Fox. Ahead of the match, WWE.com posted a photo gallery of the first time The Undertaker, Braun Strowman, Sasha Banks and other current Superstars wrestled on Raw.
Rousey and Bayley’s banter is in reference to a simmering rivalry between WWE’s Four Horsewomen (Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Sasha Banks) and the Four Horsewomen of MMA (Rousey Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke). Both groups had a confrontation behind the scenes at the Mae Young Classic last year (sans Sasha, who was doing a media tour in Australia), but WWE didn’t follow up on it.
– On Saturday, it was exactly 21 years ago Lex Luger beat Hollywood Hogan on WCW Monday Nitro, making “The Total Package” the first WCW competitor to defeat the nWo’s leader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
It was announced last week at Raw from General Manager Kurt Angle that if Bayley or Sasha do not get along one could be traded to Smackdown. While the tag team of Bayley and Sasha vs. Dana Brooke and Alica Fox did not “end well” it will be interesting to see if WWE will follow up on the trade angle.
This editorial will look at the pros and cons of trading either Sasha or Bayley to Smackdown and who should Smackdown trade in place of either female superstar.
The Storyline Thus Far…
Bayley and Sasha have been feuding for the better half of 2018. With their recent “counseling” angle costing them two weeks off from wrestling on Raw and even Extreme Rules, one would wonder what is the next step for the feud.
Angle announced to Bayley that either she or Sasha could be traded to Smackdown if they don’t “get along” and their following tag team match proved that they are not on the same page.
The last segment between the two rivals revealed that Sasha “loves” Bayley in a way that might be stronger than friendship. Many rumors are speculating that a lesbian angle between the two might be in the works after this encounter but like every WWE storyline, it’s subject to change last minute.
The Trade To Smackdown
While the lesbian angle would coincide with the current LGBTQ movement, both females are heterosexual and Sasha is married while Bayley is currently engaged with her fiance. I say this as a lot of wrestling fans cannot put the distinction between kayfabe and real life and at this point would seem to be forced just for the sake of it.
If we were to ignore the ambiguous statement from Sasha and continue with the trade angle one would have to consider the pros and cons of either females being traded.
Bayley (Pros):
The move to Smackdown could very well be in Bayley’s favor. During her tenure on Raw, Bayley has fallen from grace and hasn’t been considered a serious contender for the Raw Women’s Championship after her injury from last year.
On Smackdown she could get fans re-invested as she could re-ignite a feud with real best friend Carmella and battle for the title in the remaining months of the year. Bayley could also provide more face power to the Smackdown Women’s division as heels outnumber the faces as of right now.
Lastly, if the feud with Carmella is booked properly, she could be the third women in history to hold both Raw and Smackdown Women’s Championship.
Bayley (Cons):
If the trade were to be made it could be helpful for Bayley in the beginning but could be detrimental as well.
Currently, Smackdown is focusing on a possible Women’s title match with Carmella and Becky Lynch, the other storyline had the IIconics and Rose and Devile elevate Becky to the number one contender status.
In the dust, Naomi has not been used for a storyline for many months and Lana is involved with the Rusev Day angle. Long story short, Bayley could be thrown into obscurity if creative has nothing for her on Smackdown if traded.
Sasha Banks (Pros):
Sasha has let the WWE Universe know time after time that she would love to go to Smackdown and emulate her wrestling idol Eddie Guerrero from his time on the blue brand.
On Smackdown, Sasha could bring back the heel persona she portrayed on NXT and rule with an iron fist on the B show. I personally feel they would take more of a chance of turning her heel on Smackdown as it is the B show and Smackdown is known to take more character risk and persona changes than Raw (minus the Emmalina hype).
Other feuds that could happen is Sasha versus Becky Lynch or Sasha versus Naomi, even Sasha versus Asuka or Charlotte could be revisited and be given more time on the blue brand. Her presence on Smackdown could be used to help elevate Mandy Rose and Sonya Devile. God’s Greatest Creation could get use some elevation in order to be taken seriously as a title contender and is numerously quoted as the “next Trish Stratus”.
Sasha (Cons):
If Sasha were to turn heel it would have to be booked right. While we have Carmella as the top Smackdown Women heel, we have the IIconics, Rose, and Devile there as well but have been mainly used for filer matches.
Obscurity could be another issue that Sasha could face if put on Smackdown. Unless she wins the Smackdown title in the upcoming six months she could be in the same barrel as Naomi if she isn’t being used for any storylines if traded.
