According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE is continuing with what he claims is an ongoing plan to turn Bayley heel, but it’s not going as quickly as they originally thought it would. Last week, Sonya Deville joined Elias for a mixed tag match against John Cena and Nikki Bella at a Madison Square Garden house show.
According to Meltzer, Sonya’s spot was originally meant for Bayley, but was given to Sonya because Bayley hasn’t turned heel as quickly as planned. Bayley wrestled as a babyface in a different match on the card.
It’s undeniable that there’s something going on with Bayley in her current storyline with Sasha Banks. After the Boss betrayed her too many times, Bayley’s been showing a harder edge, refusing both Sasha’s hug and her tag in a trios match. On Monday’s episode of Raw, both women expressed their distrust of the other, but there was nothing exceedingly heelish about the way Bayley was behaving.
Most fans have assumed that any hints of Bayley turning heel are just misdirection leading up to Sasha turning heel against a slightly harder-edged but still resolutely heroic Bayley. It should be noted that this may still be exactly what happens, no matter what Meltzer says.
On the other hand, while it’s understandable that fans nostalgic for Bayley and Sasha’s already-legendary 2015 feud want to see the return of heel Sasha and the triumph of plucky underdog Bayley, the truth right now is that Sasha is more over as a babyface than Bayley, so from a certain angle turning Bayley simply makes more sense.
It’s interesting to imagine what a Bayley heel turn might look like. First of all, if she’s going to be taken seriously as a bad guy, she’s got to get rid of the sidepony. In fact, a new hairstyle would be just the thing to drive home the change in Bayley’s character for viewers. Her bright pink and blue gear would probably also need to go, although the recent red and black version pictured above could definitely still work. The inflatable tube men would probably also be on the way out, at least for the time being.
Don’t get me wrong, Bayley is a superb babyface and it seems likely that it’s that role that will define her career in the long term. However, turning heel for a while can be an important step on the road to becoming a truly beloved babyface down the road. It’s a step that Bayley may need right now. In a world where Sami Zayn is killing it as a heel on Smackdown, I’m more inclined to trust that a talented wrestler can make anything work than to fret about who’s “a natural babyface.”
