From Bianca Belair to Io Shirai, Five Potential Storylines for Bayley on WWE SmackDown

Missing WrestleMania is a big deal for a WWE superstar. But for 2020’s MVP, Bayley, missing WrestleMania became personal. She lost the SmackDown Women’s Championship to Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell and blew her shot at reaching WrestleMania at the Royal Rumble.

To recover from a terrible three months, Bayley needs some high-profile opponents to relaunch her career on SmackDown. This includes NXT call-ups, a former friend, and maybe even the EST of WWE.

Bayley should be Bianca Belair’s first title challenger

On SmackDown after WrestleMania, Bayley made her intentions perfectly clear. The former champion has set her eyes on the championship she lost at Hell in a Cell. With Bianca Belair holding the title, the former Hugger will have added impetus to chase the championship.

In January, Bayley served as the feud which welcomed Bianca to the main roster. Belair beat the former champion on her way to winning the Royal Rumble and headlining WrestleMania. Bayley will want to redeem her early losses to Bianca and steal her title, mostly at WrestleMania Backlash.

Welcoming Io Shirai to the main roster

During her run as the NXT Women’s Champion, Io Shirai crossed paths with Bayley but did not face her in the ring. Instead, we saw Sasha Banks and Io Shirai meet in a dream match which exceeded expectations.

Now that Shirai has lost the NXT Women’s Title to Raquel Gonzalez, her main roster call-up is imminent. Who better to introduce you to the WWE Universe than the longest reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion?

Bayley: Three-time Women’s Tag Team Champions?

One of the biggest accomplishments in Bayley’s WWE career is that she’s won every active female title in WWE. Starting with the Raw Women’s Title to even the Women’s Tag Team Titles, Bayley has held them all.

If her pursuit of the SmackDown Women’s Title fails, she can smoothly transition into a tag-team role. She has one perfect tag partner in Carmella. The dynamic between the new identity Carmella adopted and Bayley’s heel persona will be an entertaining tandem. A reunion with Sasha Banks wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world either.

Best friends; Bitter enemies

Bayley and Sasha Banks‘ rivalry lasted only a couple of weeks. Fans deserved to witness another PPV clash between the two former best friends, but no match could top their Hell in a Cell classic. If Banks and Bayley re-ignited their feud, it would be the perfect way to determine a new #1 contender for the SmackDown Women’s Title.

Though re-igniting their rivalry is a bad idea, Bayley can be the Paul Heyman to Sasha’s Roman Reigns. Banks is a good talker, but her delivery is cheesy. Bayley’s promos are always brilliantly delivered, and she could add to Sasha’s value as her manager.

Bayley heads to Raw

If the blue brand doesn’t make its longest reigning female champion feel welcome, Bayley can always take her talents to Raw. On the red brand, Rhea Ripley and Asuka desperately need a heel not named Charlotte Flair to challenge them.

Aside from battling Ripley, the former Hugger can side with her fellow Horsewoman, or even be a foe to the Queen. A rehashing of the brilliant Bayley vs Charlotte rivalry from 2017 is absolutely necessary.

Read More: From WrestleMania to Hell in a Cell; The Best Matches of Sasha Banks in WWE