Bayley is the definition of a white meat babyface, who always does the honorable and respectable thing and rarely, if ever, has any shades of gray.
That seemed to work for her in NXT as Google Shopping searches (h/t Fightful) indicate that she was likely WWE’s No. 4 female merchandise seller in 2016, when she spent most of her time as the female face of NXT. Her undeniable popularity in NXT had some speculating that she could be WWE’s female equivalent to John Cena on the main roster, serving as an ideal role model and being a huge merchandise mover because of it.
But even way back in 2015 when Bayley was arguably at her peak in NXT, there was concern about whether she would thrive or fail miserably on the main roster, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc):
Regarding Bayley, there’s been some discussion over whether she will be the biggest female star in WWE history or if she will fail on the main roster. According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the feeling in WWE is that there’s no in between for Bayley. Some people see Bayley as a female John Cena, with the idea that she could do charity work and bring in younger female fans.
If you had to label Bayley as “the biggest female star in WWE history” or a “failure” on the main roster, it would undoubtedly be the latter. Her shtick simply hasn’t worked since she made the move to Raw, and a star who was once the most popular performer in NXT regardless of gender was actually booed out of the building back in August when announcing she had suffered an injury. That marked an incredible fall for Bayley, who hasn’t been able to win over the mainstream audience the way she did in NXT.
Why? Because fans aren’t buying Bayley’s white meat babyface character, and it’s clear she needs to develop more of an edge if she wants to avoid being one of the biggest main roster flops in recent memory.
