It’s Wrestling Observer Live Saturday with Jim Valley.
It finally happened, Santos Escobar turned on Rey Mysterio. Can you still get heat if everyone turns on Rey Mysterio? Not to be outdone, Asuka then turned on Bianca Belair and Charlotte and joined Damage CTRL. What does this mean for Survivor Series?
We also have Shingo Takagi channeling Stan Hansen at New Japan Lonestar Shootout, Rampage, Collision, and thoughts on being live at AEW Dynamite and Ring of Honor in Portland including Mark Briscoe, The Gunns and more. It’s another packed show, check it out!
On SmackDown tonight, WWE will provide some clarity about the future of Damage CTRL.
WWE has announced that Bayley will address Damage CTRL’s future on SmackDown tonight. The segment comes after Kairi Sane made her return to WWE at Crown Jewel. Sane helped IYO SKY retain the WWE Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair.
Sane is back in WWE after last appearing for the company in 2020. In storyline, Bayley didn’t know Sane was going to be there at Crown Jewel.
“No one appeared more stunned by The Pirate Princess’ reemergence than Bayley, who, as Michael Cole reminded the WWE Universe last Saturday, was the very Superstar responsible for putting Sane out of WWE more than three years ago,” WWE wrote.
“What does the SKY-Sane reunion mean for Damage CTRL? Don’t miss Bayley’s response as she addresses the group’s future tonight on SmackDown, live at 8/7 C on FOX!”
Damage CTRL currently consists of Bayley, SKY, and Dakota Kai. Kai has been out of action since May due to a torn ACL.
Tonight’s Crown Jewel fallout edition of SmackDown is taking place from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Here’s everything that’s been announced for the episode:
A tag team match has been announced for next Friday’s SmackDown.
Damage CTRL team mates Bayley & IYO SKY will team up to take on Shotzi and Charlotte Flair next week at the Boston Garden. This stems from a match that took place on Friday’s SmackDown, when Shotzi defeated SKY after Charlotte Flair interfered. The finish had Bayley go for SKY’s WWE Women’s title when Flair came out, laid out SKY, and attacked Bayley as the referee was distracted, allowing Shotzi to pick up the win.
Bayley and SKY have been feuding with Shotzi for the last several weeks, starting when the two attacked Shotzi backstage and cut off her hair. Shotzi eventually returned with a new shorter hairstyle and has been stalking Damage CTRL ever since.
SKY has been champion since SummerSlam, when she and Bayley attacked Charlotte Flair and Asuka with the Money in the Bank briefcase in order to get to new champion Bianca Belair. SKY pinned Belair to win her first WWE Women’s Championship.
Here’s what is announced so far for next week’s SmackDown:
This Friday, “The Real Chief” Jey Uso will be live on SmackDown as he prepares for his monumental clash with Roman Reigns at SummerSlam for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title.
How will Jey prepare for Tribal Combat with The Head of the Table just one night before SummerSlam? Find out this Friday at 8/7 C on FOX!
WWE has also announced that one night before they wrestle in a triple threat for the WWE Women’s Championship, Charlotte Flair, Asuka, and Bianca Belair will also be on SmackDown.
With just one night to go before The Biggest Party of the Summer, each of the three Superstars will be preparing for their almighty clash.
How will The Empress of Tomorrow, The EST and The Queen of WWE get ready for SummerSlam? Don’t miss SmackDown this Friday at 8/7 C on FOX!
Only one match has been announced for SmackDown this week. LA Knight is scheduled to wrestle Sheamus on the show. Both wrestlers will be entered into the SummerSlam Battle Royal the following night.
The 8/4 edition of WWE SmackDown is scheduled for the Wright State University Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. According to WrestleTix, 7,646 tickets have been distributed to the show.
WWE SmackDown lineup 8/4:
LA Knight vs. Sheamus
Asuka, Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair’s one stop before SummerSlam
After signing with WWE in April 2016, it only took Bianca Belair a few years before making her main roster debut at WrestleMania 36. Since then, she has skyrocketed to the top as one of the top female wrestlers in WWE.
Some of her accolades include winning the women’s Royal Rumble in 2021, main eventing night 1 of WrestleMania 37 in a match against Sasha Banks, and winning ESPN’s Female Wrestler of the Year for 2022. Her match against Banks was rated 4.5 stars by our very own Dave Meltzer.
