The Next Face of WWE is...Bayley!

The NxT face of WWE is...

BAYLEY!

 

 

The so called Divas Revolution may have begun last year in the WWE, but it hadn't take shape at least in the frontiers of the company by the time Wrestlemania 32 kicked in and we were witness to a career and division defining match between; Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Charlotte for the newly christened WWE Women's Championship. 

It's a slow process but it's happening, I mean when was the last time that Divas had two genuinely captivating stories play out on TV, yet the fans wanted more especially of the "missing" Sasha Banks.

But the revolution truly began like much of the revolution of the new WWE era at the grassroots of WWE's developmental [can we still call it that?] brand; NxT, where the fostering of young capable women into champion calibre material was based on the inherent importance of equality and the fact that the women should compete not just strut their stuff, in a manner of speaking. 

This mantra truly began to take shape when four blossoming wrestlers became the front and center of not just their division but also NxT as a whole [albeit on a shared platform with the men]. 

These four women began to be known as The Four Horse Women [take that Ronda Rousey!] of the WWE. 

The Four Horse Women of the NxT [from left to right]: Becky Lynch, Bayley, Charlotte and Sasha Banks

It began as a revolution and it turned into a brand as these women tour the house down together in their bid to claim NxT Women's Gold as well as prove that they belonged in the Main Event; and they eventually did when Bayley [the champion at the time] took on her arch rival Sasha Banks at NxT Takeover: Respect in an unprecedented 30 Minute Iron Woman's Match in the Main Event, the final match on the card. 

A sense of vindication for all the hard work that not just these four women had accomplished but a whole host of those behind them. 

It made perfect sense that the match that took place was between these two rivals. 

While NxT's womens division story in a meta fiction sense was about the dissolution of the typical WWE Diva and the reinstatement of competition in the Women's division through the rise of the Four Horse Women. 

The story line at the center of NxT's women's championship was about the culmination of the 'every woman' Bayley's dream of accomplishing her goals to be the best and prove she could hang with the top dogs of her division without losing a hint of who she was in the process. 

Bayley entered NxT as an odd little sister type character of the division, who was always cloyingly annoying and put down when push came to shove. She transcended into the lovable 'Hugger' who's naivety came in the way of her inability to see all the odds stacking up against her as well. 

Each time she'd face a betrayal or a set back she'd be back up to fight the good fight, her underdog status as well as nice clean likeable persona endearing her to the young inspirable girls as well as the Full Sail adults who could appreciate her superb wrestling talents. 

In came Sasha Banks, having developed her snarky, snobby and vicious Boss character to a whole other level; Banks provided the great foil to Bayley, a complete opposite of what the plucky hero was. Yet Banks also maintained a dignity to the division and her wrestling abilities shown. 

Thrown in the somewhat susceptible to trust and alternate Becky Lynch as well as tough as nails bully big sister Charlotte and here was the perfect recipe to see the rise of Bayley for a storyline that over reached and simmered in the NxT for the next couple of years building a brand out of the talented women especially Bayley. 

 

At The Granddaddy of Them All, Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch for the new WWE Women's Championship...A culmination of the past year's Women's Revolution!

Watch any NxT event, heck any WWE event and there will be a plethora of young girls dressed as Bayley with their colorful bands, one side pony tail and loose purple shirts [signifying a casual fun demeanor]. Everyone is already becoming a Hugger. 

That brings me to my next point. 

The other side of finding equality in an industry is to not forget that while men can release the load, they deserve just as much of the spot light. Right now WWE's main event is in such a stasis despite the abundance of talent, that's it's hard not to see WWE allowing the women to main event a PPV one point down the line. 

Bayley in my opinion should be forebearer for this along with of course the women that have slowly opened the gates and pioneered the way with her including fringe peripherals such as Nikki Bella, Paige, Naomi and Natalya. Talents that should not be forgotten. 

But Bayley should be more than that. 

Since near the past half a decade, WWE has known one thing in their hearts; they need to look for a new face for the company. No matter how much love and passion their current face John Cena has for the product, eventually he is going to retire and leave a big whole that can't be filled with the way Vince McMahon and Co. have been running their product. 

Don't get me wrong? The current WWE roster is probably the most talented it has been, in ages! Yet due to poor decision making, booking and all general writing of content; WWE have truly failed in their pursuit of the next big thing. 