My opinion on the matter if I was booking this feud? I would move Sasha to Smackdown. Sasha being on Smackdown could be the breath of fresh air that Smackdown might need right now and her turning heel has been hinted for over a year now and could finally happen on the B show. She just needs to be relevant on Smackdown in order for the trade to be worthwhile.
The Smackdown Trade
If either Raw female superstars were to be traded to Smackdown who would take their place?
Charlotte:
The Queen is still recovering from implant repair surgery and a resurgence on Raw could be her ticket back to being on top. While Charlotte has been making history on Smackdown, if she were to return back to Raw she could be pitted against Rousey in a feud that many want to see and could continue elevating the Raw Women’s Championship if she were to win it again.
Becky Lynch:
The Irish Lass Kicker is gearing up to battle Carmella for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. While Lynch has played the underdog on Smackdown for some time, her being traded to Raw makes more sense if Charlotte is not chosen. Her fighting persona could be used for a competition type feud with Rowsey to see who could compete to be number one contender for the Raw Women’s Title.
Naomi:
While Naomi’s second title win at Wrestlemania 33 was hometown moment, anything after that has been forgettable. A presence on Raw could spark a feud with Alexa Bliss and Mickie James and Naomi could be used as a transitional champion until WWE is ready to give Rousey her first title run.
How It Should Be Booked
Raw takes place tonight in Cincinnati, Ohio. It only makes sense to have another segment with Bayley and Sasha (in which the “love” statement could be further elaborated) that could lead to a match that night. From there Kurt could announce a match at SummerSlam between Sasha and Bayley and the stipulation would be that the loser of that match would get traded to Smackdown.
It puts eyes and attention on the fued and makes up for their absence from Extreme Rules. From there it’s up to WWE to see what decision they’ll take in trading who for who. Either way, this shake-up would add interest to WWE programming and not take away from it.
Who Would You Trade If You Were Booking This Storyline? Leave A Comment Below.
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) June 29, 2018
“Good morning to everyone except Bayley” – Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks vs Bayley Rivalry
Now that the Banks vs Bayley rivalry appears to be in full swing, it’s a good opportunity to take a look at their career stats against each other.
They have wrestled each other 14x in single’s competition in matches that have aired on television or the WWE Network (i.e not including house shows). Banks has won 4x, Bayley has won 9x, and they went to a no-contest once.
Banks and Bayley have met another 13x in multi-person matches. Of these, Banks has won 4x, Bayley once, and neither were the victor in the rest of the matches.
NXT Takeover Revival February 11th, 2015 NXT Women’s Championship
Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte Flair (c), Bayley, and Becky Lynch
Raw, September 12th, 2016
Sasha Banks defeated Bayley and Dana Brooke
Clash of Champions 2016 September 25th, 2016 Raw Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Bayley and Sasha Banks
WrestleMania 33 Raw Women’s Championship Fatal 4-Way Elimination
Bayley (c) defeated Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, and Sasha Banks
Raw June 26th, 2017
Gauntlet Match
Sasha Banks defeated Bayley, Dana Brooke, Emma, Mickie James, and Nia Jax
No Mercy 2017 September 24th, 2017 Raw Women’s Championship 5-Way
Alexa Bliss (c) defeated Bayley, Sasha Banks, Emma, and Nia Jax
Raw October 9th, 2017
5-Way Elimination
Emma defeated Alicia Fox, Bayley, Dana Brooke, and Sasha Banks
Raw October 23rd, 2017
3-Way
Alicia Fox defeated Bayley and Sasha Banks
Raw November 20th, 2017
5-way
No contest
Royal Rumble 2018 January 28th, 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble
Neither won
Elimination Chamber 2018 February 25th, 2018 Raw Women’s Championship Elimination Chamber Match
Alexa Bliss (c) defeated Bayley, Sasha Banks, Mickie James, Sonya Deville, and Mandy Rose
WrestleMania 34 April 8th, 2014 Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal
Neither won the match
Raw May 28th, 2018
MITB Qualifying Gauntlet Match
Sasha Banks defeated Bayley, Dana Brooke, Liv Morgan, Mickie James Ruby Riott, and Sarah Logan
In total, Banks has won 8 matches against Bayley and Bayley has won 10 matches against Banks. These numbers do not include tag matches (either on the same side or against) and house show results.
Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley has posted a cryptic message on her official Twitter account that has led to some fans believing that it is about her ongoing storyline on WWE television with fellow former champion Sasha Banks.
As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in San Diego, CA at the Valley View Casino Center on the USA Network, Bayley attacked Banks following their six-woman tag team match against The Riott Squad. She wrote the following:
No Way Jose recently did a Q&A session with fans on Twitter that led to him having some harsh words with Mojo Rawley and event went as far as calling out Rawley for a bit of hypocrisy. You can see the exchange here:
Are you content knowing all of your "accomplishments" are because you're Gronk's lackey? You'll forever be his Cheeseburger, you clown. https://t.co/7WQd4ptgmO
The doctor responsible for counseling the members of “Team Hell No”, Dr. Shelby, has volunteered his services to Bayley and Sasha Banks.
Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle, made the decision last night that both Bayley and Sasha Banks would attend mandatory counseling sessions beginning next week. They were told if they don’t attend the counseling sessions, they’ll both be fired.
The storyline is reminiscent of when Kane and Daniel Bryan were sent to anger management classes in 2012 with Dr. Shelby.
The character of Dr. Shelby was played by actor, Michael Aspinwall. He currently has roles in the television shows “Stupid Cupid” and “My Future Self”. The Dr. Shelby Twitter account, which is run by Aspinwall (as revealed in an AMA session), Tweets infrequently about WWE. After not Tweeting for several months, Dr. Shelby popped back up in May when Daniel Bryan was feuding with Big Cass.
I see @WWEDanielBryan is still having issues with @BigCassWWE? Remember everything I taught you, Daniel! Hugs around the world! HUGS #SDLive
Surprisingly, Dr. Shelby did not throw his support towards Kane’s Mayoral run earlier this year and did not Tweet out any messages of support. It’s possible Dr. Shelby does not feel Kane has advanced enough in his anger management.
Do you want to see Dr. Shelby return to WWE to counsel Sasha Banks and Bayley? Let us know in the comments below.
Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley has recently addressed the slow build for her feud with Sasha Banks.
Bayley is a loveable babyface that found her spotlight while in WWE’s developmental brand in Orlando, Florida, NXT. The sports entertainment company pushed her as a top babyface in the NXT women’s division after several talents were called up to the main roster such as Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Paige, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax and others. She is an underdog and resembles an average person. The company pushed her to the moon, and she quickly won the NXT Women’s Title. She held the title for a long time before she was called up to the main roster. However, when she was called up to the main roster and placed on the Raw, Vince McMahon did not put her in the same position as she was placed in NXT. That has changed as she is a more prominent talent on the main roster.
Bayley recently did an interview with SkySports.com and during that interview, she talked about her feud with Banks and if it could lead to them wrestling each other at this year’s SummerSlam event as it has been a slow build.
“When I was a kid watching wrestling that’s kind of how it was. You had these long feuds and storylines and you just got more and more interested and you wanted to see where it was going to go. You wanted to see the big blow-off match and I like that stuff because that’s what I grew up watching. There are so many people on the roster, there’s so much going on and there’s so much content that we sometimes rush through things so maybe that’s what we get used to and what we’re expecting. I’m pretty happy with it. I’m a fan still but I’m not a viewer so perhaps I see it differently but I really enjoy what’s going on. It’s fun and I think it’s going well.”
Bayley continued, “Any time I get to wrestle Sasha, I always want to do it. For SummerSlam to be in that building, I don’t know if I would be able to hold my tears back, but I’d love to do it. That’s a goal. Hopefully we can do it.”
What are your thoughts on Bayley’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
After SmackDown Live and 205 Live tapings wrapped up last night, a dark match between United States Champion Jeff Hardy and The Miz took place with the title on the line. Hardy successfully retained his strap and you can check out some photos here below:
This past Monday on RAW Bayley had an awkward interaction with a fan as she made her entrance. Bayley gave a hug to a young girl in the audience, and a young man next to her also tried to get in on the hug – but Bayley left looking a bit uncomfortable.
Bayley recently addressed this on Twitter, saying she didn’t realize he was there and was focused on the young girl:
?????????My bad dude, I was caught up in da moment between me and that little girl. Next time! https://t.co/mZv0BR3wFu
– As seen last night at WrestleMania, Bray Wyatt returned to WWE TV to assist “Woken” Matt Hardy in winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This comes several weeks removed from Hardy DELETING Wyatt on The Ultimate Deletion on RAW.
