May 24, 2010.
Nearly ten years ago, Tamina made her debut on Monday Night Raw, backing the Usos up as they collectively feuded with the Hart Dynasty.
It’s been a decade of ups and downs, she’s been part of angles big and small, memorable and... not so memorable, but the one thing she’s failed to do is to win any of WWE’s women’s championships.
Her resume, such as it is, reduced to championship accomplishments, is simple— one reign with the WWE 24/7 Championship.
No Divas Championship.
No Raw Women’s Championship.
No SmackDown Women’s Championship.
The Legacy
By contrast, Bayley’s racked up quite the laundry list of accomplishments. She’s been NXT Women’s Champion, both Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion (the latter twice!), she’s held the women’s Money in the Bank briefcase, and she was one half of the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Champions alongside bestie Sasha Banks.
Bayley could retire tomorrow and her legacy would be secure, a key player in the women’s revolution from the ground up, one of the Four Horsewomen, and, truly, an all-around role model.
Tamina will be remembered, no doubt, we tend to remember everyone involved in wrestling in any on-screen capacity, from enhancement talent on up. But without a title reign to her name, she’ll remain Jimmy Snuka’s daughter, the woman who debuted with the Usos to counter the Hart Dynasty’s Natalya, the third woman in Team BAD...
She’ll be the answer to a trivia question, a footnote in an encyclopedia with no entry of her own.
The New Order
So that’s the gravity of the match, but how about the actual matchup?
Tamina is a dominant competitor, to be sure. Based on her size alone, she has a significant advantage coming into the match, and her superkick is one of the deadliest strikes in any women’s division, accurate and powerful. If she can hit Bayley square on the jaw with it, it’ll all be over but the shouting.
The problem for her is, Bayley is a certified giant-killer. She handed Nia Jax her first loss in NXT, and Nia has had significantly more main roster success than Tamina. And, Snuka has a surgically repaired knee that the champion will be sure to target, potentially neutralizing the superkick before it even can be deployed.
Will Tamina finally earn the crown that’s evaded her her entire career, or will Bayley continue to give the children someone to look up to?