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Former SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley was one of the key players during WWE's pandemic era. The Role Model had already surprised fans when she turned heel in 2019. Unexpectedly, she made it work and ended up being one of the best characters the company has.
Along with her in-ring talent, Bayley showed a different side: an arrogant, self-entitled Bayley who was tired of being the division's doormat. She was always the one to be betrayed and was even looked at by some as the lesser of the Four Horsewomen.
But over the past few years, Bayley has been one of the best WWE Superstars. It can be argued that she was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the company during a pretty rough period.
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In fact, that's what we're here to do today. It's time to give Bayley the respect she's earned, especially after news of her injury broke earlier today. We'll be without her for nine months, so let's see just what we'll be missing.
#5 Bayley presents Ding Dong, Hello!
WWE has a handful of in-universe talk shows: Ding Dong, Hello!, MizTV, and Supernova Sessions.
But Bayley took it to the next level. What started off as a corny catchphrase during her time with Sasha Banks is now a weekly segment on SmackDown. After being ousted from the SmackDown Women's Title picture, Bayley began to take up screen time with her own talk show, Ding Dong, Hello!
The first episode featured the now women's champion Bianca Belair, the woman Bayley was supposed to face at Money in the Bank. It would also bring about a series of challenges for the two to take part in, with Bayley trying to prove herself to be a better athlete than Belair.
Ding Dong, Hello! has been great entertainment over the past seven months. One of the highlights was when Bayley interviewed her friend Seth Rollins last month. The duo were busy bragging about their accomplishments when someone knocked on the door. Rollins answered it, and all hell broke loose as Cesaro attacked him to ruin the set, something Bayley never let him forget.
#4 Bayley and Sasha's travels to other brands
Bayley and Sasha Banks captured the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles for a second time on June 5th, 2020 on SmackDown. This not only tied them for the most reigns with the titles, but also made Bayley a double champion.
Bayley held the SmackDown Women's Championship for eight months at this point. Dubbing herself Two Belts Bayley as a knock to fellow Four Horsewoman Becky Lynch, the Role Model and her best friend didn't stop there. Sasha Banks would go on to win the RAW Women's Championship soon after.
This Two-Woman Power Trip ran rampant on every single brand. With obligations to appear on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT, we saw them three nights a week on a semi-regular basis.
Their time together forced the rest of the divisions to step up in an effort to dethrone both champions. It was a pretty exciting time, and also saw the duo run multiple feuds at once.
#3 Bayley betrays Sasha Banks
It was a dark day in WWE history when Bayley attacked Sasha Banks in September 2020. After Banks lost the RAW Women's Championship to Asuka at SummerSlam, The Golden Role Models lost their tag team titles to Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.
After losing a rematch, Bayley went crazy. Banks injured her knee during the match, and after it looked like Bayley was going to help her friend to the back, she laid into a weakened Banks. She didn't stop at damaging the injured leg, however. She wrapped a chair around Banks' head and delivered a diving stomp, looking to end her career for good.
Banks had turned her back on Bayley many times throughout their careers. Though Bayley got a little revenge in 2018, she let all her frustrations out in 2020. She demolished Banks in one of the most memorable moments of the ThunderDome era.
#2 Bayley taunts Michael Cole
Bayley has spent most of the last year mocking Michael Cole so loudly that it's picked up on live microphones. With no fans attending SmackDown, every insult she's thrown Cole's way has been heard loud and clear.
Cole being tormented has led to some of the funniest moments of the pandemic era. At Hell in a Cell 2020, Bayley's screaming at Cole was so hilarious that it got "Cole" trending on Twitter.
Whether from inside the ring or while sitting next to Cole at commentary, Bayley dug into him every single Friday night. Whether she was telling him to shut up or making fun of the phrases he'd throw out, it was simply a delight.
Bayley joined Cole and Corey Graves for commentary so often that she insulted Cole for his mistakes, like when he mistakenly called Bianca Belair "Belanca." It got so entertaining that Bayley has reportedly been trying to get a match with Cole in the future.
Bayley proved herself to be a major heel during the pandemic era, but also an entertaining character that could get fans literally laughing out loud.
#1 Bayley vs Sasha Banks - The culmination of years of storytelling
It was years in the making: Bayley vs Sasha Banks. Ever since their feud in NXT, which is considered by many as one of the greatest of the Black and Gold brand, we've been giddy about the two friends running it back. After five years, two WWE Women's Tag Title Runs, and one of the greatest beatdowns we saw in years, we finally got the feud.
It lived up to the hype and more. At Hell in a Cell, the two put on one of the greatest matches in the history of the steel cage. The use of chairs, kendo sticks and more were pretty inventive, giving us spots we'd never seen in one of these matches before.
It was also a feud that was deserving of the stipulation. Ever since Hell in a Cell got its own pay-per-view, we've seen superstars compete in the structure when the feud didn't exactly call for it. Sasha and Bayley? They needed this.
However, this feud ended another long-term story. Until last year, Sasha Banks was unable to successfully defend a singles title on the main roster. She'd lose it in her first defense.
Banks, after beating Bayley at Hell in a Cell, retained the SmackDown Women's Championship on SmackDown a few weeks later. She got her revenge on her former best friend and greatest enemy while also breaking her own curse. It was fantastic storytelling.
