Damage CTRL might be over

Time has come for Damage CTRL to implode, and Bayley’s in trouble if that happens. People might be seeing their final days in unity due to their loss in the WarGames match this past weekend at Survivor Series. It was a great match that highlighted all participants for them to showcase their respective talents. Team Bianca’s victory on the other hand, is a bit unexpected in my end especially on how it concluded with Bayley being the sacrificial lamb. However, Damage CTRL’s dominance in the main roster is undeniably strong since they collected championship gold such as the Women’s Tag Team championship, Money in the Bank winner for Iyo Sky, and successfully cashing in to get the WWE Women’s World Title from Bianca Belair at this year’s Summerslam. It has been observable for quite a long time now about this potential break-up of Damage CTRL, but if it happens, the time is right.

Bayley is Damage CTRL’s weakest link

Bayley has not won any accolades among the original members of Damage CTRL. She also does not have the “luck” in winning tag team matches whenever one member (either Dakota Kai or Iyo Sky) of Damage CTRL is being teamed with her. Some notable losses of Damage CTRL as a group were their failure to retain their Tag Team championship against Becky Lynch and Lita on RAW and followed by their 6-woman tag team match against same team of Becky Lynch and Lita with Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 39. Triple H booked Damage CTRL as a dominant force in the Women’s division of WWE during their first months, but singlehandedly made Bayley the main reason for them to lose most of the time in their major matches. This started when she became the number 1 contender for the RAW Women’s Championship at 2022 Extreme Rules but went up losing to Bianca Belair. This continued 1 month later when Damage CTRL lost to Bianca’s team at 2022 Survivor Series: WarGames, and coincidentally losing again a year after to Bianca’s team once more with the same match.

During this year’s Money in the Bank ladder match in London, it was bizarre for both Bayley and Iyo Sky to fight for one prize: Money in the bank contract. There was an angle when Bayley pushed the ladder that Iyo Sky was on, which points out that Bayley also wanted to grab the opportunity and potentially win the gold at a later time. The scenario happened to conclude that Iyo Sky won the briefcase and successfully cashed-in to Bianca Belair, a month later, and became champion. Things were interesting when Bayley really tried hard to help her teammate Iyo Sky in her cash-ins in the past but all of those were unsuccessful. This made their relationship colder especially that Iyo almost lost her opportunity to claim the gold, and it also made Bayley a nonsense leader.

Bayley as one of the “Four Horsewomen”

It is notable to pro wrestling fans that Bayley was one of the “Four Horsewomen” who changed the landscape of not just WWE or its NXT brand, but the entire women’s pro wrestling. Although, the Four Horsewomen was not legitimately established as a stable, this paved a way for the term “diva” and the idea of female wrestlers as “sex objects” to become obsolete, which ushered a new generation of athleticism and honing their craft in wrestling that would take them spotlight and have high caliber in-ring matches, specifically in WWE. Honestly, these women delivered it well since this revolution started in 2015 which highlighted their stay at NXT. The other three were Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Mercedes Mone (known as in WWE as Sasha Banks) which all of them garnered multiple championship wins. Although, Bayley was still the weakest among the Four Horsewomen especially during the time when she still has the “hugger” gimmick which appealed more to younger audiences.

 

Kairi Sane reuniting with Asuka; joined Damage CTRL at WarGames

Here is what is more interesting, Kairi Sane made a surprise return in Crown Jewel PLE at Saudi Arabia and left Bayley in complete shock. The context here was Kairi Sane left WWE in 2020 after Bayley and Sasha Banks, who were Women’s Tag Team champions at that time, attacked her in the locker room area. Surprisingly, Kairi made it clear to Bayley on the following episode of SmackDown that she already “forgave” her, and eventually joined Damage CTRL with Asuka. This might seem as an implication that Kairi alone is a threat to Bayley as the leader of Damage CTRL since she reunited with Asuka, who also had a feud with Bayley 3 years ago. With these current internal threats to Bayley, Kabuki Warriors might potentially reunite entirely, but stronger than ever. The Japanese trio of Iyo Sky, Asuka, and Kairi Sane will be a wrath of destruction and more powerful that Damage CTRL. It is still unsure though if Dakota Kai will remain on Bayley’s side or will join forces with Asuka, Iyo, and Kairi.

What’s next for Bayley?

With CM Punk returning to WWE after telling negative comments to the public for 9 years, it is also possible for Mercedes Mone to come back for another run. As noted by wrestling fans on X (formerly called Twitter), this will be the “endgame” for Triple H in bringing back huge names to WWE. Sasha Banks and Bayley’s reunion will be epic especially this post-Vince McMahon era, which will solidify themselves as the original tag team partners. Mercedes’ return might also spark fresh feuds and marquee matchups with new additions in WWE’s women’s division such as Jade Cargill and Rhea Ripley, among others. On the other hand, Dakota Kai might not be leaving Bayley’s side when Damage CTRL implodes at some point in the future, possibly as early as SmackDown after Survivor Series, and potentially starting a new stable with other female wrestlers in WWE. This will also start the feud to the trio of Iyo Sky, Asuka, and Kairi Sane on Friday nights.

 

Most stables in WWE are going to shatter soon

Almost all factions in WWE have problems within their own group. The Bloodline, as led by the current Undisputed WWE champion and Tribal Chief Roman Reigns, imploded earlier this year with Jey Uso leaving and eventually transferring to Monday Night RAW as a singles competitor to stay away from his cousins, due to misunderstanding among them. There are also cracks to the foundation of Judgment Day as Finn Balor and Damian Priest tried to co-exist in the past weeks before reclaiming their Undisputed Tag Team championships from Cody Rhodes and “Main Event” Jey Uso. JD McDonagh’s addition to the Judgment Day also added to the misunderstanding between Finn and Damian, which Finn also had a past storyline with JD as his tag team partner during their stint in NXT. Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovani Vinci are also on the verge of breaking as they try to impress the Intercontinental champion Gunther by following his orders, but consistently do not meet the expectations by The Ring General.

Although there are few factions in WWE that do not have any internal problems, creating multiple storyline angles about these has been an awful pattern of Triple H’s style since he took over as head of creative. It would be better if only one or two groups are having internal problems at the same time while the rest try to destroy the other, which makes WWE programming more coherent and less complicated. Bayley’s removal from the group could make her return to the main event scene with a more intensive storyline. Thus, it will give her ample time to prove herself once more, that she’s the leader Damage CTRL has been looking for since their debut last 2022.