Wyatt was tossed into the Lake Of Reincarnation and many speculated he could return as a new character. It seems that now Wyatt and Hardy will be allies on RAW moving forward. The pair took to Twitter to comment on their newfound friendship:
It’s time to DELETE & BURN all of the OPPOSITION as we ILLUMINATE The Plane identified as @WWE.
And it shall be DOCUMENTED.
The MAGIC within @WWE is about to be AUGMENTED EXPONENTIALLY.
– As seen in last night’s first-ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, Bayley eliminated Sasha Banks to further add to their budding rivalry. It’s expected the pair will confront one another on tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW.
The Legit Boss took to Twitter to post a message to Bayley as we’re just hours away from showtime:
WWE may have scrapped the plans to turn former Raw Women’s Champion Bayley heel in her current program with Sasha Banks.
As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena on the USA Network, the sports entertainment company did a backstage segment involving the two former champions that saw Banks attack Bayley in the locker room after exchanging some words. You can see the segment here:
Dave Meltzer wrote the following about the plans for the feud on the F4WOnline.com message board:
“Bayley was scheduled to turn. The MSG card had her teaming with Elias vs. Cena & Nikki right until the decision was made to hold up the turn. It wasn’t a red herring, it was a plan written for a turn by that date that they changed. It appeared Banks did the turn however. Plans like that change weekly.
The Banks heel turn was scheduled well before the 2017 Mania at first. People who act like this stuff doesn’t change 100 times are mental because you have to ignore everything every wrestler tells you in every inside interview to believe that.”
Posted March 28th, 2018 in WWE, News. Tagged: Bayley.
Aaron Solow, who is engaged to WWE Superstar, Bayley, publically voiced his frustration with WrestleCircus recently. On Friday night, Solow worked for the promotion in Austin, TX and the commentary team referred to him as “Mr. Bayley”.
The show was broadcast on WrestleCircus’ Twitch channel for subscribers. It also featured Pentagon, Fenix, Teddy Hart, Shane Strickland, Tessa Blanchard and Chelsea Green.
Solow is from the San Fransico area and was trained by Davey Richards. He’s been used as enhancement talent regularly on WWE programming, most recently in January in a tag-team loss to the Revival. He frequently teams with Ricky Starks, sometimes under the name “Extra Talented”.
Solow has wrestled several times for WrestleCircus in the past. He worked a set of AroLucha tapings recently and has also wrestled for Progress.
Posted March 26th, 2018 in News, WWE. Tagged: Bayley.
Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley recently spoke with Hype Magazine.
Bayley is a loveable babyface that found her spotlight while in WWE’s developmental brand in Orlando, Florida, NXT. The sports entertainment company pushed her as a top babyface in the NXT women’s division after several talents were called up to the main roster such as Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Paige, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax and others.
They needed to have someone to carry the division while rebuilding stars. That person was Bayley. She connected with the fans right away due to in large part to her ability to get them behind her. She is an underdog and resembles an average person. The company pushed her to the moon, and she quickly won the NXT Women’s Title. She held the title for a long time before she was called up to the main roster.
However, when she was called up to the main roster and placed on the Raw, Vince McMahon did not put her in the same position as she was placed in NXT. That has changed as she is a more prominent talent on the main roster.
During her career, she has competed in a number of first-time ever matches (Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and Ironman). In this interview, she reflected on those accomplishments.
“It is insane because I was thinking about the Iron Women’s Match just the other day, but Royal Rumble is one of those matches that you remember watching as a kid, and everyone has their favorite memory of it. I remember counting down while watching at home and everyone is counting down together whether you are in the live audience or at home to see who will come out next.
To be a part of something like that and to be in the back, while all the girls go out front, to feel the energy was a dream come true. The Elimination Chamber was a crazy experience because those were the matches that I always wanted to be a part of as a fan. Even though matches like TLC, Cage, a ladder were scary situations, they were just things I wanted to participate in as a performer. Being in the chamber match, I felt very comfortable, and I hope I can participate again next year.”
Also in this interview, she was asked about former WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James’ return to the sports entertainment company and her leadership in the women’s locker room.
“Having her here is a fantastic opportunity. When she came back to SmackDown, I was jealous of the women division there because they had competed against one of businesses OGs. Not that she is old or anything, but I grew up with her and Trish Stratus. They both had a great storyline, and I learned a lot from their contributions to the company from a character standpoint and techniques inside of the ring. Since she came over to Raw, it challenges us to approach things differently. I wanted to pick her brain since she has seen the evolution of the business with her OVW background.”
