Chapter 1: Rise of the Hugger

August 22nd, 2015

NXT Takeover: Respect

30 Minute Ironwoman Match for the NXT Women’s Title: Bayley © vs. Sasha Banks

There’s a minute to go in the match and we’re tied one fall to one, Sasha and Bayley are going back and forth with roll-up reversals to one another with each not getting more than a one-count. 45 Seconds, Bayley gets up and tries for a big Bayley to Belly, misses it, Sasha rolls around to the back of her opponent to go for the Bank Statement, no dice as Bayley throws Sasha over her shoulders and to the mat! 20 seconds, she locks a killer armbar in! Time’s ticking down, will we go to sudden death? NO!! With only a few seconds remaining on the clock Sasha Banks is forced to tap out so that her arm isn’t completely broken! Bayley retains her NXT title!

WINNER, and STILL NXT Women’s Champion: Bayley! ~ Time: 30:00

The two women hug after the match, raising one another’s arm - no matter how hurt the arm is - after a hellacious match. They walk to the back together as we cement that Bayley is NXT Women’s Champion.

That’s how it starts for the one known as The Hugger, two title wins over her best friend Sasha Banks and what looks to be a dominant reign beginning. Two consecutive TV title wins over Alexa Bliss and Eva Marie follow and lead into a hard-hitting, hard-knocks fight between the champion and Nia Jax in the land of fighters: London, England at Takeover London. Another title retaining in January against Carmella follows before Bayley goes silent in title defenses. She’s seemingly beat everyone she can beat in NXT, so who could possibly be next to challenge the Hugger?

Enter The Empress of Tomorrow.

New Japanese signing Asuka has been making arguably an even bigger mark in NXT than Bayley had been. She’s been undefeated in NXT since joining in October of 2015, matching up right with Bayley’s massive title defense. With this meteoric rise and a lack of a challenger for Bayley, NXT General Manager William Regal makes the only decision that he sees fit for this situation: Bayley will defend her NXT Title for the first time in four months against Asuka at Takeover: Dallas! Bayley is more than happy to do this and agrees to a contract signing with Asuka prior to the match. The contract signing comes and despite how polite Bayley is the entire time, Asuka makes it clear she’s not here to hug or be polite: she’s here to win the title. The contract signing ends with a handshake, followed by Bayley being put into the Asuka Lock! Security has to break the scuffle up as that week’s NXT goes off the air.

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April 1st, 2016:

NXT Takeover: Dallas

NXT Women’s Title Match: Bayley © vs. Asuka

What looked to be a long, classic match between arguably the two top female superstars in NXT at the moment would be cut drastically short at only ~13 minutes! Bayley would attempt to grapple with Asuka on the ground, probably not the wisest move as Asuka was trained by the legendary shoot-style wrestler Yuki Ishikawa. Either way, she tried to get her on the ground and fell as yet another victim to the dreaded Asuka Lock, the same move locked in on Bayley at the contract signing! Despite hanging in for close to 20 seconds, Bayley is forced to tap in a surprising outcome!

WINNER, and NEW NXT Women’s Champion: Asuka! ~ Time: 13:42

Bayley is shocked, distraught, and visibly upset - something rare for the Hugger. Asuka would yank the belt from the referee and pose with it before rubbing it in the face of Bayley, mocking her crying, pitiful face as she heads to the stage to pose and leave. Bayley, now left in the ring on her own, would let the crowd’s chanting lay into her a bit before giving the Dallas audience a big air-hug and heading backstage.

So what’s next for The Hugger? The match between her and Asuka is mentioned on RAW the very next night, even a highlight video of it being shown to be put over by commentary, similarly to it happening with Bayley and Banks’ Ironwoman match the previous year. Bayley isn’t shown on NXT programming after Takeover: Dallas, and everyone is in the dark on what’s going on with the fan-favorite wrestler. Then we skip ahead to July of 2016, specifically the July 18th episode of Monday Night Raw. Former NXT Superstar Sasha Banks has made out a challenge to WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte and her new protege Dana Brooke for a tag match at the upcoming Battleground Pay-Per-View with a big stipulation: if her and her mystery partner can defeat Charlotte and Dana, Banks will get a title match against Charlotte at Summerslam the following month! Charlotte tries to back out, but General Manager Mick Foley okays it, and the match is on. Now one question remains:

Who could Sasha’s partner be?