I spoke to the EST of WWE during her promotional campaign for C4 Energy x WWE and she discussed the status of the women’s division, helping raise the bar, her favorite feuds, and much more.
Raising the bar
Belair said that because she didn’t have a background in wrestling, she knew from the very beginning that she wanted to “bring something different to the table.”
She explained that she did so by always trying to “incorporate some type of powerlifting” and attributing some of her in-ring success to her background in gymnastics. However, Belair made sure to credit the women before her.
“There’s women that were here before me too, and they were doing amazing things…like the Four Horsemen. I have been able to step in the ring with them and create some amazing moments, amazing matches.”
Belair then added that it is “cool” to know she’s one of the first collegiate athletes that was able to come over to the WWE and “really transition to a successful wrestler.”
“Now we have the NIL program behind us, it’s coming through. They are recruiting more collegiate athletes, so to know that I was one of the many that opened the door for that, it means a lot,” she said.
Her favorite matches
Belair shared that she is “very happy” with the reputation she has built — one that includes fans knowing that her matches are going to be good to great with “some feats of strength and athleticism”
When it came to her favorite moments, Belair mentioned main eventing WrestleMania 37 with Sasha Banks (now Mercedes Mone), recalling that that was the first time she and Banks ever touched one another and how “mind boggling” it was to have that kind of chemistry with her.
She then mentioned all the work that she has been able to do with Becky Lynch, calling her match with Lynch at WrestleMania 38 “an amazing match.”
She then went on to say that one of her feuds that isn’t talked about as much is the work she did with Bayley.
“But some match stuff like that aren’t talked about enough are the matches that I’ve done with Bayley like our Hell In A Cell match in front of no audience. And you go back and you watch that match…the creativity, you know what we did in that match. It was, like, really an amazing match.”
Belair also talked about the new WWE partnership with C4 Energy on their line of drinks and pre-workout powder that she has been using since her days in the CrossFit world.
@c4energy and @WWE have collaborated for the first time ever. The C4 Ultimate Energy x WWE collection!!!
I spoke to @BiancaBelairWWE about the collaboration and how she has used it since the CrossFit days!!!
— Denise 'Hollywood' Salcedo (@_denisesalcedo) July 27, 2023
Belair’s next big match is this Saturday at WWE SummerSlam where she will challenge for the WWE Women’s Championship in a triple threat against Charlotte Flair and current champion Asuka.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back to talk all the big news and show of the weekend, injuries to Callis, Bayley and Elton Prince, Battle of the Belts, Collision, Smackdown, NOAH and AAA and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including all the best matches of the weekend, Nakajima vs. Miyahara, Omega vs. Vikingo, FTR vs. Juice & Jay, Don Callis attacked legit, Bayley and Elton Prince hurt, Mox wins shoot with DEATH JITSU, Rick Steiner, Mercedes, Smackdown, Collision, Battle of the Belts and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: The Mikey Nicholls G1 finish, Bayley injured at WWE house show, Elton Prince injury
8:10: Kento Miyahara vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kenny Omega vs. Vikingo from this weekend, Don Callis incident
22:09: FTR vs. Jay White and Juice Robinson on Collision, Battle of The Belts feed dies
32:12: Rick Steiner invited back to WrestleCon
36:10: Mercedes Mone update, Giulia heading to the US, Jon Moxley wins gold medal in NAGA grappling tournament
38:16: A recap of the rest of AEW Collision & Battle of the Belts VII
Bayley was injured tonight at the WWE house show in Salisbury, MD.
The injury took place in a WWE Women’s title match with Asuka defending against Bayley, Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair.
The injury was confirmed to be to the right knee. The hope at this point is the injury isn’t severe.
From a video, Bayley was running in the ring and Asuka was on the ground. She didn’t exactly trip on Asuka but may have stopped while running to avoid Asuka and she immediately went down and held her right knee. She didn’t get up and the match was stopped. An “X” was thrown up and Charlotte and Asuka were in the ring while the doctor came out. They just had Asuka pin Charlotte immediately to end the match.
charlotte a real one for immediately checking up on her, i genuinely hope bayley is alright 💙 pic.twitter.com/yDC6H1uOnz
The four-way match with Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, and Asuka was stopped and she was able to leave the ring on her on own power with help from officials. It seemed to be a good sign that she was able to leave under her own power.