Posted March 23rd, 2018 in WWE, News. Tagged: Bayley.
– Injured WWE Superstar Big Cass was backstage at last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW and was reportedly telling people he had been cleared to return, per a report from PWInsider. Cass has been out-of-action since August of last year when he suffered a torn ACL during a match with Enzo Amore. He required surgery to fix the injury and has been rehabbing ever since.
Cass was expected to return around May, meaning he’d be out of the question for a possible WrestleMania 34 appearance. He has been back training in the WWE Performance Center since mid-February. The initial word backstage around RAW was that Cass was in the final stages of his recovery and could be returning to RAW storylines soon.
– Tension between Sasha Banks and Bayley continues to boil over on Monday Night RAW, as rumors of a possible match between the pair at WrestleMania 34 swirl around. It’s expected that both women will instead be involved in the first-ever Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal.
Banks and Bayley got into an argument in the middle of their tag team match against Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, leading to them suffering a loss. Banks took to Twitter to comment on the situation:
Either you're with me or you're not, there's no in between. #RawDallas
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) March 20, 2018
WWE.com recently looked at the top ten greatest women’s matches in the history of the sports entertainment company.
If you recall, back in 2016 at WrestleMania 32, WWE unveiled a new Women’s Championship title belt and re-branded the Divas Division to become the Women’s Division. Since then, WWE has placed a greater emphasis on its female performers, including recruiting female talent from around the world, as well as the recent signings of the first female recruits from the Middle East and India.
Another milestone in WWE’s women’s evolution came as recently as January with the women’s Royal Rumble. This evolution has placed a spotlight on its female performers, involving them in more prominent storylines, with deeper character development and longer matches.
You can check out the complete list here: #10 – 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble #9 – Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano — (Women’s Championship Match: SummerSlam, Aug. 29, 1994) #8 – Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley — (Raw Women’s Championship Match: Monday Night Raw, Feb. 13, 2017) #7 – Paige vs. Emma — (NXT Women’s Championship Match: NXT ArRIVAL) #6 – Trish Stratus vs. Lita — (Women’s Championship Match: Monday Night Raw, Dec. 6, 2004) #5 – Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch — (NXT Women’s Championship Fatal 4-Way Match: NXT TakeOver: RIVAL) #4 – Asuka vs. Ember Moon – (NXT Women’s Championship Match: NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III) #3 – Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch — (WWE Women’s Championship Triple Threat Match: WrestleMania 32) #2 – Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks — (WWE Women’s Championship Match: Raw July 25, 2016) #1 – Sasha Banks vs. Bayley – (NXT Women’s Championship Match: NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn)
WWE is in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center for next week’s episode of Monday Night RAW. Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley recently spoke with SportsDay to promote the upcoming event.
As seen at the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on the WWE Network, Alexa Bliss successfully retained her Raw Women’s Title over Bayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sonya Deville, and Sasha Banks in the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber Match. “Honestly, it’s very intimidating – the structure itself. Being told that we were going to have this match was a little scary. But as weird as it may sound, as soon as I got in the Chamber and the bell rang, I felt really comfortable. It was really fun, but you know, it was just as painful as you’d imagine. But I was just happy I was OK with it mentally when I got in there.”
Since then, WWE has teased tension between Bayley and Banks. During this interview, she was asked about the problems she has with RAW star.
“It’s just a little complicated. Friends and sisters fight all the time, but it’s just – I don’t know – something that I know we have to handle ourselves, and I’m sure we will soon because it’s just been a little awkward.”
“She’s No. 1. For sure. I’ve always said that I think she is the best woman to ever step foot in the ring. And maybe that’s what bothers me sometimes because I want to be the best. But she’s definitely my favorite opponent for many reasons.”
She was also asked about former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey joining the company and potentially wrestling her. Rousey is set to team up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team Match at WrestleMania 34. “Oh, I would love to. Once she’s done with her stuff with Stephanie and Triple H, I would love to be in line – which originally that’s what I’ve been waiting for since she stepped foot in the Mae Young Classic and basically challenged us Four Horsewomen. So, we’re still waiting.” “I don’t really see her much. She’s kind of got her own thing going on, and so do we. But I think she’s fitting in well. The crowds really seem to like having her around, and I think she’s obviously going to fit in well and learn to adapt pretty easy. But she definitely still needs to earn her stripes, I’d say. And I’d be happy to help her.”