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July 24th, 2016:

WWE Battleground

Sasha Banks and ??? vs. Charlotte and Dana Brooke ~ If Banks’ team wins, Banks will face Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Title at Summerslam!

The night is upon us and Charlotte & Brooke have looked noticeably tense all night. Despite their best efforts to look calm and collected throughout the night both in backstage interviews and other segments, they’ve looked anything but. Now, the time has come and the three known women are standing in the ring. Who will it be? Who’s music will play?

IT’S BAYLEY!

Charlotte looks noticeably relieved after seeing her. After all, she’s been able to beat Bayley in every big-time match that she’s had with her. This should be a piece of cake for the duo. But alas, this is a new Bayley with added knowledge to her wrestling acumen. Same hugs, new wrestling ability. The match is a trainwreck for Charlotte’s team as Dana Brooke is used as a pin-cushion for Banks and Bayley’s tandem offense before Banks is able to get the pinfall on Brooke after a big Bank Statement!

WINNERS: Sasha Banks and Bayley ~ Time: 8:21

Charlotte and Dana both scamper up the ramp following the match as Bayley and Sasha Banks, best friends and better enemies, pose with one another in the ring!

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Chapter 2: Another Call-Up Rears Her Head

August 1st, 2016

Monday Night Raw

Backstage, Bayley is asked about her thoughts on the RAW brand thus far after a quick victory against a local talent on the previous week’s RAW. She says that she’s incredibly happy to finally be on Monday Night RAW, and is looking to make a big impact on the division as a whole. A bigger imapct is made not a few seconds later as the big NXT call-up Nia Jax attacks her former rival and puts her through a table! She’s heard yelling that the only one making waves on the red brand will be her, Nia Jax!

August 8th, 2016

Monday Night Raw

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

Now, a week later, Bayley takes on Nia Jax with no fear. She goes through her usual offense and looks to have Nia Jax beaten, just like she did at Takeover: London last year. However, these plans change when Nia Jax rolls out of the ring towards the time-keepers table. She forces a chair away from the time-keeper and smashes Bayley as she comes to the outside after her! The chair beating doesn’t stop and multiple referees attempt to disarm Jax to no avail!

WINNER, by way of Disqualification: Bayley! Time: 5:02

Jax still isn’t disarmed but is finally forced up the entrance ramp by the various securities guards and referees. Jax doesn’t attack them for a reason that becomes known later in the night: She wants a no-DQ match with Bayley at Summerslam, and couldn’t get suspended before she got it. The argument is plead with Mick Foley earlier in the night, who talks to Bayley about it near the end of the show. By the end of the night, the match is made! Nia Jax and Bayley will face off in a no-disqualification match at Summerslam 2016 to open the show! Bayley is incredibly excited to beat Jax, and thus, she gets hardcore training from a hardcore legend:

Funaki!

Vignettes are aired through the next episodes of RAW of Funaki’s odd teachings in the hardcore realm as Bayley follows his every word, vowing to be ready for her match with Jax. But in truth, will this be enough to beat a monster such as Jax?

​

August 21, 2016

Summerslam 2016

Nia Jax comes out first and grabs a microphone, asking how in the hell Bayley thinks she’s gonna beat her with such shit training. She mentions her street fighting background, and that she doesn’t even need chairs: she can kill her with just fists if need be. Then, Bayley comes out in street-clothes, also with a microphone. She laughs for a minute and says that she can’t believe Jax would fall for what she saw. She wasn’t doing her main training with Funaki! She was actually doing it with a man renowned for his… Rated R matches!

Edge! Edge’s music plays and he comes onto the stage, giving a quick hug to Bayley and handing her a trash-can of weapons before she sprints to the ring! This match is on!

No-DQ Match: Bayley vs. Nia Jax!

The two women are equal to start the match with both exchanging huge blows between one another, until Nia Jax has had enough and rolls out of the ring for upwards of 6 chairs! Bayley has it scouted and nails Nia with a chair-assisted boot to the shoulder through the bottom rope! She gains the upper-hand for just a moment but it doesn’t take very long for Nia to toss Bayley directly into the steel steps, and then the guard-rail, and finally into the announcer’s table. Knowing she can’t win on a count-out, Jax throws Bayley back into the ring to do some more damage to her.

