Bayley and Sasha Banks Prove That Wrestling Can Have Happy Endings
An ending so good that I fully just expected the credits to roll. End the series. It was like the ending to a great movie or a worthwhile video game. It was perfect.
Unfortunately, WWE has created a universe of its own with a never-ending story consisting of characters and programs that progress on a weekly basis. On one hand, the follow-up is provides instant satisfaction. There’s no waiting an entire summer for a next chapter or wondering if the show will be renewed for another season, the WWE machine is constantly living, breathing and growing. On the other, the moments that are truly worth cherishing aren’t allowed a moment to breathe or live. As WWE CEO Vince McMahon puts it, even in the face of tragedy, “The show must go on”, and we continue to roll into the next story. The story has traveled for over fifty years in the WWE and it’s come to the point where wrestling fans are conditioned to this week in and week out. Each week, hours upon hours of feats of athleticism paired with its own brand of entertainment.
On Wednesday, Sasha Banks challenged the newly-minted champion Bayley for the NXT Women’s Championship in the main event of the WWE Network live special, NXT Takeover: RESPECT. It was the first time women would headline any WWE live special, and NXT General Manager William Regal only raised the stakes by making it a 30 Minute Iron Man Match. The announcement of the encounter just over a month ago prompted a swell of excitement amongst wrestling fans, and judging from the smiles of Bayley and Sasha — them as well. They knew what this moment was.
The story could’ve ended at the last live special NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. After being sidelined by a hand injury and missing the Divas Revolution on the main roster, Bayley returned and earned herself a NXT Women’s Championship shot through a gauntlet of worthy opponent. She defeated Emma — who was responsible for her injury in the first place, and then turned her attention towards main roster challengers Charlotte and Becky Lynch, defeating them both as well. The final test was indeed “The Boss,” then-NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks — a longstanding rival of Bayley, who stepped on and over the happy-go-lucky wrestler to reach the summit of the NXT Women’s division.
The atmosphere was perfect. The taste of true competition was ripe in the air, and the thrill of a classic encounter enhanced the reaction of the Brooklyn crowd. Despite the ruthless attacks of Sasha Banks throughout the match, Bayley dug deep and came out victorious with a earth-shattering Bayley-to-Belly suplex. It was the perfect moment, the perfect win, and a perfect match. Five stars.
The announcement of the rematch felt appropriate because it felt like the true test for Bayley. To use a Pokemon reference, it felt like she conquered the Elite Four, only to find out that the champion awaits, and the champion is your arch rival who has progressed alongside you every step of the way. The stage was set for a war.
The Iron Man Match told a story. Bayley, who has fought for everything in her career, scrapped for every fall, only finding a few flaws in Banks’ game to seize the opportunity with a Bayley-to-Belly and a late game roll-up. Sasha Banks played the game more as a human chess match, providing her own opportunities to pick up falls whether it included blindsiding a referee or violently tossing Bayley into the LED stage and taking the countout victory. With 90 seconds left, Sasha Banks has Bayley wrenched back with her signature Bank Statement submission — a move which brought her to the top and kept her there for 6 months. It’s damn near bulletproof. Bayley narrowly escapes the move, but with thirty seconds left — Banks reels her in for another attempt. It’s countered. Bayley debuts a submission of her own in what I can only describe as an arm bar of epic proportions paired with uncharacteristically ruthless boots to the back of the head. In a fitting form of poetic justice, and with only two seconds left, Sasha Banks taps out.
The mini-Bayley super fan Izzy bawls her eyes out, the crowd roared in approval with a standing ovation, and the two women collapse in the middle of the ring. However, it feels less like exhaustion and more like an emotional release. Hell — not too long after the clock wound down, after being on the edge of my seat for the last 90 seconds, gasping after counter after counter, I let out a breath of relief. How could you not?
It went against the conventions of WWE’s storytelling where Hell in a Cell conclusions end with (holographic) interference and championship bouts are marred by distractions, all with the intent of linking one feud to the next and keep the never-ending story rolling. At NXT Takeover: RESPECT, it marked closure not only for Bayley and Sasha’s longstanding rivalry, but to an era of women’s wrestling for the brand that remains unparalleled. The entire roster from the talent, announcers, executives, developmentals and more applauded and heralded these two women and it proved that true happy endings in wrestling aren’t just a myth.
Usually when speaking to non-wrestling fans about wrestling, their quickest response is to shrug it off with “That stuff isn’t real, right?”
On Wednesday we saw two women — two athletes — shatter the glass ceiling, take the sport to new heights and hold a crowd down to the last minute. Not only did fans express their adulation for the two warriors, but so did their peers. Bayley and Sasha have been wrestling fans their entire lives with the intention of reaching the main stage, and they’ve finally arrived. Without a doubt, there was one little girl watching the main event and it only confirmed her aspirations to become a professional wrestler. NXT Takeover: Respect her life changed. What’s not real about that?
This article was originally posted on Cageside Seats.