Rocky roads in the early 2000's after the end of WWE's Attitude Era, saw a bunch of stars make the leap from the company's then developmental brand OVW. 

Five stars were pegged for the future with one front and center; One's talent was wasted to horrendous results and now remains a veteran of the Indie scene, Another quit when the company changed directions and is on his way to becoming a huge movie star, The third; a generational superstar made headways as the big bad of the company but never reached his true potential, The fourth not a fan of the industry quit and became a fighting phenomenon before returning as a special attraction. 

The fifth was never looked upon to carry the company but has probably become synonymous with WWE and the biggest star to be known worldwide since The Rock and Steve Austin. That man is John Cena. 

John Cena has indeed transcended sports entertainment and you know what he is; a clean cut, fan friendly superstar who hits the ring to huge ovations [including boos] from a crowd wearing colorful shirts and singing a good tune for the children especially the boys that imitate him and are inspired by him. He is a company man thanks to his numerous press outings with a buoyancy that promotes the company in the best light and his numerous charity works. 

WWE have tried, but due to their own misguided failings haven't found the perfect replacement, here's a look see at what they couldn't get that they happened to find in Cena; 

Randy Orton-As aforementioned, a stellar villain in his heyday for the company but not one that can carry the company as a hero. They tried to shuffle between the two at the top once Batista left, but his initial issues and failures never helped. 

CM Punk-Punk made himself a star but his alternate Indie persona as well as WWE's hesitance in allowing Punk to settle in as the top dog and hesitance on giving him space cost the company heavily. Today he maintains a sour relationship with a place that could have made millions of of him.

Daniel Bryan-Another Indie sensation that the fans fell in love with but WWE refused to acknowledge until they were forced to pull the trigger. Injuries set him back all the way to a tragic early retirement, but even if they hadn't all Bryan would have been is a necessary stop gap for the company despite his white hot popularity.

There were others that they tried with namely; Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Ryback, all WWE pet projects unlike the above two that just couldn't cut it. 

Finally the biggest mess ever made; Roman Reigns. 

 

With the talent available including Reigns, The load of the company should be shared among talents rather than search for the one note indestructible character that Roman Reigns has become. He needs to refine his skills no doubt but Reigns isn't a bad guy, yet he's not the Guy, yet!

Vince McMahon wants Roman Reigns to be the face of the WWE. Where it went wrong is a story for another time, but the summary is that in his bid to repeat the formula and blindly go ahead with his plans despite learning from the history of his successes and failures; McMahon ruined what could have actually been a potentially great face of the company in Roman Reigns. 

The difference between the kind of backlash that say Reigns gets as compared to other pet projects is that despite also the plethora of talented wrestlers on the roster at one point Roman Reigns was belove unanimously and fans believe with time he could have become the next big thing; yet WWE's rush to pull the trigger killed him. 

The rush came due to WWE's own past reliance on the decade on part time/retired talent rather than building their current roster up. So now with the waning list of veterans, a rush was required and it has bombed; it can still be salvaged. 

However even then, a better alternative is required. The current billing of WWE is that their is a new era on the horizon. It's definitely not the Roman Empire or The SHIELD era but rather a culmination of that whole saga as well as the changing face of WWE's evolution known as the;

The NxT era!

The future is now!

And why not make that future one such colorful heroic face like John Cena, the kind Vince McMahon is so desperate to emulate. She's right in front of him, what's great is she's different in her manners, her genuine underdog attitude as well as already an accomplished performer while for some reason she's liked unanimously unlike Cena who brings in a mixed crowd [albeit one that has become a part of his act wonderfully]. 

 

The story of Bayley and her biggest fan Izzy goes to show what an inspiration she and the new division of women's wrestling are becoming. 

If WWE truly as about the Women's Revolution and believe that a great change is necessary and if the world is truly moving towards a true gender equal state than Bayley as the face of the company should not come as a shock but rather a fact, not a statement just because for the sake of equality but statistically Bayley is the definite next big thing they have waiting in the wings!

[Currently Bayley sits pretty as the veteran in the NxT women's locker room despite having lost her championship to upstart Asuka, yet news is she's not headed up to the main shows yet. It's a good thing as NxT still needs a bit of balancing and the WWE's main Women's division should be more of a normalcy than a revolution by the time the Hugger makes her way up]

I'm A Hugger, you should be too...

Bayley for The Face of the WWE!

And that's the bottom line, Cause, 

Aneesh

Said So!