The match moves along and we now have a table set up via Jax right across from the top turnbuckle. Only evil intentions are held in Jax as she sets a groggy and dazed Bayley up atop the table as the heavyweight ascends to the top rope. She gets ready to hit a big splash to potentially finish off Bayley - but no! Bayley just barely moves out of the way and sends Jax through the table herself! A huge amount of clapping and a chant for Bayley erupt, who groggily makes her way to her feet before rolling to the outside. Another table is brought into the ring, this time placed vertically on the turnbuckle. Bayley awaits Jax to get to her feet, and hooks her in for the Belly-to-Bayley, but she can’t lift her! Jax turns her around to try and get a suplex of her own, but Bayley reverses it! She gets the Bayley-to-Belly through the table! Pinfall, and victory for Bayley!

WINNER: Bayley! Time: 11:02

Bayley crawls out of the ring, barely able to get to her feet following the brutal beatdown from Nia Jax. But tired or not, she got the win and has made a massive statement to the rest of the RAW women’s locker room!

Later in the night, Sasha Banks unsuccessfully challenges for the Women’s title due to interference from Dana Brooke, with Bayley coming out to console her after. With this, Bayley looks to be rising to the top of the RAW Women’s roster, but there are still many people that she hasn’t faced. The question is now: How can Bayley get to the coveted WWE Women’s Title?

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Chapter 3: The Queen’s Gambit

August 22, 2016

Monday Night RAW

Charlotte is in the ring with protege Dana Brooke to start this segment off. Brooke makes a lengthy introduction for Charlotte - her queen - before giving Charlotte the microphone to gloat about her massive Summerslam win. After the gloating is out of the way, she announces what she came out to announce: A 6-woman tournament to crown her challenger at Backlash! A graphic appears on screen with the matches:

Bayley vs. Summer Rae

Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox

Paige vs. Dana Brooke

Charlotte doesn’t reveal her true intentions to the audience, but it’s very clear that she wants Dana to win the tournament and face her, hence why her tournament match is starting right now giving Paige no time to prepare for it!

WWE Women’s Title Tournament Semi-Final Match:

Paige vs. Dana Brooke

As expected, despite the usual great performance from Paige, she’s screwed out of the finals by the current champion Charlotte, who helps her underling win the match and advance to the triple threat match in just a few weeks time. Mick Foley is out that week, and thus can’t do anything about the cheating that took place, leaving Paige frustrated and Brooke filled with glee.

WINNER, and advancing to the finals: Dana Brooke! Time: 7:02

August 29th, 2016

Monday Night RAW

WWE Women’s Title Tournament Semi-Final Match:

Bayley vs. Summer Rae

In an easy match for The Hugger, the incredibly cocky Summer Rae gets her wits knocked back into her with a big Bayley-to-Belly suplex to secure the fast and harsh win for Bayley!

WINNER, and advancing to the Finals: Bayley! Time: 1:23

WWE Women’s Title Tournament Semi-Final Match:

Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox

In the second tournament match of the night, we see a similar result to our first one as Nia Jax crushes the comparatively veteran Alicia Fox to advance to the tournament finals.

WINNER, and advancing to the Finals: Nia Jax! Time: 0:43

Now, with our tournament finals set, we look ahead to next week’s RAW to see who will be crowned as Charlotte’s next challenger! Mick Foley would mention later in the show to the three competitors that he wanted a clean, good fight between the three given Brooke and Charlotte’s recent actions and the bad blood between Jax and Bayley. All would agree, but Brooke would still have a sly smile on her face through it, leading the WWE universe to wonder what she would pull out of her bag of tricks to slide around this rule.

September 5th, 2016

Monday Night RAW

WWE Women’s Title Tournament Finals:

Bayley vs. Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax

The match, for the most part, is quite a clean fight between three of the brightest young stars on RAW. Each woman is on equal footing for the most part despite each of their unique styles. That is, until the ending of the match comes and Brooke’s true plan shines through. After throwing Jax out of the ring by way of shoulder-into-turnbuckle-post, Brooke is able to lift Bayley up for the Samoan Drop! Out of the referee’s view, Charlotte appears from under the ring to further hold Bayley’s shoulders down and allow for her partner to get the massive win!