A good sign is that Bayley was able to walk to the back without help just medical people standing around her which is a good sign 🙏pic.twitter.com/x7iWryF2A8
Bayley suffered a torn ACL while training at the WWE Performance Center in July 2021 and missed 13 months of in-ring action as a result. She made her return to WWE television at SummerSlam in July 2022, but did not return to the ring until August 2022 at a house show.
A feud with Shotzi had just kicked off on WWE SmackDown in the last several weeks, including Bayley cutting Shotzi’s hair, and Shotzi responding by shaving her own head.
A non-title match with United States Champion Austin Theory facing Ridge Holland is also set to take place on SmackDown tonight. Adam Pearce told Holland that he’ll be in contention for a US title shot if he defeats Theory.
WWE has announced that Bayley vs. Shotzi and LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch have been added to the lineup for tonight’s SmackDown. If Shotzi defeats Bayley, she’ll take Bayley’s spot in Saturday’s women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
The women’s Money in the Bank ladder match is also set to feature IYO SKY, Zelina Vega, Becky Lynch, Zoey Stark, and Trish Stratus.
Knight, Escobar, Butch, Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, Damian Priest, and Logan Paul are the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match participants.
Bayley vs. Shotzi and Knight vs. Escobar vs. Butch had been announced for last week’s SmackDown but were removed from advertising prior to the show going on the air. Knight was still in action on the episode, defeating Rey Mysterio in a singles match.
A Cameron Grimes vs. Baron Corbin match was also advertised for SmackDown last Friday but didn’t take place. The changes to the show were made by Vince McMahon.
SmackDown is being held at The O2 Arena in London tonight. The venue is also hosting Money in the Bank tomorrow.
The updated SmackDown lineup is listed below:
Roman Reigns appears
WWE Women’s Champion Asuka defends against Charlotte Flair
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defend against Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson)
The Grayson Waller Effect with guest Logan Paul
Bayley vs. Shotzi (if Shotzi wins, she takes Bayley’s spot in Money in the Bank)
LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch
Non-title match: United States Champion Austin Theory vs. Ridge Holland
Bayley says she would love step back in the ring with Mercedes Mone again some day.
The former Sasha Banks and Bayley haven’t performed together since an episode of SmackDown from the Thunderdome era on February 19, 2021.
“I beg her every day,” Bayley recently responded when asked by The Gorilla Position about Mone possibly returning to WWE.
Bayley continued:
“It doesn’t matter where it is or it doesn’t matter how it happens, I would love to one day step back in the ring with her. Whether it’s teaming with her, whether it’s against her, but right now, I just want =-whatever she needs to accomplish her dreams, accomplish her goals. I’m just happy to see her happy.”
Bayley told Ariel Helwani in February that she will “never give up hope” that Mone returns to WWE as well.
According to Cagematch, Bayley and Mone wrestled together 378 times from 2013 to 2021 in WWE, including 31 singles matches. They are two-time holders of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships together as well. Their rivalry against each other in 2018 was voted Worst Feud that year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.
Mone has been out of action since suffering a foot/ankle injury at NJPW Resurgence on May 21. Bayley will take part in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match Saturday in London. She was advertised to wrestle Shotzi on SmackDown last week but the match never ended up happening.
Bayley vs. Shotzi with Money in the Bank spot on the line is one of three matches set for the June 23 WWE SmackDown.
After a backstage promo segment on this week’s episode involving IYO SKY, Bayley will put her spot in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match up against Shotzi in a match on next week’s show. Shotzi issued the challenge to Bayley, and SKY accepted on her behalf as dissension within Damage CTRL continues to be teased.
Also set for next week, Cameron Grimes and Baron Corbin will square off in another contest. Grimes beat Corbin in seconds on the May 12 SmackDown, but Corbin attacked Grimes in a backstage segment this week to set up the rematch.
Already announced for next week, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler will face NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn in a title unification match.
Next week’s lineup:
WWE SmackDown, Friday, June 23 —
WWE & NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship unification match: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn
Bayley vs. Shotzi with a spot in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match on the line
With the WWE Draft one week away, tonight’s SmackDown takes place at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends his title against Xavier Woods tonight. After Woods defeated LA Knight last week, he interrupted Gunther’s meeting with Imperium. Woods demanded a title shot since it could be his last chance because of the Draft.
