WWE Superstar Bayley has seemingly been on a downward trajectory for quite some time now. From winning the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania XL last year to not being featured in this year’s Show of Shows at all, The Role Model has fallen far behind, and how.
Here are four signs that Triple H has seemingly given up on one of the Four Horsewomen of the company.
#4. The WrestleMania 41 snub
Bayley had punched her ticket to WrestleMania 41 by winning the number one contender spot for the Women’s Tag Team Championship. Fighting alongside Lyra Valkyria, the duo was the first to enter the match and endured till the end to claim the top spot. While this was an incredible victory, it later turned out to be just a launchpad for Valkyria.
Bayley was ambushed by a mystery attacker minutes before the first night of WrestleMania 41 began. As a result, she was pulled out of The Showcase of The Immortals. Becky Lynch returned on Night Two to fight alongside the inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Champion. Moreover, the newly formed team even defeated Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to win the tag gold.
This was a great way to bring The Man back and end her 11-month hiatus. However, The Role Model was basically used as a stepping stone for it, since she wasn’t really injured. The mystery attack was a creative decision taken by Triple H and his team, as per a PWInsider Elite report. However, this was just the latest blow in a string of several creative decisions against her.
#3. Scrapped feud with Roxanne Perez
Roxanne Perez’s main roster call-up saw her starting a feud with Bayley. The Role Model was the perfect opponent for The Prodigy, considering she was also a giant in NXT. However, while the two wrestlers got into a good feud and also moved between RAW and NXT, the rivalry eventually saw no conclusion.
Right now, Roxy is still making appearances in the developmental brand, feuding with Stephanie Vaquer. Bayley, instead, was shifted into a half-baked feud with The Judgment Day mixed with her pursuit of the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. However, she just served the purpose of putting Lyra Valyria over, with her chance to take on Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez being given to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 41.
#2. A string of losses
Bayley lost the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam 2024, unable to overcome her nemesis, Nia Jax. While The Role Model was screwed out of a win by Tiffany Stratton, who aided Queen Nia, she never really got an official rematch despite it.
Later episodes of SmackDown only saw her getting replaced by Naomi as the top contender for the title. Lastly, she was completely out of the title picture when Tiffy cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Jax to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. Soon after, The Hugger was moved to Monday Night RAW.
But, the transfer didn’t benefit her as she ended up putting The Irresistible Force over once again, who later challenged Rhea Ripley for the World Heavyweight Championship. She couldn’t do much at the 2025 Royal Rumble either, despite being last year’s winner.
Come Elimination Chamber, she became the first woman to be eliminated, aside from Naomi, who didn’t even start the match officially after Jade Cargill’s assault. Aside from this, she also faced losses in NXT in both singles as well as multi-star matches.
#1. Bayley hasn’t really seen any character development
Drew McIntyre is also a star who experienced key losses in a handful of matches owing to CM Punk in the last twelve months. He was also toppled over by Damian Priest each time Punk struck. However, this resulted in The Scottish Psychopath earning an iconic three-match feud with The Second City Saint.
Additionally, he received TV Time for several great promos and a WrestleMania 41 victory against The Archer of Infamy to redeem himself. Unlike McIntyre, however, Bayley received no such character development from her defeats. Her singles win against Liv Morgan ahead of ‘Mania didn’t add anything to her character either, since she was eventually pulled from The Show of Shows.
It should also be noted that the woman she dethroned at WrestleMania XL, IYO SKY, had a great year throughout. Moreover, she is also the reigning Women’s World Champion, who secured a clean victory against Rhea Ripley in a singles match, and secured a Triple Threat ‘Mania win against Mami and Bianca Belair.
To top it all, SKY is also a babyface right now and loved by the crowd. A stark contrast from the woman who was several steps ahead of her just last year. It would be interesting to see what lies ahead for Bayley in the future.
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Edited by Harish Raj S
