We should have seen Bayley’s heel turn coming

WWE Superstar Bayley completed her heel turn on Friday Night SmackDown this week. Here’s why we should have seen it coming.

The days of hugging are over. Bayley has been mid-heel turn since the return of Sasha Banks, a turn which was completed on the most recent edition of Friday Night SmackDown. Bayley entered the arena prior to her SmackDown women’s title re-match with Charlotte Flair with a mission. Her mission wasn’t just to win the title back, which she did, but to show the world where Bayley was headed.

She arrived at the top of the ramp without her trademark side ponytail. Instead, she sported chin-length locks, dyed black. When her inflatables popped up as they always do, instead of her usual, fun-loving style, she hacked them down. Literally. No more inflatables. No more hugging. There is only heel Bayley.

While the turn was a surprise to many, it’s something we should have anticipated. Think about it. Her best friend is the Legit Boss, Sasha Banks. Banks has long been known for her attitude and fiery disposition. After a four-month absence from WWE, Banks returned as a full-fledged heel. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Bayley soon followed.

Bayley had two choices when she took the chair from Banks, who was using it to beat the heck out of Becky Lynch at the time. She could either stop her friend and split up the Boss ‘N Hug Connection, or she could join her friend and establish a new dynamic duo the likes of which WWE has yet to see. She chose the latter. As she told Digital Spy, “Sasha’s the only person I want to team with in life ever. Nobody else matters.”

She doesn’t see the turn as a change, though, she sees it as an evolution. She’s still the same Bayley, but people change and evolve, and this is how she views herself. She still aspires to be someone little girls look up to, she still has things she wants to accomplish in WWE, because, “That’s what role models and heroes do, they keep going and they keep setting goals.”

She just won’t accomplish those goals as a hugger, but as a heel. And that’s just how it should be and what we should have expected as soon as she reaffirmed her alliance with Banks in August.