Why Bayley Didn’t Defend At TLC + Revival Vs. Harlem Heat Teased

Why Didn’t Bayley Defend SmackDown Title At TLC?

Leading up to TLC, SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley has found herself a new foil. Specifically, Lacey Evans has turned babyface and, leading up to the PPV, all signs pointed to a clash for the two women.

TLC has come and gone, and there was no blue brand title defense for Bayley.

Per a report from Wrestling Observer, the omission was intentional and not due to the match being left out because of timing. Rather, the feeling within the Creative team is that it was simply too soon to put the two in the ring together with the title on the line. This means we should get a few more weeks of simmering, and possibly a title match booked for January’s Royal Rumble.

If this is indeed the case, that Creative opted not to rush the match, it would be the second such instance where WWE, for one reason or another, is opting for a slower burn and longer play, as opposed to rushing things. This would be an encouraging development, for sure.

This was also employed with the Daniel Bryan/Bray Wyatt feud. Many expected Bryan to face The Fiend again last night, but instead it was Miz/Bray, with a clean-shaven Daniel Bryan returning to avenge his prior attacks.

In the case of Bryan and Wyatt, slow is working. Hopefully for Bayley and Lacey Evans, similar success will be enjoyed.

Could The Revival Face Harlem Heat Next Month?

How’s that for a crazy headline. Could we see a match soon featuring WWE Hall of Fame tag team Harlem Heat squaring off against former champions The Revival?

On one hand, that is crazy talk, right? I mean, The Revival are Top Guys…where Harlem Heat are not exactly active. So there isn’t any possible way this actually happens…right?

Well, maybe there is.

Last night on the TLC pre-show, Dash and Dawson decided to get under Booker T’s skin. Things just escalated from there:

Hey @Scottdawsonwwe @dashwilderwwe If The Revival wants some, it’s very easy for you to get some because Harlem Heat is not hard to find!#HarlemHeat #TheRevival #WWE pic.twitter.com/Kn1ml7WEw6

— Stevie Ray (@RealStevieRay) December 16, 2019

Stevie. This ain’t ‘97 bruh. Don’t get dealt with. #FTR https://t.co/XR8WCOWbrK

— Scott Dawson (@ScottDawsonWWE) December 16, 2019

So, I’ve already mentioned why this can’t happen-Harlem Heat is retired, it would be weird, whatever.

Here’s why there could be something to this…

For one thing? Royal Rumble is in Houston in January. Harlem Heat? Big in Houston, as it’s their home town.

For another? The entire thing started with something that happened on-air, during the pre-show. Forget that maybe not a lot of people watch the pre-show…Vince McMahon generally doesn’t let matches get discussed on air that can’t be booked at that moment.

For a reminder of that position, just refer to Seth Rollins landing in some hot water because he acknowledged, on a recent RAW, his desire to fight CM Punk. While WWE might want a match, Punk is not under contract.

Knowing that the Punk/Rollins flap just happened, it would seem unlikely that WWE would have Superstars engage in talk hyping a bit of a dream match, if it weren’t already being considered.

Then again, it’s been reported plenty of times in 2019 that Dash and Dawson might want out…so if they thought doing something like that would punch their tickets out of WWE, that could have motivated them too.