The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles will also be on the line as Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan defend against Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green. Deville and Green interrupted Rodriguez and Morgan’s celebration last week, leading to tonight’s contest.
Ricochet and Braun Strowman are out for revenge when they take on The Viking Raiders. Last week, The Viking Raiders attacked Ricochet and Strowman backstage.
A no DQ match between Matt Riddle and Solo Sikoa will headline tonight’s show. The feud between the LWO and Judgment Day will also continue as Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar take on Finn Balor & Damian Priest.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
– Michael Cole and Wade Barrett ran down the lineup for tonight.
– They recapped Damien Priest attacking his former friend Bad Bunny.
Judgment Day (Damien Priest & Finn Balor) defeated LWO (Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar) (11:29)
Priest and Balor defeated Mysterio and Escobar in a fun opener. The focus was on Bad Bunny’s appearance this Monday on Raw.
Mysterio was in control until Priest blocked a moonsault. Judgement Day took over, isolating Mysterio on their side of the ring. Balor slowed the pace down with a chin lock. Mysterio fought back with a bulldog, tagging in Escobar. Escobar was firmly in control, sending Priest into Balor. Escobar and Mysterio worked together to clear the ring.
Mysterio missed a splash to the floor. Escobar set up for a dive, but Balor wiped him out with a clothesline as they went to a break.
Escobar and Priest traded stiff shots. Priest took over with a kick to the head. He slowed the pace with a chin lock. Escobar tried to fight back, but Priest recovered. Escobar rocked Priest with a dropkick, and Mysterio got the hot tag. Mysterio ran wild on Balor with a senton and middle rope crossbody for a near fall. Mysterio sent the legal man Priest to the floor. Instead, Mysterio caught Balor with the 619, allowing Escobar to hit a splash. Priest sent Mysterio into the ring post and hit South of Heaven on Escobar for the win.
After the match, Priest addressed Bad Bunny appearing on Raw this Monday. He hopes it goes better for Bad Bunny this time.
*********
– Cole and Barrett recapped Solo Sikoa beating Matt Riddle and hitting the spinning Solo onto the announce table last week.
– Zelina Vega approched Adam Pearce. Like everyone else, she doesn’t know where she will end up after the draft. Vega demanded a title shot against Rhea Ripley at Backlash. As a Puerto Rican, she deserves the chance to beat Ripley in Puerto Rico.
– An excellent video package looked at Shinsuke Nakamura.
Karrion Kross addressed Nakamura backstage. He noted it wasn’t his fault he hurt people; it was the cards. He discussed everything he took away from Drew McIntyre, Madcap Moss, and Rey Mysterio. Next, he’s going to take away Nakamura’s honor.
***********
Ricochet & Braun Strowman defeated The Viking Raiders (w/Valhalla) (10:14)
These two teams never disappoint when they face off. Everyone worked hard and had the fans on their feet by the end of the match.
Strowman and Ricochet had the early advantage. The Raiders made a blind tag, isolating Strowman in their corner. Strowman fought back and tagged in Ricochet. He threw Ricochet at the Raiders, but it looked like it hurt Ricochet more. Ricochet cleared the ring and wiped out the Raiders with dive.
During the break, Valhalla caused a distraction, allowing the Raiders to take over. Ricochet broke free, tagging in Strowman. Strowman took out Ivar with a shotgun dropkick. The Strowman express ran over Ivar and Erik at ringside. Valhalla caused another distraction, giving the Raiders the advantage. Ivar hit a huge splash for a close near fall.
Ricochet tagged in and rocked Ivar with a kick to the head and a jumping knee. Strowman threw Ricochet into Ivar and sent Erik to ringside. Ricochet then hit a Swanton bomb off Strowman’s shoulders for the win.
*****************
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan defeated Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green to retain the titles (6:08)
The champions retained the titles in a solid match. Deville and Green weren’t credible challengers, but they’re entertaining. They managed to tell a pretty good story about water.
They recapped Chelsea Green throwing water on Liv Morgan on Monday’s Raw.
Deville and Green cut a promo on the way to the ring. Green pretended to throw water at Morgan as she did on Raw. Rodriguez had to hold back a furious Morgan.