WINNER, and #1-

But hold on! General Manager Mick Foley is shuffling down to the ring after witnessing what happens! He said that he knew it would happen, and is here to put a stop to it. He orders security to escort Charlotte, and for the match to be restarted as a one-on-one match between Dana Brooke and Bayley! If anymore cheating is caught by the referee, the time-keeper, Foley himself, anyone, Bayley will have the win in the books! Brooke looks to throw a hissy-fit as the bell rings once again!

WWE Women’s Title Tournament Finals:

Bayley vs. Dana Brooke

Bayley hooks Brooke with a quick roll-up to start, but it’s only a two count! Brooke gets Bayley up on her shoulders for the Samoan Drop, but it’s countered by Bayley who spins Dana around for a Bayley-to-Belly! She gets the pinfall and wins it! Charlotte screams from the entrance ramp as Bayley celebrates the biggest win of her main roster tenure thus far!

WINNER, and #1 Contender to the WWE Women’s Title: Bayley! Time: 0:16

In online interviews leading up to the event, Charlotte would massively change her tune on Bayley from a screaming fit, to cool and collected. To Charlotte, Bayley is barely dirt under her nails and she knows that it’ll be an easy win and an even easier title retention. She noted that Bayley could never win the NXT Women’s Title off of her, and she planned to keep it that way with the WWE Women’s Title. Bayley kept mum on Charlotte, but wished her the best in their match. Only a week away, this is shaping up to be a big match. Can Bayley win, or will the Queen continue to reign dominantly?

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September 11th, 2016

WWE Backlash

WWE Raw Women’s Title Match:

Charlotte © vs. Bayley

Here we are, in the semi-main event of RAW’s first solo-branded PPV of the new brand split! It’s been a highly hyped match seeing Bayley overcome an insurmountable amount of odds to get to this: a chance at not only the new WWE Raw Women’s Title, but to finally win a big match against longtime rival Charlotte Flair. The match would start off at a slow pace with both women feeling each other out for the first time since July of 2015 - over a year ago. Neither woman can get the upper hand over the other until Charlotte is finally able to nail some nasty stomps on Bayley. She continues to kick and punch at the downed Bayley before throwing her to the outside, almost causing a count-out loss for Bayley!

The match continues and so does Charlotte’s onslaught of kicks and punches. Bayley can barely get herself up from it, but then, Charlotte spits at her. A whole new side of Bayley is shown after this as she bursts up to her feet and throws a flurry of slaps to her opponent, pissed off to no end. The two start brawling with one another inside and outside of the ring before Charlotte subdues Bayley again with a nasty drop-toe-hold. To the end of the match now, Bayley is finally able to fight out of Charlotte’s vast submission knowledge and get to her feet to hit a flurry of her own moves! She tries to go for the Bayley-To-Belly, but is dropped back to the mat by Charlotte and put in the Figure Four! Bayley writhes and struggles to get to the ropes, and finally gets there! After letting the hold go, Bayley wraps Charlotte up into a small package for a two count, but gets up and nails her with the Bayley-To-Belly! What a shock! The pin is made!

1…

2…

NO!

Charlotte kicks out of the move! She remains on the ground and Bayley heads to the top rope, signalling for a huge elbow drop onto Charlotte! She’s gonna put the hurt on her! But Charlotte races to the top to meet her, fists are being exchanged between the two women and eventually the two women switch places. Charlotte is dazed, Bayley is going for a top-rope Bayley-To-Belly, and she hits it! She crawls over for the pinfall!

1…

2…

3!!!

WINNER, and NEW WWE Raw Women’s Champion: Bayley! Time: 16:21

She’s done it! She achieved her dream ever since leaving NXT in winning the WWE Women’s Title, and has beat her long-time rival Charlotte! Confetti rains down for the first ever Raw Women’s Champion as friend and enemy Sasha Banks comes out to celebrate with her! Bayley ends her night on a high-note, and we end this chapter brightly.

But what will become of Bayley’s reign? Will old foes come out of the woodwork to fight her? Will her friendships catch up with her? Find out in Part 2!