WWE SmackDown returns tonight (Nov. 15) from the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, PA. We are a little over a week away from Survivor Series.
The Headliner
Bayley is a heel, which is something many thought we’d never see.
The SmackDown Women’s champion has always been the purest of babyfaces. With her character in NXT starting as pretty much a fangirl who wore weird cat shirts morphing into who we saw week in and week out on Raw and SmackDown, with her side ponytail and inflatable tube men. She was always a true blue babyface.
It is a stark contrast to the Bayley who is on our screens every week now. After a short period of acting the delusional heel, she has not become a full fledged villain.
And she’s pretty damn good at it.
While it’s something many of us may never have seen coming, it’s surely something she’s thought about before. In fact, she talked about how she was planning to model her heel character on Eddie Guerrero when she appeared on Steve Austin’s podcast years ago:
As far as wrestling and stuff, and him being amazing and being able to do it all, literally one of the guys that can do it all, I remember watching him -- this was like a couple years ago, so I was already here -- and I was watching his old matches in WCW when he was just a heel coming out with his hair soaking wet. He looked miserable!
You don’t get that anymore out of heels being like coming out like they’re completely miserable and that makes you like... “Gah, dude, if you don’t want to be here just don’t come then!” That’s how I felt watching him. It’s like “Why are you even doing this if you don’t even want to do it?”
And then he’d get into the ring and be so nasty and just have that look of like disgust and he was too good for it all. I don’t know, it was something about that, like, I always told myself too if I were to ever be heel I want to make myself so miserable because that’s one of the most hateable things, I think.
And this is the vision we’re pretty much seeing now. Bayley really does seem miserable all the time. She may have a slight smile at times, maybe around her friend Sasha Banks, but it always has an air of contempt. You can feel her disdain for having to be there. And it’s not just on-screen but on social media as well:
As much as I do not want to go to Switzerland tomorrow, get me the hell out of France. pic.twitter.com/n0x3zvyP3b
— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) November 12, 2019
And a personal favorite:
And I hope nobody shows up. I want to go home for once. https://t.co/xsaQ3059DX
— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) October 26, 2019
Hoping no one comes to a signing she’s promoting is great stuff.
She’s also dropped the bright colorsb often sticking to black, white, and dark blues. And of course she cut off her side ponytail, settling on a shorter look instead. Couple that visual contrast with an attitude of “I’m only here because I have to be,” and it’s an effective presentation of a heel that’s very easy to dislike.
The fact she’s been thinking about this for years has very likely helped the transition into this unlikable character.
The Championship Scene:
Danial Bryan was attacked by the Fiend Bray Wyatt last week. This likely sets up an intriguing Universal Championship bout between the two. Bryan has been trying to find himself lately and a dance with the Fiend is not going to help matters. Last time Bryan tangled with Wyatt, then a swamp cult leader, it forced him to question who he was before he settled on the Yes movement. Bryan will sit down with another long time foe in the Miz to discuss all these things. This should be very good.
Rematch time! The New Day will defend the SmackDown tag team championships that they just won from the Revival last week against the Revival this week. While shaking things up before Survivor Series has become a WWE tradition, I don’t expect them to de-shake things up this week.
Shinsuke Nakamura’s Intercontinental title will allow him to take part in a technical showcase against Roderick Strong and AJ Styles at Survivor Series. Nakamura hasn’t been a part of any of the build to this. Maybe he’s visited from Roderick Strong or AJ Styles tonight. But even if they don’t, this should be a baller match.
The Women’s tag team championships seem to be doing Raw things mainly, which is why Kairi Sane and Asuka don’t get much time in these previews.
Other things to keep an eye on:
- Baron Corbin picked up a win over Roman Reigns last week, with an assist from Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode. The story may have to do with Roman losing respect in the locker room, or at least that’s what the Lone Wolf is claiming. The Big Dog is still the captain of the SmackDown Survivor Series team and will need to coexist with Corbin either way. King Corbin will surely try to undermine Reigns throughout.
- Speaking of Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, they’re facing Shorty G and Mustafa Ali and if they win, they get a spot on the team. If they win, that’d really undermine Roman.
- The ladies need one more woman to round out their Survivor Series team of Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Carmella, and Lacey Evans. Looks like Sasha has no interest in Nikki Cross either. However if Nikki beats Bayley tonight, she will be added as the fifth member.
- Always keep an eye open for invaders!
What’d be the constitution of the SmackDown crew after a long week of European travel? Tune in tonight at 8 ET on Fox to find out.