Morgan caught Green with a dropkick at the bell. The champions were firmly in control as they beat down Deville. Deville briefly fought back. Rodriguez tossed Green around the ring. Green sent Rodriguez to ringside and went for a suicide dive. Rodriguez caught Green, but Deville took her out with a knee.
Morgan took out the heels with a dive. The heels quickly took over, cutting Morgan off from her corner. The heels kept trying to win with their feet on the ropes, but the referee caught them each time.
Morgan escaped, and Rodriguez got the hot tag. Rodriguez hit the Vader bomb-twisting elbow, but Deville broke up the pin attempt. Morgan caught Green with a backstabber, but Deville took her out with a boot to the face. The finish came when Morgan threw water in Green’s face, allowing Rodriguez to roll her up for the win.
***********
– Kayla Braxton spoke with Matt Riddle. She wonders if facing Solo Sikoa a few weeks before Backlash is a good idea. He knows Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens aren’t there, but he’s not worried. He promised to beat Sikoa later.
**********
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defeated Xavier Woods to retain the title (10:36)
Gunther beat Woods in an excellent, hard-hitting match with a hot crowd. Gunther was awesome, like always, but Woods was impressive too.
They started slow trading moves back and forth. Woods had a brief advantage until Gunther took over with a chop. Woods tried fighting back, but Gunther destroyed him with more chops. Gunther slowed the pace with a sleeper. Woods tried to escape, but Gunther rocked him with another chop.
Woods fought back with forearm shots. He avoided Gunther, slid through his legs, and hit an elbow. Gunther rolled to ringside to get away. Woods wasted no time, hitting a dive to the floor. Gunther tried to slow Woods’s momentum with a chop. Woods recovered, pushed Gunther down, and hit a giant leg drop off the top rope for a close near fall. The fans broke into a “New Day Rocks” chant.
Woods escaped a powerbomb and went for a series of pin attempts. Gunther kicked out of an O’Connor roll into the sleeper for the win.
*************
– A video package recapped Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens beating The Usos for the titles at WrestleMania 39.
The Usos Segment
The Usos entered the ring. They talked about losing the titles at WrestleMania. People kept asking them how they felt. Before Backlash, they have a rematch with Zayn and Owens next week. They promised to win the titles and bring them to the Bloodline and Roman Reigns. They introduced Solo Sikoa.
No Disqualification Match: Solo Sikoa defeated Matt Riddle (14:04)
Sikoa defeated Riddle in a fantastic main event. They beat the hell out of each other with kendo sticks and chairs. There was even an exploder suplex on four upright chairs. The fans were going crazy by the end of the match.
Riddle jumped Sikoa from behind during his entrance. Sikoa quickly took over and pulled out kendo sticks and chairs from under the ring. Riddle tried to use them first, but Sikoa cut him off. Sikoa beat Riddle with the kendo stick. The fans broke into a “We want tables” chant.
Riddle recovered and destroyed Sikoa with the Kendo stick. Riddle teased pulling out a table to a giant pop. Sikoa cut him off to loud boos. Riddle recovered and hit the bro-ton off the steps.
Back from the break, Sikoa hit a Samoan drop for a near fall. Sikoa put Riddle in the corner with the chair on his face. He went for the splash, but Riddle threw the chair in his face instead. Riddle sent Sikoa into another chair. He then kneed the chair into Sikoa’s face. Riddle followed with an exploder onto four upright chairs. Sikoa rolled to the floor to recover. Riddle tried going after him, but Sikoa grabbed his leg, slamming him on the apron.
Sikoa tossed Riddle over the announce table and tried to flip it over like last week. Instead, Riddle used his leg strength to block Sikoa. Riddle regained control and turned the table onto Sikoa. That’s when The Usos ran out, attacking Riddle. He fought them off, wiping them out with the floating bro.
Sikoa emerged from under the table. Riddle tried to cut him off with a flash knee. Riddle hit the ropes, but Sikoa hit a flying Samoan Spike for the win.
After the match, The Usos gave Riddle the 1 D through a table to end SmackDown.
********
Next Week: The WWE Draft begins on next week’s episode. In a WrestleMania main event rematch, Undisputed Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens defend their titles against The Usos.