– It looks like WWE could have called off its plans to have Sasha Banks vs. Bayley at WrestleMania 34 this year. Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer is reporting that the match may no longer be taking place in New Orleans, as per his count he has 14 matches currently on the card. At this point WWE doesn’t really need to add another match to the card, meaning Banks vs. Bayley could get the snub:
“I think we got the whole WrestleMania card. I got 14 matches listed and I don’t think they need more than 14. I don’t think they are going to have any more. They could still throw in a Bayley vs. Sasha Banks match but I’m guessing they are both in the Battle Royal.”
– Meltzer also reports that NXT TakeOver: New Orleans seems to be besting the post-WrestleMania episode of Monday Night RAW as far as ticket sales go. TakeOver is actually near a sellout and will be going head-to-head with a Ring Of Honor (ROH) show which seats 5,000 fans – as opposed to NXT’s venue that can hold double that at 10,000.
As we’ve previously noted, a WrestleMania 34 match-up between Sasha Banks and Bayley is being rumored for April. Banks and Bayley have been teasing a rivalry with one another for the past several months. Things boiled over during the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber match this past weekend. Banks turned on Bayley after they had been working together, however, it was “The Hugger” who ended up eliminating Banks from the match.
The following night on RAW Banks and Bayley were on the same team in a Six Woman Tag Team match. Banks was about to make a tag to Bayley before she jumped off of the ring apron, leaving Banks hanging. It seems like we’re going to see this rivalry between the pair evolve in the coming weeks. The WrestleVotes Twitter account is reporting that, if the match happens at WrestleMania, it will make history.
It will be the first time in WrestleMania history where two women meet in a singles non-title match with no stipulation. The other was billed as a “cat fight” at WrestleMania 2000:
History on the horizon @ WrestleMania:
If @SashaBanksWWE & @itsBayleyWWE have a singles match, it will be the first time in Mania history 2 women compete in a standard (no stipulation), non title, 1 on 1 match.
Only other non title singles was billed as a "Catfight" at WM2000
– In the main event of last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, WWE Champion AJ Styles lost a non-title match to John Cena. Per the stipulation, Cena has now earned himself into the WWE Championship match on the Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) next month. The match will now be a Six Pack Challenge between AJ Styles, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler. WWE posted the following video of Dasha Fuentes interviewing the WWE Champ after his loss. Check it out:
– RAW Superstar Bayley was recently interviewed by The Mirror following WWE’s Elimination Chamber PPV this past weekend. “The Hugger” was asked about a possible feud with her former NXT rival and friend Sasha Banks. Here’s what she had to say:
“I would love for that to happen and I really do think that we have such a great chemistry and it’s just a natural bond, that it doesn’t matter when it happens, we can pick it up anywhere,” Bayley said. “Not to sound cocky or anything, but I just think we have a really good connection. Whenever we have the time to tell that story, we would be able to. And last night after what she did, I think now is a good time! So I would love to start that up and get some payback.”
Read Bayley’s full interview with The Mirror by clicking this link here.
– As we’ve previously reported, Jinder Mahal lost a dark match to Randy Orton after last night’s SmackDown Live and 205 Live tapings in just five seconds. YouTube star Lilly Singh was sitting at ringside and gave “The Modern Day Maharaja” a special introduction:
This past Monday on RAW an interesting angle took place in which Bayley refused to aid Sasha Banks during their Six-Woman Tag Team match to open the show. Bayley hopped off the ring apron before Banks could tag her into the match. In a RAW Fallout video after the show Bayley said that she had her reasons for doing what she did.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reports that WWE is finally building up to a feud between Banks and Bayley at WrestleMania 34. The feud has been in the making for quite some time and Meltzer says its been put on the back burner several times. Banks and Bayley have had a rivalry stretching back all the way to their days in NXT. In August of 2015 Banks dropped her then-NXT Women’s Championship to Bayley. The two remained good friends despite their in-ring rivalry and Banks also lost her NXT Women’s Championship rematch in a 30-Minute Iron Man match at NXT TakeOver: Respect with a score of 3 Falls to 2.
Banks was called up to the main roster after that match and Bayley would follow the next year in July of 2016. Each woman has had their respective runs with the RAW Women’s Championship since coming to the main roster. If Banks and Bayley are able to repeat the magic they performed in NXT on “The Grandest Stage Of Them All” it would do wonders for their stock on the main roster.