Why Bayley Must Have Lengthy Run with WWE Raw Women's Championship

Bayley is the WWE Raw women's champion.

This is not a surprise. WWE Creative strapped Bayley to a rocket. The underdog storyline she's been pushing since August 2016 had no other logical endpoint.

But her coronation was about a month-and-a-half too early. Bayley should have clinched her first main-roster title at WrestleMania, where her victory would have mattered more. Unfortunately, based on recent history, winning the title too early means that Bayley will probably lose the title early as well.

Prestigious things with a sense of tradition and history tend to be heavy and resistant to movement. Over the course of decades, WWE has habituated fans to expect title changes on pay-per-views. Remember Mankind's first WWE Championship win on Raw in 1999? It was impactful because it was unheard of. And that's the way it should be.

The WWE Championship has switched hands on Raw only 14 times since the show's debut in 1993. Meanwhile, the Raw Women's Championship has switched hands on Raw four times since July 2016. 

This would be comical if it was the hardcore title being bandied about with 24/7 rules in full effect. But this is not the hardcore title. This is the Raw Women's Championship. And it deserves more weight than what WWE Creative is currently affording it.

Last year, the Divas title—that visual abomination with its pink, bedazzled butterfly—was switched out for the current design. On a symbolic level, this represented a new era for the women's division, where female competitors were taken as seriously as male competitors. Goodbye to bra-and-panties matches and pillow fights. Goodbye to women fighting and feuding over men; they now fought on their own behalves.

The matches were longer and more technical. The promos improved, albeit slowly. The scripting was attentive to each woman's personality. But there's more than one way to devalue a division. Trading wins and switching the title at every odd opportunity is one way to do it.

Here are some quick numbers. WWE debuted the Raw Women's Championship in April 2016, and since then, there have been seven title changes, six of which occurred in the past six months. Charlotte Flair is a four-time champion. Sasha Banks is a three-time champion.

It's a meaningless distinction; the number of cumulative days means a lot more than the number of times a wrestler has lost a title and won it back. And now that Bayley is the champion, she'll probably lose to Flair at Fastlane, and for what? To preserve Flair's PPV streak for a couple of more months? All it will do is pad Flair's resume with another meaningless distinction.

Here's a little fantasy booking: Have Bayley win at Fastlane and simultaneously set up a heel turn for Banks heading into WrestleMania. Then the fans will finally get the Banks vs. Bayley matchup they've wanted. Flair can move on, perhaps to feud with Dana Brooke. If she must be involved in the title picture, she can be the glorified third wheel in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania.

But her spotlight needs to dim for the other women to shine brighter. And Bayley deserves the chance to be a strong champion, facing off against wrestlers who were neglected during Flair's heel run. This "ever since I was a little girl" underdog shtick is starting to wear thin.

WWE booked Bayley's title win too early. But taking the title away anytime soon will just make the mistake even worse.