A Women’s Tag Team Championship match is set for the April 10 WWE Raw event.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Damage CTRL’s Dakota Kai & IYO SKY on Monday’s Raw after WrestleMania to become number one contenders to Becky Lynch & Lita’s Women’s Tag Team titles. The title bout was then announced for next week.
Lynch, Lita, and Trish Stratus defeated Bayley, Kai, and Sky on night one of WrestleMania 39 on Saturday. Damage CTRL’s Bayley was notably absent from Monday’s Raw after WrestleMania, while Stratus appeared in a backstage promo segment with Lynch & Lita.
Morgan & Rodriguez competed in a four-way tag team Showcase match on WrestleMania Sunday, a match won by Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler, neither of whom appeared on the Raw after WrestleMania.
Also announced for next week, the returning Matt Riddle will face The Miz.
Riddle made his return to WWE after a months-long absence on the Raw after WrestleMania, interrupting a Miz promo to set up the bout for next week.
The April 10 Raw will be held at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
The announced lineup:
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Becky Lynch & Lita defend against Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
Bayley is hoping that Mercedes Mone returns to WWE.
The 33-year-old spoke with Ariel Helwani for an interview released on Sunday. During the conversation, Bayley was asked about traveling to Japan to witness Mone’s appearance in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom. Bayley responded:
I went there on my own. There was a few of us that flew out there just because she’s been there for all my big moments. Even as she hasn’t been part of the company and I’ve made my return and I’ve had my big matches, like, she’s there for me. So, of course, I want to be there for her. We’ve done so much together in WWE.
She means so much to me and so much to the wrestling world, like, I have to be there for this moment.
I literally flew out right after Raw, got to Japan two hours before the show started and raced over there and made it. Met everybody there and sat in the crowd, kind of, incognito. It was so magical to be there for her and I just knew how important it was to her. She just loves this. Everybody knows how much she loves this and how much wrestling means to her and how much WWE means to her and she wouldn’t be there without WWE. So, I think it meant a lot to her that I was able to go.
Bayley was asked about the potential of Mone returning to WWE.
I’ll never give up hope that she’ll come back.
When asked if she believes that will happen, Bayley responded:
I’ll say yes because this is her home, this is her dream. I love to see what she’s doing and what’s she going to be doing over the next few months. She’s going to literally take over the world, take the world by storm but I know this is her home and where her heart is. And by her heart, I mean me, she needs to come back to me. I need her, I need my travel partner.
Earlier in the conversation, Bayley spoke about the creation of Damage CTRL. She said her original idea was a group with four or five members. She also commented on conversations she’s had with Paul “Triple H” Levesque about the faction.
Bayley said of Damage CTRL:
That is something that I thought about for a couple of years before it actually happened.
It had a different group of people as the time went on. Peyton Royce was someone that I really wanted in there and Tegan Nox was someone that I wanted in there. There was a lot of people that it kind of changed throughout time as people left the company and things like that. But Dakota was always, she’s one of the OGs who I always envisioned in this group.
I just thought, there’s no women’s factions. There’s been trios and to me, if it were up to me right now, there would be more of us but we’ll see. There’s been trios but there’s never been like a big faction where there is four or five of us and that’s what I wanted.
I talked to Hunter about this a couple of WrestleManias ago and he told me, ‘Well, you need to know why are you guys together. Oh yeah, you guys are cool together but find the reason why. Me and DX for this, me and Evolution were this, and explain those things.’ Then I was like, ‘Maybe I need to think about it more.’ So, when I was injured I thought about it more and shot stuff at the Performance Center while I was there with a group of girls that I really wanted.
She would continue to say that many of the wrestlers she originally wanted in the faction were released or called up.
Later in the conversation, Bayley said she wanted five wrestlers in the group. She has people in mind but didn’t “want to give it away” in case they are added in the future.
Bayley continued to talk about names she envisioned for the faction.
My first original one, I wanted to be called The Now cause to me, I didn’t care about the championships I won in the past, I don’t care about what happens next, these girls right here and what were about to do, the present is all that matters.
When asked why the group was given the name, Bayley responded, “There’s a show called The Now or something like that.”
Bayley and Damage CTRL are currently involved in a program with Becky Lynch and Lita on WWE Raw. Lynch and Lita invaded a Ding Dong Hello segment on the show last week.
